January 2025 will look different for NCAA women’s soccer players looking to continue their careers in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the only professional league for women’s soccer in the United States.
On Aug. 22, the NWSL and Players Association (NWSLPA) announced a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, in place until 2030, that will eliminate the college draft . NWSL is the first major American professional sports league to abolish the college draft.
So what does this mean for the future of NCAA women’s soccer players looking to go pro?
Well, that’s largely up to the players, both in the league and looking to join. The absence of the college draft creates a major shift in the club-to-player relationship and frankly, only time will reveal what this change will look like. In the meantime, here are some facts to know:
The history between NWSL and NCAA women's soccer
The first NWSL College Draft was in 2013 where 32 NCAA student-athletes were picked across four rounds. Most recently, 56 NCAA women's soccer players were picked in the 2024 NWSL College draft — the league's largest draft class to date. In the decade-long span,
A few notable first-round picks included former and current national team members like Crystal Dunn, North Carolina (2014); Sam Mewis, UCLA (2015); Lynn Williams, Pepperdine (2015); Rose Lavelle, Wisconsin (2017); Sophia Smith, Stanford (2020); Emily Fox, North Carolina (2021) and Naiomi Girma, Stanford (2022).
2024 NWSL Draft: Colleges with the most players picked
There’s no doubt college soccer has produced and will continue to produce some of NWSL’s brightest stars — including Georgia alumna Croix Bethune, who in August won Rookie of the Month for a record-breaking fourth time. Bethune was selected No. 3 overall in the 2024 draft. NCAA soccer has been, by far, the largest pipeline into the NWSL and that is unlikely to drastically change, despite the absence of a college draft.
The numbers: Salary caps, minimums and room for growth
Traditionally, one of the fundamental roles of a draft is to ensure all clubs get a fair and equal opportunity to choose from a pool of top-level players who qualify to enter the draft. It essentially prevents the richest clubs from buying up all the best players. Abolishing the college draft altogether, however, triggers a transfer of power from the clubs to the players.
“The draft is an antiquated model that empowers teams to decide for Players instead of Players deciding for themselves,”. “Now, Players can choose the team environment that fits their needs and maximizes their opportunities. Teams will need to step up to create environments that appeal to Players.”
To combat any inequities, the new CBA includes a team base salary cap that will start at $3.3 million in 2025 and rise incrementally to $5.1 million by 2030. The agreement also raises the minimum player salary from $48,500 in 2025 to $82,500 by 2030 and sets no maximum for an individual player’s salary.
These salary improvements align with the growth of not just women’s sports in the US, but the surge in NIL deals at the amateur level. College players today are finding newfound success in the monetization of their name, image and likeness with themselves as the head boss. As their financial autonomy increases, so too will their expectations for self-rule in the professional landscape. By giving players the power to negotiate contracts directly with competing clubs, the NWSL meets the increasing state of player sovereignty.
“I’m hopeful now that in this new world, players can really be at the center of their own careers and be in charge of their own careers,” Huster said.
Background on the NWSL
The National Women’s Soccer League launched in 2013 as the leading professional league for women’s soccer in America. The establishment of NWSL came after two leagues failed to take off — the Women’s Professional League (WPA) folded in 2012 after three seasons of operation and before that the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), launched in 2001, was forced to suspend operations in 2003 due to lack of funding and national attention.
NWSL’s continued success goes hand-in-hand with the international growth of women’s sports and the emergence of soccer as a leading sport in American culture. Originally consisting of eight teams, NWSL has grown to include 14 clubs with expansion plans for a Boston-based club and one other to join in 2026.
Each team rosters between 22-26 players and the regular season runs from March through October with playoffs in November. The 2024 season will be the first to feature an eight-team playoff with quarterfinals and semifinals taking place Nov. 9/10 and Nov. 16/17, respectively. The 2024 NWSL championship match is slated for — the world’s first soccer stadium purpose-built for a women’s professional team.
