NWSL GM survey: Salary cap bad? USWNT relations, rule-breakers, more
1. "The salary cap - $3.5m per club for the 2025 season - is now set through 2030. Do you worry the cap will hold the league back from competing with European teams as those teams can pay players without such limits?"
The NWSL imposes a hard salary cap on each of its teams, in stark contrast with top European leagues such as those in England, France and Spain. NWSL GMs are loud and clear here: The salary cap, even with built-in risers over the coming years, is a pr...
2. "Now that players must consent to trades, how much has it changed the way deals work and in what ways?"
For much of the league's history NWSL teams could - and, in plenty of cases, did - trade players within the league without consent. The NWSL's new CBA ratified last year changed that: It brought full free agency to the league and required all trades to...
3. "In last year's NWSL GM survey, almost every GM said that not every team follows the rules. The league said it would start cracking down on rule-breaking, fining Angel City $200,000 and docking the team points - the most severe punishment in league history - because the team violated the league's salary cap rules. So, do you think teams are still breaking the rules?"
Four GMs said that teams are not breaking rules - up from just one saying it last year. The majority still said that the practice continues. As one GM put it: "Would I bet my annual salary that no one is breaking the rules? Not at all."One pointed out an is...
4. "On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 1 being very unhappy and 5 being extremely happy, how satisfied are you with NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman's leadership? Why?"
Jessica Berman became NWSL commissioner in early 2022, taking over in the wake of the league's abuse scandal. Under Berman's leadership, valuations of NWSL clubs have gone up from $35m to over $250m, and the league signed a $240 million media rights de...
5. "Do you agree with Berman's stated goal to expand the NWSL from 16 teams to 32 teams at some point, and if not, what's the best number of teams to have?"
Berman said repeatedly throughout this year that the NWSL can, one day, be as big as the NFL, which has 32 teams. She recently softened that stance, saying that she wasn't "intending to state we're going to have 32 teams by some date."GMs are split on this issue. Most said that they could not provide an ideal number of teams due to the uncertainty around other factors like player development pipelines. The most common answer, listed by three GMs, was 20 teams."Thirty-two is such an American thing," one GM said. "Find other ways to maximize revenue. It doesn't need to be 32 just because all the men's sports are. Other countries have shown that 20 teams with a 38-game season makes all the sense in the world."A prevailing concern is that rapid expansion without a higher salary cap will lead to mediocrity - "a lot of OK teams," as one GM said. Others cited the addition of the USL Super League and Canada's Northern Super League, and how it is getting more difficult to fill out rosters.People on both sides of the debate brought up the need for geographically divided conferences to reduce travel. One general manager said travel in such a large country, from chartered flights to better hotels and meals, needs to improve to attract top players.
6. "Which city should the NWSL expand to next?"
GMs were surveyed long before Atlanta was announced as the NWSL's 17th team, set to begin play in 2028, and it makes sense given that many of those polled have always been fond of the market's potential."It's a soccer city, and they've got everything facility-wise," one GM said. Another said, "preferably someone that has a grass field," while a colleague said, "the league needs to stress warm weather locations to be able to consider refining the competition calendar to align with the FIFA calendar."Cincinnati, which was one of three finalists for the 2026 expansion slot that ultimately went to Denver, was the next most common answer. One GM said that "they should move Louisville to Cincinnati." A second GM also proposed relocating Louisville because of its commercial struggles as a small market.One GM who voted for Cincinnati stressed the increasing importance of facilities. "This venue equation is huge," they said. "Look at San Diego. They were at the top in so many of these metrics a couple years ago, but being the third or fourth tenant [Snapdragon Stadium also hosts MLS side San Diego FC, college football's San Diego State Aztecs and other big events], I think that's the root of some of their challenges."
7. "In last year's survey, many GMs felt that coaches and staff were too vulnerable to player accusations and lacked the protections to do their jobs. Do you feel the league has adequately addressed those concerns?"
Last year, there was a prevailing feeling among GMs that player power had "gone too far," to the point that staff couldn't properly do their jobs. This year, six general managers believe that those concerns were at least partly heard by the NWSL, although so...
8. "Of the NWSL's 14 active teams, which is the flagship team that is elevating the league most?"
The ambitions of NWSL teams vary greatly, creating a wide range of investment in infrastructure, staffing and players. The Kansas City Current built the league's first primary-tenant stadium as part of a $1 billion new business district. "You step into their stadium and you feel like you are in KC," one GM said.Another GM added that Kansas City's marketing and investment could be a blueprint for other markets: "They vomited teal everywhere and you just can't get away from it."Gotham FC also received plaudits for its smart executives and "not allowing [money] to be a crutch" in the country's most expensive market. Forthcoming expansion side Denver was name-dropped by one GM who was impressed with their plans to build a stadium and training facility. Angel City was named by one GM purely based on being "this commercial beast."
9. "Which of the NWSL's 14 active teams is holding the league back?"
Chicago Stars FC was the most common answer. "The ones at the bottom of the standings are there for a reason," one GM said, adding that poor facilities "bleed into a lot of things," including revenue. (Chicago is changing home venues in 2026.)But one GM took aim at recent expansion sides Utah Royals and Bay FC, who they say wasted a clean slate and major advantages like extra cash when they joined in 2024: "When you see the amount of money they spent on transfer fees and players, and what I call an advantage from their start, a fresh start, I wouldn't have bet that they would be in those positions in the standings."Racing Louisville FC's attendance struggles were brought up by the two GMs that chose them, with one saying "it's just a tough, tough market" to attract top players. The team averaged just over 5,000 fans per game this season, second worst in the league.
10. "Do you think the NWSL's plan to launch a second-division league is a good idea?"
The NWSL announced earlier this year that it plans to launch a second division to improve player development. Exactly what that league will look like, which teams will participate, or even when it will launch - Berman confirmed recently that 2026 is of...
11. "With the elimination of the college draft, is there still a long-term place for the college pipeline in the NWSL?"
Almost unanimously, those surveyed see the college game as a continued necessity for the development of professional players despite the elimination of the college draft system and the ongoing changes to NCAA athletics."A hundred percent," one GM said. "It's the unique thing about the United States and we shouldn't ignore that. Some of the best coaches coach in the collegiate game; some of our best players have come from the collegiate game; some of our best overall people have come from the collegiate game. It's just a big part of our culture here. To ignore it would be a catastrophe."Another GM said there needs to be "a cohesive plan" between the NCAA and NWSL. A colleague said the elimination of the draft has led to increased spending on scouting, while a different GM said teams initially paid "a ton of money to get kids out of college" without knowing how they would play as pros.One GM, however, felt that the elimination of the college draft would have major consequences. "The draft gave college players the opportunity to become a professional athlete. Taking that away has just restricted that. I think teams now will just go and get players from elsewhere that are probably at the level instead of taking the time [to develop]."
12. "Now that the USL Super League has played a full season as a first-division league, do you view it as a partner, competitor or something else?"
Several GMs clarified that they want the new first-division USL Super League to be a partner or that "it should be a partner," with many GMs citing the number of NWSL players who have been loaned to Super League teams."I wouldn't use the word partner," one GM said when pressed to label what sounded like that description. "It's a great development league for us to loan players to."Their biggest issue with creating a partnership is that they have found that Super League teams are not always willing to cover the entire salary of a player the NWSL team wants to loan out, which leaves the NWSL team with a salary cap hit and doesn't help them financially."Managing the budgets and some of the inabilities that they have, has hindered some of the movement we could have seen," a different GM added.Those who viewed it as a competitor cited that term more literally, since the Super League is also sanctioned as a first division. "They're positioning themselves that way," one GM said. "I don't view it that way at all. I don't think the coaches or the players feel that way."Another GM wants to see actual competition between the leagues: "We should have some kind of cup competition with them. Everyone's on their own different page."
13. "On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 1 being very unhappy and 5 being extremely happy, how would you rate the job USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has done to collaborate with NWSL teams?"
The NWSL and U.S. Soccer have been tethered since the league's launch in 2013. U.S. Soccer was the founding managing partner of the NWSL, and that remained the case until 2021, which makes Emma Hayes the first U.S. women's national team coach to operate en...
14. "Do you feel the NWSL has enough star power to break into the mainstream, and which player should the league build around as the face of the NWSL?"
Three GMs pointed out that the recent retirements of Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe have left a void in stardom in the NWSL. "They were really the needle-movers," one person said. "I think there's a massive gap right now. We're in between eras. Historically, it...
15. "Are you worried about more USWNT players opting to play overseas?"
The NWSL was founded by U.S. Soccer in late 2012 to provide USWNT players with a strong domestic league. The gamble paid off with World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, though recent moves by Thompson and Girma to Chelsea reignited questions about USWNT pl...
16. "How would you rank the following leagues from best to worst?"
The NWSL and England's WSL each claim to be the best in the world, and every GM agreed that those two leagues are tiers above the rest. So, we asked them to order these eight leagues - which we chose as a small sampling of global competitions - from be...
17. "Which player not in the NWSL would you most want to see play in the league?"
The desire for top Spanish players continued this year, although answers to this question were far more diverse than they were in 2024. Alexia Putellas, two-time Ballon d'Or and FIFA Best winner, was not named by anyone this year. Nor was OL Lyonnes forward Tabitha Chawinga. Both those players tied for first last year with four mentions apiece.Now, "Everyone wants to see [Aitana] Bonmatí here," one GM said. "She's so smart, talented and creative," another added. "She just makes every single person around her better. So, I'd like her on my team in the league, but I'd like her in the league."
18. "If you were building a team from scratch and had first dibs on any NWSL player right now - imagine current contracts are torn up - who would you sign?"
It's no surprise that reigning MVP and Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga (who might win both awards again) is top of mind."This is tough, because I want to say Chawinga, but I actually think that Chawinga changes the way her teams play, and I wouldn'...
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