A deep dive into the new NWSL CBA and women’s pro soccer landscape in North America

After a lengthy back-and-forth, NWSL players signed a new CBA back in August, ushering in a new era of player empowerment. Along with increased salaries, charter flights, and more, perhaps the most revolutionary change is the elimination of all drafts.

❌ As is typical across most North American sports, the college draft existed to promote parity, allowing the worst teams to select the best players from the pool first.

• However, in recent years, top prospective players, like now–USWNT rising stars Mia Fishel and Catarina Macario, declined to play for the NWSL, opting to play abroad and weakening the draft’s purpose in the process.

❌ When it came to expansion drafts, the ability to select unprotected players from the already-existing NWSL pool was met with considerable ire from players, especially considering drafted athletes were forced to uproot their lives, move, and join a new team.

• But thanks to the new CBA, the NWSL is the first top-tier U.S. pro league to do away with drafts entirely, leaving teams, coaches, and players to navigate a new world where athletes have the final say.

⏩ That brings us to free agency. Free agency itself was only introduced in 2022, nine years after the league's founding. In the past, players were eligible for unrestricted free agency only after completing a certain number of seasons. Restricted free agency — where a player’s current team had the opportunity to match an offer from a competitor — was the more common vehicle.

• Now, the system has evolved: once a player completes their contract, they become an unrestricted free agent, free to negotiate with any team they choose. Additionally, players under contract cannot be traded to another team without their consent. Game-changing.

So if there isn’t a draft, how do college players turn pro and join the NWSL? It’s simple: Any prospective player is automatically a free agent and can speak with all 14 (and counting!) NWSL teams and field offers without restrictions. Time to update that LinkedIn.

• That said, to go pro, a college player needs to have graduated from their university or declined their remaining collegiate eligibility. This prevents current students from signing pro contracts while still participating in the NCAA.

Without the draft, it’s no longer a given that the best college player will go to the worst-performing team. Similar to the high school-to-college pipeline, athletes now have the agency to decide if a team is right for them. Consequently, expect NWSL teams to operate like colleges, focusing on recruitment to convince top players to sign with them.

• A rookie can truly alter a team’s trajectory, like the Washington Spirit’s Croix Bethune, whose debut 2024 NWSL season earned her Rookie and Midfielder of the Year honors — and that’s despite only playing 17 (of 26) games due to injury.

The NWSL transfer window has been open since December 13th and will remain open until March 24th, when the season is underway. We’ve already seen many signings from the college pool, like 17-year-old UNC center back and NCAA champion Trinity Armstrong, who just signed with the San Diego Wave to fill the Naomi Girma–sized hole in their backline.

• Girma, a USWNT star and largely touted as the best center back in the world, is heading to Chelsea (in England’s Women’s Super League, WSL) in exchange for a record $1.1 million transfer fee. Sheesh.

As for the vets, established NWSL players have been making serious moves this offseason. The NWSL’s all-time leading scorer, former NJ/NY Gotham FC star Lynn Williams, is heading to the Seattle Reign to be closer to family on the West Coast, while Wave forward Jaedyn Shaw is starting fresh on the North Carolina Courage, completing a trade she requested over a year ago.

• Williams and Shaw were not free agents this season, but under the new rules, they still needed to consent to their trades in order for them to go through.

• Meanwhile, free agents like forwards Christen Press and Sydney Leroux (Angel City FC), and U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year, goalie Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Stars FC), all chose to re-sign with their respective clubs.

But there are still free agents who remain unsigned, like Kansas City Current goalie AD Franch, Gotham forward Midge Purce, and Portland Thorns defender Meghan Klingenberg. Watch this space.

It’s not just the NWSL making major moves. While the majority of the NWSL’s top available talent and prospects are picked up by the top European leagues (England’s WSL, France’s Première Ligue, Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga, and Spain’s Liga F), you can’t sleep on North America’s other leagues. Here are three other high-level, pro women’s leagues on this side of the pond.

🇺🇸 USL Super League (USLSL): Another American Division I women’s soccer league, the USLSL launched in 2024 not to compete with the NWSL, but rather to co-exist and provide more opportunities for women to go pro in the U.S. Notably, the USLSL runs on a fall-to-summer calendar, mirroring European leagues and opposing the NWSL’s spring-to-fall schedule.

• Most recently, the USL’s Spokane Zephyr FC scooped up former Chicago Red Stars forward Ally Cook.

🇨🇦 Northern Super League (NSL): Canada’s long-awaited professional league is finally (almost) here, with the six-team NSL — composed of AFC Toronto, Halifax Tides FC, Ottawa Rapid FC, Montréal Roses FC, Calgary Wild FC, and Vancouver Rise FC — launching in April.

• Defender Croix Soto recently became the first international player to join the NSL, leaving the Houston Dash to sign with Toronto in November.

• And in January, CanWNT legend (and friend of The GIST) Quinn signed with Vancouver alongside former Seattle teammate and fellow midfielder Nikki Stanton. Who says you can’t go home?

🇲🇽 Liga MX Femenil: Mexico’s top women’s league is massively popular, attracting global superstars like Spanish midfielder Jenni Hermoso and drawing enormous crowds.

• The 18-team league launched in 2017 and offers competitive salaries, bringing in stars from around the world while also helping develop talent for Mexico’s national team, who notably upset the USWNT 2–0 in the Concacaf W Gold Cup last February.

• Some players, however, have publicly complained about safety concerns in the league and an overall air of machismo.