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Once again women’s soccer is leading the way. Did you expect anything less? Schools are back in session and so is soccer! I’m Emily Olsen here with Meg Linehan and Jeff Rueter — welcome to Full Time!
A New Deal
No more ‘blindside’ trades in NWSL
As the NWSL returned this week, players wore the same white shirt, which read “We Said Now,” in honor of finalizing a new collective bargaining agreement with the league through 2030. If you missed any of the details, Meg and Steph Yang have you covered on the latest episode of the Full Time podcast. Here are some of the highlights:
- No more drafts (entry or expansion).
- Minimum salary in 2025 will be $48.5k, rising to $82.5k by 2030.
- Players cannot be traded without their consent.
That last one was crucial for players.
💬 “Pay is great and everything, and I think that’s really important, but I would say one of my favorite things is not being able to be blindside traded,” Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman said. “It’s sports, and trades happen and you need to move, but at the same time, it’s like you need to be able to process as a human being to play at your best.”
The new CBA also opened up free agency, first introduced in 2022, to every player when their contracts expire.
The deal, initiated early by NWSL after the 2023 Women’s World Cup wake-up call, took over 10 months and more than 20 bargaining sessions to be completed. Many players skipped vacations to meet for long briefings. Forty-three players made up the bargaining committee, including five athletes who negotiated in person in Philadelphia. One of those five, Brianna Pinto, joined the podcast to take you behind the scenes.
Big-name free agents
It didn’t take long for the new CBA to make a difference. On Monday, the players’ association provided the initial list of free agents for when the window opens on Sept. 1.
Some players opt to use free agency as leverage to help negotiate a new contract. The 88-strong list includes some very notable names:
Christen Press recently returned to Angel City after recovering from an ACL injury. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
Teams also have until Sunday to exercise any enforceable options for 2025. The list provided by the NWSLPA did not include players with options remaining on their contract for 2025. The initial list may change in the coming days.
On The Field: Weekend Highlights
The NWSL returned with plenty of exciting moments and a couple of spot changes in the standings. Our numbers guy Jeff Rueter kept stock throughout, so we asked him for a little insight:
There were plenty of standout performances among the teams dusting off cobwebs. Who impressed you most?
Jeff: It’s safe to say that Spirit forward Croix Bethune has forever changed our idea of what an NWSL rookie can achieve. The freshly minted Olympic gold medalist tied the league’s single-season assist record. Her 10th dish helped Washington to a 4-1 win over the KC Current. The Spirit, with new head coach Jonatan Giráldez’s, looks like a bona fide contender to challenge for the title.
Who should we keep our eyes on?
Despite being the youngest member of the 2023 World Cup roster, Alyssa Thompson hasn’t shown up in many conversations about USWNT coach Emma Hayes’ current attacking options. The 19-year-old may be forcing the issue, ending a goalscoring drought by notching her first two tallies of the season in a 2-1 win over San Diego. She’ll look to force her way back into the senior national team for its fall friendlies.
Where does the reigning champion sit as we head toward the home stretch?
Gotham FC’s offseason saw the defending champion stockpile stars like Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn and Tierna Davidson, hoping for a title defense. While many have missed time due to injuries and the Olympics, a pair of relatively unsung heroes shone brightly on Sunday. Electric newcomer Ella Stevens — you’ll remember her ice-cold assist from last month — and do-everything Yazmeen Ryan, who was featured in our preseason watchlist, scored to see off the Portland Thorns and give Gotham a seven-point cushion above the Thorns for fourth place. And both players earned a nomination for goal of the week.
Meg’s Corner: Rapinoe’s reign immortalized
The Reign retired Megan Rapinoe’s jersey number. (Photo by Stephen Brashear, USA TODAY Sports)
My favorite moment this weekend happened in Seattle, right as Sunday turned into Monday on the East Coast.
Emeri Adames, 18, scored a late game-winner for the Reign against the North Carolina Courage (in the end, attributed to Casey Murphy as an own goal). Adames wheeled off to the corner to celebrate. Her hero, Megan Rapinoe, favored the same corner at Lumen Field. And it was the same celebration too: arms out, chin up, The Pose.
Hours before the game, Adames had posted a photo of her as a kid with Rapinoe. On Sunday night in Seattle, the Reign retired Rapinoe’s number in front of 16,598 fans and Adames, who was signed by the team in March using the under-18 mechanism (then as a 17-year-old).
Sorry to do this to the rest of you, but I suffered so everyone else reading this can too: Rapinoe made her USWNT debut on July 23, 2006 — Emeri Adames was 111 days old.
But isn’t that the perfect legacy in action on a jersey retirement night? Rapinoe hasn’t really gone all that far, especially with her podcast with fiancée Sue Bird starting back up again. Her speech was short and sweet (and of course, included an f-bomb), but there wasn’t much need to revisit all those emotions of last year’s farewell tour.
Instead, there was that perfect moment, the next generation stepping up on the field and owning the joy of celebration. And up in the stands, Rapinoe celebrated along with everyone else.
A Message from Delta
Imagery provided by Delta
Feel at home with Delta
When you think about it, half the trips the world takes are trips home. Home–what we all eventually long to get back to, no matter what took us away to begin with. Those at Delta know that. Because all 100,000 of them are, above all, travelers just like you. It’s why they try to make you feel at home long before you even get there. Delta Air Lines, the Official Airline of the NWSL.
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Notables
Dahlkemper heads home
San Diego Wave’s first signing, defender Abby Dahlkemper, is headed to Bay FC, while $50,000 in allocation money is headed the Wave’s way. Dahlkemper signed with her hometown team through the 2026 season with an option for 2027. Remember: Under the NWSL CBA, there are no more trades without players’ consent. Dahlkemper saw this move as an opportunity she’d “dreamt” of to play in front of family and friends for the first time in her club career.
Williams’ gold medal fiasco
USWNT forward Lynn Williams broke her Olympic gold medal, making it one of the world’s “most expensive coasters.” The forward admitted to twirling the prize above her head (with video evidence) but said it didn’t actually break in those moments. Instead, the final crack was much more innocuous.
“I had it on my shoulder like a little purse and I was just jump dancing … and it just fell off,” she said.
Luckily for Williams, in the meantime, Tiffany and Co. — the NWSL’s official sponsor — is gifting all 59 players who competed in Paris, including alternates, a white gold necklace to celebrate. (Side note: If anyone wants to get their favorite newsletter writers something similar, it’s going to cost at least $1,650).
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(Top photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today Sports)
