NWSL Salaries See Major Increase Since League’s Start
The first National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) game of 2025 is just over two weeks away, marking the start of the first full season under the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) approved last July. The CBA brings significant changes to the league, including the elimination of the draft, a ban on trading players without their consent, and an expansion of charter flights for teams.
Among the most notable updates are changes to player salaries.
The NWSL salary cap will rise from $3.3 million in 2025 to $5.1 million in 2030. Teams will also be able to access additional funds from a media revenue-sharing program, expected to add at least $200,000 to the salary cap each year.
In previous seasons, teams could use allocation money to supplement player salaries, with unused funds rolling over each year. Teams will now have until 2026 to use up any remaining allocation money.
When the league started in 2013, the minimum salary set for players was just $6,000 with the highest salary at $30,000. Today, the minimum salary surpasses the maximum a player could earn just six years ago. With the new agreement, the minimum salary will grow by a factor of 1.7 times over the next five years, reaching $82,500 in 2030.
The salary growth may help make the NWSL more competitive with international women’s soccer leagues which have less strict salary caps proportional to revenue.