Alyssa Thompson’s move to Chelsea raises more questions about NWSL salary cap
Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson ‘s recent move to Chelsea spurred questions about whether the National Women’s Soccer League is doing enough to keep its stars.
There are advantages to playing in the NWSL for many American players: the chance to stay close to home in a league regarded as one of the best in the world.
But over the years, some of the league’s big names have bolted for Europe. Australian Sam Kerr left for Chelsea in 2020, U.S. team captain Lindsey Heaps went to Lyon in 2022. More recently, Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox and Jenna Nighswonger have all moved overseas.
Earlier this year, Chelsea paid a $1 million transfer fee to the San Diego Wave for U.S. national team defender Naomi Girma.
Players who have left cite the adventure of living in a new culture and the challenges of a different playing style.
Thompson’s move hit a bit differently because she is still an emerging talent and was playing for her hometown team alongside her younger sister Gisele. Alyssa had signed a deal at the start of the year keeping her with Angel City through 2028. She signed a five-year contract with Chelsea. The terms are not known.
But her departure has put a spotlight on the NWSL’s salary cap, and whether it holds players back from their earning potential.
The NWSL’s salary cap is $3.3 million per team. The league has also introduced revenue sharing, bringing the total to $3.5 million. The cap will increase to $5.1 million by 2030.
The English Women’s Super League, in contrast, has a soft cap, which allows clubs to spend up to 40% of revenues on player and coach salaries — but that number is based on the parent clubs, which means teams like Chelsea and Arsenal can count revenues from their men’s teams.
Angel City forward Christen Press and former national team player Tobin Heath called on the NWSL to ditch the salary cap during an episode of their podcast “The Re-CAP Show.”
“There has to be a change. This has to be one of the hottest topics that are happening at the board level of the NWSL, the salary cap,” said Heath, who played in the NWSL and overseas. “Because I know that clubs in the NWSL, that are ambitious clubs, that want to be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea, with the likes of Barcelona — these teams are capped out. They can’t compete. They’re going to lose their best players.”
Heath said that even if teams wanted to sign a player to a big contract, that would mean less money for the rest of the roster, creating an imbalance that likely wouldn’t be attractive for an athlete looking to improve by playing against similar talent.
Ahead of the Champions League semifinal between Lyon and Arsenal in April, Heaps said she wanted a new challenge in moving to France, and theorized that’s why others moved, too.
“I think also the salary cap — there’s a salary cap in the NWSL and I think that’s an ongoing issue there that hopefully can be changed or increased. I think that’s a factor in the NWSL and for players coming overseas,” Heaps said during news conference before the semifinal.
At the same time, there are plenty of players moving from abroad to the NWSL. Women’s World Cup winner Esther Gonzalez left Real Madrid to play for Gotham FC. German international Ann Katrin Berger also plays for Gotham and Italy’s Sofia Cantore joined the Washington Spirit this summer.
“Player movement is a natural part of global football and underscores the rapid growth of women’s soccer worldwide,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman replied when asked for comment. “The NWSL continues to set the global standard with consistent growth, world-class talent and unmatched competitiveness.”
There’s no shortage of well-known players who currently call the NWSL home, including Gotham’s Rose Lavelle, Orlando’s Marta and the Spirit’s Trinity Rodman.
“It was like an option in my career to do this kind of experience, because I wanted to challenge myself in this league,” Cantore said. “And I was really happy when I had the first talk with Washington Spirit, because I had a good feeling about this club, so I decided to come here and to join this club and this league because, as I said, I want to challenge myself, and I want to learn more about myself on the pitch and out of the pitch.”
Alex Morgan, one of the NWSL’s original stars, who retired last year, believes the league still needs a salary cap.
“You look at all of the leagues here in the U.S. and the salary cap is here for a reason, the leagues are incredibly successful. And obviously the NWSL is doing something right with the valuation of these teams becoming really high with so much international talent, top talent signing in the U.S., signing in the NWSL in the last couple of years,” Morgan said. “Can you get every single thing right all the time? No. So I think the salary is something NWSL has to look at moving forward. But I think it’s fair to say the NWSL is the most competitive league in the world, and it competes as one of the top three leagues overall in the world when you think of talent.”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Soccer Writer
