The NWSL has announced the rules for the 2021 NWSL Expansion Draft, set to take place on Thursday, Dec. 16 and feature both Angel City Football Club and San Diego NWSL.
Teams will provide a list of protected and unprotected players that will be distributed to all clubs on Friday, Dec. 10. Per the agreement that was set forth when the team was established, Kansas City is exempt from the draft.
The rest of the teams are allowed to protect a total of nine players, including one USWNT player. All other players will be unprotected.
Additionally, ACFC and San Diego may only pick one player from each team for nine total players respectively. They will also each receive one $150,000 Funded Allocation Money grant to keep or exchange if they select an unprotected U.S. allocated player from a team.
Racing Louisville traded Christen Press to Angel City earlier in August in exchange for full roster protection in the expansion draft (as well as a first-round pick and $75,000 in allocation money).
Any individual that is on the Discovery List of a team is not eligible to be selected in the draft.
Additionally, another roster rule change was announced, with the number of international spots on each roster increasing to five (up from four). The extra spot is a tradable asset.