The NWSL salary cap has become a hot topic in recent weeks, with big-name — and big-money — transfers like Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson's overseas move to Chelsea and North Carolina Courage striker Jaedyn Shaw's reportedly imminent trade to Gotham raising concerns about the league's financial edge.
While Shaw's reported league-record $1.25 million trade proves that US teams are willing to pay a premium for top talent, the disparity between flashy transfer fees and salary limitations could be holding the NWSL back.
"I know that in the NWSL there are ambitious clubs that want to be able to compete with the likes of a Chelsea, with the likes of a Barcelona," retired USWNT star Tobin Heath said on last week's episode of The RE—CAP Show. "These teams are capped out, they can't compete. They're going to lose their best players."
The league's most recent collective bargaining agreement sets each NWSL club's current salary cap at $3.3 million, which will titrate up to $5.1 million by 2030 while also adding potential revenue sharing options.
In 2024, the average league salary was $117,000. However, with 22- to 26-player rosters, teams often low-ball some athletes in order to afford to pay out for superstars.
Soft salary cap overseas lures soccer's top players
In comparison, the UK's WSL and second-tier WSL2 operate with soft caps, recently shifting to a framework that allows teams to spend up to 80% of their revenue plus a capped contribution from club owners on player salaries.
"We have no intent to kind of 'cap' any players' earnings," WSL Football COO Holly Murdoch told The Guardian earlier this month. "We're at the investment stage of women's football, so we don't want to deter investment. We don't want to put in rules that don't make us an attractive investment."
With NWSL top earners Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman becoming free agents in 2026, the US league might need to rethink its model to stay competitive in an increasingly aggressive global market.
Global seven-a-side soccer venture World Sevens Football (W7F) is on its way Stateside, announcing Tuesday that the second-ever W7F tournament will kick off in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, later this year.
After a successful debut in Portugal last May, the eight-team competition will put another $5 million purse on the line when it takes over Beyond Bancard Field, the home of the USL Super League's Fort Lauderdale United FC from December 5th through the 7th.
While European clubs — including eventual champions Bayern Munich — dominated the inaugural W7F field, the tournament is now looking to platform teams based in North and South America for its US edition.
Like the first iteration, W7F will again team up with media partner DAZN for live match coverage from Florida.
W7F boasts a Player Advisory Council that includes the USWNT's two-time World Cup champions Tobin Heath and Kelley O'Hara, plus a trio of former international stars — England defender Anita Asante, longtime Sweden captain and midfielder Caroline Seger, and France defender Laura Georges — all of whom are also shareholders in the upstart.
"We saw undeniable proof of concept [in Portugal]. Now, we're building on that momentum," W7F head of football Adrian Jacob said in Tuesday's press release. "This isn't just a tournament — it's a movement, this time in America, where women's soccer has unprecedented momentum."
Legendary USWNT attacker Tobin Heath officially announced her retirement from soccer on Thursday, nearly three years after playing her final professional match.
"Over New Year's, I actually came to the full acceptance that I wasn't going to be playing," the 37-year-old explained on her podcast, The RE-CAP Show.
In her 13 years with the senior national team, Heath — widely regarded as one of the most technical players in US history — earned two World Cup titles (2015, 2019) and three Olympic medals (gold in 2008 and 2012, and bronze in 2021).
Across her 181 USWNT caps, the 2016 US Soccer Athlete of the Year logged 36 goals and 42 assists, making her final appearance for the States on October 26th, 2021.
At the club level, Heath spent seven seasons with the Portland Thorns, helping the team to NWSL Championships in 2013 and 2017, as well as the 2016 NWSL Shield.
While her career also included European stints with the Première Ligue's PSG as well as WSL sides Manchester United and Arsenal, Heath ended her pro run with the 2022 NWSL Shield-winning Seattle Reign, playing what would be her final soccer match on August 14th of that year.
Injury ends Heath's soccer career
The end of Heath's career is not what the creative, nutmegging winger anticipated.
"I thought I was literally going to be peeled off the field," Heath told The Athletic on Wednesday.
However, a 2022 serious left knee injury left Heath unable to play soccer — even at a casual level — ultimately forcing her retirement.
"I tried f---ing everything to get back, I spent tens of thousands of dollars and [had] two surgeries, one crazy surgery," Heath said on her podcast. "And the whole time I believed I was going to get back."
"Football is a 360-degree sport, and I can't do it," she told The Athletic. "So that part is the hardest part. The actual playing of soccer is gone."
Heath still working to lift up women's soccer in retirement
Despite coming to terms with the end of her on-pitch career, Heath isn't leaving the world of soccer anytime soon, helping lead the newly launched World Sevens Football and joining FIFA's technical study group for the men's Club World Cup.
Elevating football — particularly the women's game — is a pursuit that began for Heath with the Portland Thorns.
"[Portland] showed what women's sports could be," she explained. "I was dreaming of the world that I wanted to create."
The 2019 World Cup run then solidified that mission, with the USWNT adding a fourth star to their crest while also facing a pressure-cooker of expectations amid political tension and a contentious fight for equal pay.
"You can't feel what we felt...and not believe that you're doing something so f---ing important for the world," said Heath.
"You feel that responsibility — and that's what it is — and you want to keep carrying that responsibility as far forward as you can."
Seven-a-side football is going global, with the newly announced World Sevens Football (W7F) set to kick off in May 2025.
Promising a $5 million prize pool per event, W7F will be a series of competitions in the same fashion as tennis' Grand Slams, with tournaments scheduled in "football-loving cities" worldwide.
Jennifer Mackesy, a minority owner of the NWSL’s Gotham FC and the WSL’s Chelsea FC, is a co-founder of the new soccer venture. Additionally, some of the game’s biggest names are backing W7F, including the USWNT's two-time World Cup champions Tobin Heath and Kelley O’Hara.
Heath is helming the W7F's player advisory council, which includes O'Hara and a trio of former international stars — England defender Anita Asante, longtime Sweden captain and midfielder Caroline Seger, and France defender Laura Georges — who are all shareholders in the organization as well.
Aly Wagner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the USWNT and co-founder of the NWSL's Bay FC, is serving as the new venture's chief of strategy.
"I'm so excited to play a role in building World Sevens Football," O’Hara said in a press release. "This groundbreaking format brings a new level of energy to the game while creating incredible opportunities for female footballers to showcase their talent on a global stage — and compete for a very lucrative prize pool."
"W7F is creating a future where women footballers have greater opportunities, financial security, and a bigger platform to connect with fans," echoed Heath in a statement. "This is about legacy — about changing the game for generations to come. And as a 1v1 artist myself, this format is a dream stage for those duels."
W7F to kick off alongside Champions League final
Each event will field eight professional women's clubs to compete in seven-on-seven matches, with teams explicitly in charge of all roster decisions. Games will be comprised of two 15-minute halves, with potential extra time periods for tiebreakers.
The first-ever contest will take place in Portugal from May 21st through 23rd, offering soccer fans an early treat ahead of the May 24th UEFA Women’s Champions League final, with at least one more W7F tournament currently in the works for 2025.
Already the broadcaster of the UWCL, streamer DAZN will be W7F’s global broadcasting, production, and marketing partner.
On the latest episode of the RE-CAP Show, USWNT star Tobin Heath revealed that she underwent a second knee surgery in her quest to return to the pitch.
Heath hasn’t played since the 2022 NWSL season, when her tenure with then-OL Reign was cut short due to a knee surgery. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Champion, she hasn't addressed her playing career much over the last two years.
In the latest RE-CAP Show episode, Heath revealed that she had to receive a cartilage transplant in her knee.
"I think it was public when I got my first knee surgery, which was actually just kind of a clean-out of the knee," Heath said. "I ended up trying to rehab back for about a year and got pretty close. I thought about signing for a team. At that time I didn’t think I was there enough with the knee to be able to commit fully to a team, because the way I play football is I’m all in — like I play to be at the highest level, I play to be winning World Cups, Olympics, club championships.
"And then obviously with that first surgery not helping, I got a second pretty big surgery with my knee that then put me in the category of like, 'Will I ever play professionally again?'"
Initially, Heath says she wasn’t aware of the gravity of the second surgery. But an examination of her knee revealed that she needed a more intensive repair than previously thought.
"When I got there, I thought I was going to be getting kind of like a smaller version of a surgery, and right before I got into surgery, there was kind of a big revelation about the current state of my knee that put me in the category to get a serious knee surgery. It was a cartilage transplant," Heath said.
While Heath said she hasn’t exactly closed the door on a potential return, she's currently focusing intently on rehab — with the future remaining unclear.
"I kind of just pray to God and say like, 'Whatever your will is for my career, that’s what it’s going to be,'" she added. "And I’ll just work my ass off and see where that gets."
Tobin Heath spent her Monday at the White House, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Play Act.
The Act helped to make equal pay laws more enforceable, and Heath was present at the White House on Monday to talk about the U.S. women’s national team’s fight for equal pay.
We also heard from equal pay champions like @Lilly_Ledbetter and @TobinHeath about their fights for equal pay—on how far we have come and how far we still have to go. pic.twitter.com/3B9TlB7vjE
— White House Gender Policy Council (@WhiteHouseGPC) January 30, 2024
“I’ve been so fortunate to be able to play on the U.S. women’s national team that’s become synonymous for the fight for equal pay,” she said during a White House Instagram story. “I’m so happy to be here with my fellow champions and trailblazers of equal pay, to be able to continue to champion the progress to really close the wage gap.”
Heath was a member of the group that sued U.S. Soccer in 2019 in the team’s fight for equal pay. In 2022, the federation and both national team announced a historic CBA that guaranteed equal pay for the women’s and men’s teams.
It’s not Heath’s first time having been to the White House. Twice she’s attended as a member of both the 2015 and 2019 World Cup winning teams.
“It’s an honor to be here today to discuss fair pay. I remember we were here after our 2015 World Cup win and at that time that was before we had actually sued our employer for equal pay,” she continued. “And it’s incredible the progress that then had been made right before the 2019 World Cup. We were fighting for equal pay and we won that World Cup and everything culminated in this moment where, we thought you know, the whole world would have been chanting USA and the whole world was chanting equal pay.”
While the USWNT was among the first to fully guarantee equal pay, there’s still work to be done. Other federations, like Canada, are fighting for equal pay.
“It’s important the work that’s being done,” Heath continued. “We need to continue to fight for the progress of equal pay. It will mean a better future for us all. And that’s what we’re here to celebrate and to continue to champion.”
Lindsey Horan wants to see better coaches and better youth development for the U.S. women’s national team.
A four-episode Netflix docuseries released Tuesday, titled “Under Pressure,” chronicles the USWNT’s journey at the 2023 World Cup, which ended in disappointment.
In the fourth episode, co-captain Horan offered up some criticism after the team’s exit in the Round of 16, which was its earliest ever at a World Cup. Horan, who plays for French club Olympique Lyonnais, attributes the disappointing result in part to the rest of the world catching up – and in part to the evolving style of play.
“The international game, it’s such a nice style of football,” Horan said. “You’re playing these little tiny passes here and there. They’re so confident on the ball. They’re so technical. We need to progress in this possession style of play. We need better coaches. We need better youth development. We need more investment there.”
Some of the issues with the USWNT also can be traced back to former head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who resigned following the World Cup.
“I don’t think we were set up well to go on and have the success to win it,” Lynn Williams said in the series. “When you only win three out of the ten games, there’s no way you’re gonna have that coach carry on. … When we’re held to this standard, the coaching staff also has to be.”
Alex Morgan, Horan’s co-captain, noted that both she and Horan had “really honest” conversations with Andonovski. But she also knows that not every player felt as comfortable or could be as vulnerable with their coach.
And Horan also acknowledged that some of the responsibility for the team’s failure fell on the players.
“Obviously Vlatko gives us the game plan every single game, but we’re the players on the field,” she said.
New head coach Emma Hayes has brought some life back to the squad, with players excited about the new direction. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore will lead the team until Hayes joins in May following the conclusion of Chelsea’s season. But the Paris Olympics start in July, leading some to question whether or not the team can succeed in the short term. And for some, succeeding in the short term is imperative.
“How we silence the critics going forward now, in this moment,” former USWNT forward Tobin Heath said near the end of the series, “is we go to an Olympics, and we win an Olympics.”
Tobin Heath is opening up about the 2020 NWSL expansion draft and the heartbreak that came with it.
At the time, Heath was playing with Manchester United in the Women’s Super League, with the Portland Thorns retaining her NWSL rights. Heath, who had been with the club since their inaugural season in 2013, was selected by Racing Louisville in the expansion draft after going unprotected by Portland.
In the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” Heath called her selection by Louisville “the biggest heartbreak of my life.”
“For me, playing in Portland was one of the greatest honors of my life. It gave me a childhood dream,” she said. “It was a big surprise to me to learn I was picked up in the expansion process. And I will say, I envisioned myself playing in Portland for the rest of my career.
“I envisioned myself living in Portland for the rest of my life and putting all of my football and everything that community gave me back into the club.”
While she was playing with Manchester United during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was told “by all parties” in the NWSL that she didn’t have to worry about the expansion draft. But she knew as soon as she got the phone call that she had been picked up.
“Immediately, I was kind of in denial,” she said, noting that she told her agent to tell Racing Louisville that “there’s no way I will ever show up.” She held true to that, continuing to play overseas before her rights were eventually traded to OL Reign. She played five games for the Seattle-based club in 2022 before being sidelined by injury.
“In one way, it had nothing to do with that particular club, but it had everything to do with the club I was currently on,” she said. “I have never cried harder in my life. I couldn’t console myself.”
Both Heath and co-host Christen Press also talked more generally about the expansion draft and the effect that it can have on players.
“Sometimes players are really excited about it. Sometimes players want to move,” Heath said. “So then there’s the very opposite of that, where maybe there’s a player that has signed a long-term contract with a club, has invested time there, has put down roots there, and they are left unprotected and therefore could be picked up.
“And I think there’s a little bit of chicken and egg that happens, where clubs play some games seeing which players they can leave unprotected and still have the feeling that they won’t get picked.”
Press talked about the issue with the NWSL basing its structure, including the expansion draft, off American sports leagues such as the NBA and NHL, rather than mirroring the European soccer system.
“My issue with our league being based off those leagues is multifaceted, but one big problem, I think, when it comes to reallocating or the way that players are moved around and traded around, it doesn’t work for this league because the players aren’t getting paid enough,” she said. “All of the moving pieces, which in this case are human beings, really matter.”
Megan Rapinoe underwent surgery to repair the torn Achilles tendon in her right leg, she and OL Reign announced Wednesday.
The longtime U.S. women’s national team and OL Reign forward sustained the injury early in the 2023 NWSL Championship, which also was the final match of her storied career.
“I wasn’t overly emotional about it,” Rapinoe said after OL Reign’s 2-1 loss to Gotham FC. “I mean, f—ing yeeted my Achilles in the sixth minute in my last game ever in the literal championship game.”
Her former USWNT teammate Christen Press, though, couldn’t hold back her own emotions while watching the game at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, as Tobin Heath shared on the latest episode of their podcast, “The RE-CAP Show.”
“I was looking around trying to see if the stadium was processing what was happening,” Heath said. “And I looked over you and you were crying. And it was such a complicated moment of feelings.”
“We just were not ready for the end to come right at the beginning,” Press said. “And when I texted Pinoe after the game, I told her: Three tears hit the floor. That’s what happened, three giant, real tears hit the floor underneath my shoes.
“And you know what I thought? I thought, those aren’t tears of pity. She’s too important. She’s had too big of a career. She’s had too much success and joy playing this sport for us to have pity. That would be a disservice to the legacy that she’s leaving.
“And the tears fell from my face with love and pride to be able to have shared the field and the locker room with someone who has had such a long-lasting impact and will continue to have that long-lasting impact.”
Rapinoe handled the injury with grace during the championship match, even as her teammates and opponents spoke of their devastation on her behalf. And that continued as she began her recovery.
“Surgery a success. Home, resting, being taken care of,” she wrote on Instagram, tagging her fiancée Sue Bird. “Thank you for all the love, well wishes and good vibes sent my way.”
Forward Megan Rapinoe underwent successful surgery to repair her torn Achilles tendon, led by Dr. O’Malley, this morning in New York and will immediately begin her recovery process during retirement.
— OL Reign PR (@OLReignPR) November 15, 2023
Christen Press was as excited as the rest of the soccer community to watch Ali Krieger take home the 2023 NWSL Championship with Gotham FC.
On the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” Press described herself as “on the edge of our seats” for the entirety of Saturday’s final. And one of the best parts of the match was getting to see how loved Krieger is. Press and Krieger played together on the 2015 and 2019 World Cup squads for the U.S. women’s national team.
“I think that it is warm and fuzzies to the max. This player, our friend, is so loved,” Press told co-host Tobin Heath. “She is adored by her teammates, by the teams that she plays on, by the entire community. … The Ali Krieger supporter group was massive and it was loud. We had Ali Krieger chants reverberating through the stadium the entire time, and that must be so cool to feel that in your final match.”
Part of what made it so satisfying to watch Krieger win the championship, Press said, is how Krieger has valued the NWSL from the very start of the league. While some treated it as a “stepping stone” for the national team, Krieger always has valued the NWSL on its own merit.
“I have never experienced someone who is able to put so much effort and energy and love into every single day of what she does,” Press continued. “She plays every single game like it’s the World Cup. She plays five-on-five in training like it’s a World Cup final.
“I’m like, aren’t you exhausted carrying this much for this long? I do not know how you do it. I do not understand how you could care that much all the freaking time.”
She also attributed part of Gotham’s energy and culture to what Krieger has established since joining the club last year.
“You’ve got a player that has done what she needs to do in her career,” she said. “And instead of being like, this is my victory tour, she says at the beginning of the season, ‘I want to win this trophy, I have not won this trophy.’ She frickin’ manifested that.”