Soccer phenom Trinity Rodman slept in till 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
“I used to be supposed to hang around with my household, and so they knew to not name me,” she stated at NWSL media day. “I did not depart my mattress, did not take my bonnet off.”
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It was a a lot wanted reset for the Washington Spirit star after a whirlwind of an offseason. Apart from scoring two targets with the USA Girls’s Nationwide Staff within the final week, Rodman has been on the middle of arguably in girls’s sports activities that reached its finish final week. Rodman signed a brand new cope with the Spirit reportedly price greater than $1 million a 12 months via 2028, in league historical past and girls’s participant on the earth.
“I could not even actually think about leaving,” Rodman advised USA TODAY Sports activities. “Not even simply my home, the followers within the stadium. I am unable to think about a unique feeling than what you get in DC. It is identical to each match day, you are simply so excited to work together and really feel that from the gang. And it is not even simply sport day. It is sport day with them.”
Rodman — a free agent after her contract with the Spirit expired on the finish of 2025 — initially agreed to phrases with the membership on a multi-million greenback contract in December, however NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman vetoed the deal as a result of she believed it “violated the spirt of the league.” The NWSL Gamers Affiliation filed a grievance on Rodman’s behalf.
In the meantime, Rodman was reportedly receiving curiosity from a number of European golf equipment simply months after different high-profile NWSL stars equivalent to Alyssa Thompson and Naomi Girma left for million-dollar transfers abroad. The NWSL’s response to attempt to hold their prime expertise got here within the type of the , which allowed golf equipment to exceed the league’s wage cap by as much as $1 million for gamers that met the next standards:
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Participant is on SportsPro Media High 150 Most Marketable Athletes inside the one 12 months previous to the present league season; or,
Participant is chosen within the High 30 in Ballon d’Or voting within the two years previous to the present league season; or
Participant is chosen within the High 40 of the Guardian High 100 soccer gamers on the earth within the two years prior; or
Participant is chosen within the High 40 of ESPN FC High 50 soccer gamers on the earth within the two years prior; or
High 11 minutes performed for the USWNT within the prior two calendar years for area gamers for all competitors sorts; or
High one minutes performed for USWNT within the prior two calendar years for goalkeepers for all competitors sorts; or
Participant chosen as NWSL MVP Finalist inside earlier the 2 league seasons; or
Participant chosen to the Finish of 12 months NWSL Finest XI First Staff inside the earlier two league seasons.
The rule shortly got here beneath hearth for its restrictive standards. USWNT head coach Emma Hayes stated till it was introduced. The a month later, saying the league violated federal labor regulation and the collective bargaining settlement by unilaterally implementing the wage change and calling for the “rapid rescission of the HIP rule.”
As a substitute resolution, the union proposed the league might elevate the wage cap, which might not have violated the phrases of the CBA.
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NWSL champions via the years
2025: Gotham FC (defeated Washington Spirit within the 2025 NWSL Championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2025: Gotham FC (defeated Washington Spirit within the 2025 NWSL Championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2025: Washington Spirit (Problem Cup winner)
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NWSL champions via the years
2024: Orlando Satisfaction (defeated Washington Spirit within the 2024 NWSL Championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2023: NJ/NY Gotham FC (defeated OL Reign within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2023: North Carolina Braveness (Problem Cup winner)
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NWSL champions via the years
2022: Portland Thorns FC (defeated Kansas Metropolis Present within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2022: North Carolina Braveness (Problem Cup winner)
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NWSL champions via the years
2021: Washington Spirit (defeated Chicago Crimson Stars within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2021; Portland Thorns FC (Problem Cup winner)
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NWSL champions via the years
2020: Houston Sprint (Problem Cup winner)
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NWSL champions via the years
2019: North Carolina Braveness (defeated Chicago Crimson Stars within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2018: North Carolina Braveness (defeated Portland Thorns FC within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2016: Western New York Flash (defeated Washington Spirit within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2015: FC Kansas Metropolis (defeated Seattle Reign FC within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2014: FC Kansas Metropolis (defeated Seattle Reign FC within the championship sport)
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NWSL champions via the years
2013: Portland Thorns FC (defeated Western New York Flash within the championship sport)
However for all of the controversy, the gamers at media day appeared to overwhelmingly be in favor of the rule.
“It is nice that that occurred,” Mallory Swanson, Rodman’s USWNT teammate, stated. “That is altering the sport.”
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Swanson stated she is not totally caught up on the rule itself because of caring for her new child youngster, however was primarily expressing help for Rodman.
Angel Metropolis FC proper again Gisele Thompson, whose sister Alyssa signed a record-breaking $1.3 million switch with Chelsea final September, stated the HIP rule is an effective place to begin for the route the league and sport have to go in.
“That is clearly a begin to the expansion of girls’s soccer and the way we needs to be paid,” she advised USA TODAY Sports activities. “This should not even be an issue. Like, I feel Trinity deserves to be paid extra. Yeah, that’s some huge cash, however she deserves greater than that, and I do know a number of gamers do as effectively.”
Ahead Ivonne Chacón began her profession in her dwelling nation of Colombia earlier than making the transfer to Spain’s Liga F, the place she performed for Valencia and Levantes UD earlier than transferring to San Diego Wave FC final summer season. In recalling her journey, Chacón advised USA TODAY Sports activities she was interested in the NWSL as a result of she wished to play in opposition to the most effective. All the pieces, from the professionalism of the gamers to the fan help, was top-tier.
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With the implementation of the HIP rule, Chacón sees a chance for the NWSL to not simply retain its prime expertise, however to draw extra of it.
“That has a worldwide affect,” Chacón stated in Spanish. “It makes the highest gamers need to come to this league, and truthfully it is little in comparison with what we actually deserve. I really feel like girls’s soccer ought to pay the gamers considerably extra. But it surely’s nice that the league has these form of contracts and conjures up gamers to come back to the league.”
Mia Fishel was drafted fifth general by the Orlando Satisfaction within the 2021 NWSL draft. One month later nevertheless, Fishel as an alternative signed with Tigres UANL of Liga MX Femenil in a pointy rejection of the NWSL’s draft system. She went on to play at Tigres for 2 years and helped her membership win the 2022 Apertura in her first season. She transferred to Chelsea in 2023 and spent two extra years within the Girls’s Tremendous League earlier than signing with Seattle Reign FC final summer season.
Fishel advised USA TODAY Sports activities she believes the HIP rule is one of the simplest ways for the NWSL to maintain up with big-spending European leagues just like the WSL, which has no wage cap and due to this fact, no limits.
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“All of us need what we deserve,” she stated. “… I am joyful that (Rodman’s) staff and her put it out to the general public and are pushing the envelope of like, ‘Hey, this what we deserve, that is the long run,’ and proceed to push that. I feel it is big.
“It is superb. I am glad that it occurred.”
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See which membership is the NWSL’s Most worthy
Chicago Stars FC: $70 million.
Proprietor: Laura Ricketts. Income: $5 million.
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See which membership is the NWSL’s Most worthy
Chicago Stars FC: $70 million.
Proprietor: Laura Ricketts. Income: $5 million.
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See which membership is the NWSL’s Most worthy
Houston Sprint: $86 million.
Proprietor: Ted Segal. Income: $8 million.
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12. Racing Louisville FC: $88 million.
Proprietor: John Neace. Income: $8 million.
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11. North Carolina Braveness: $90 million.
Proprietor: Steve Malik. Income: $8 million.
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10. Orlando Satisfaction: $92 million.
Proprietor: Mark Wilf. Income: $8 million.
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Utah Royals: $95 million.
Proprietor: Gail Miller. Income: $8 million.
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Seattle Reign FC: $105 million.
Homeowners: Carlyle, Adrian Hanauer. Income: $10 million.
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7. NJ/NY Gotham FC: $110 million.
Proprietor: Carolyn Tisch Blodgett. Income: $9 million.
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6. Portland Thorns FC: $120 million
Homeowners: Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. Income: $17 million.
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5. Washington Spirit: $130 million.
Proprietor: Michele Kang. Income: $15 million.
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San Diego Wave FC: $165 million.
Proprietor: Lauren Leichtman. Income: $24 million.
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Bay FC: $170 million.
Proprietor: Sixth Avenue. Income: $21 million.
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2. Kansas Metropolis Present: $275 million.
Homeowners: Angie and Chris Lengthy. Income: $36 million.
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See which membership is the NWSL’s Most worthy
1. Angel Metropolis FC: $280 million.
Homeowners: Willow Bay and Bob Iger. Income: $35 million.
On the outset of the entire saga, Rodman did count on some issues to prove the best way they did. For her, it was a vital and inevitable a part of rising the sport.
“Finally, the aim is to get as a lot as you possibly can, or get what you are price,” Rodman stated. “And for me to toot my very own horn, I do really feel like I convey quite a bit to the league. There’s clearly quite a bit I would like to enhance on, and on the sector I may be so a lot better 12 months to 12 months, however I feel it is the off the sector stuff that brings a lot to the league. And I feel we’re rising that, and also you’re seeing that.”
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The HIP rule has flaws. However in it, gamers see a glimmer of the progress they have been pushing for, and the gamers earlier than them pushed for, for many years.
“I am hoping that that affect is sort of what’s carrying the burden of all of this, reasonably than it simply being like, ‘OK, she’s a enjoyable participant. She acquired paid quite a bit,'” Rodman stated. “I would like it to carry greater than that, and I hope it does and continues to.”