With games slowing down over the coming weeks, the focus in American women's soccer has shifted to two hugely consequential contract negotiations.
The U.S. women's national team and NWSL players are both in talks with their respective employers over new collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).
On this week's episode of All of US: The U.S. Women's Soccer Show, GOAL talks all things CBA with UCLA law professor Steven Bank.
The latest on the USWNT CBA
The USWNT will see their current CBA expire at the end of 2021 and are currently in talks with U.S. Soccer over a new agreement.
U.S. Soccer has called on the USWNT to negotiate a single CBA alongside the U.S. men's national team, who have been playing under the terms of the CBA that expired in 2018.
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The biggest hurdle involves prize money from the World Cup. FIFA awards far more to men's teams than women's teams ($400 million in total prize money for the 2018 Men's World Cup versus $38m in 2019 for the Women's World Cup), and has called on the USWNT and USMNT to evenly split the prize money in their next CBA.
The USWNT sued U.S. Soccer over the terms of their current CBA, alledging gender discrimination. After a judge ruled in U.S. Soccer's favor last year over the pay equity portion of the suit, the USWNT are appealing.
NWSL looking for first CBA
The NWSL, meanwhile, has been operating without a CBA for their first nine seasons. The league's players' association is looking to change that heading into the 2022 campaign.
NWSL players are aiming for more freedom of movement, higher salaries, and increased player protection after a number of abuse scandals rocked the league in 2021.
Currently, 75 percent of the league's players make less than $31,000 per year, a figure the NWSL players' union is looking to improve upon.