USNWT and Reign FC star Megan Rapinoe has called for more investment in the domestic women’s game in the United States, as well as the need for talks before the 2020 season. It comes after members of the USA and Canada national teams were cut out of a recent pay rise.
The NWSL recently announced an increase of nearly 20% to the annual salary cap for next season. It means that each team has $650,000 to spend on wages, with the maximum annual player salary now up to $50,000 and the minimum set at $20,000.
The league has also introduced ‘Allocation Money’, which means the owner/operators of each team has the option to invest up to $300,000 extra in current or future players. That money is to be used in connection with player contracts that exceed the maximum wage.
However, it cannot be used to pay more for players allocated to either the USWNT or Canada’s women’s national team – that includes the likes of Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Julie Ertz, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn and Christine Sinclair.
It does, however, mean, that NWSL teams can reward high achieving non-international US or Canadian players, or offer big contracts to international stars from Europe.
Rapinoe, who along with her USWNT colleagues has also been fighting U.S. Soccer for an equal pay deal, is understandably frustrated about extra money only benefitting certain players.
“We need to sit down and have more substantive conversations about what that looks like. It’s going to be a necessary step before the NWSL gets going next year,” the 34-year-old told Reuters. She also called for ‘more resources’ for the ‘front office of the NWSL’.
Rapinoe has already been critical of the NWSL salary cap and Allocation Money announcement.
“Immediately, people were like, ‘Um, you’re telling me we’re opening up the money but I’m stuck? ‘We’re gonna be here for seven years, and then you’re gonna bring in whoever for $200K and I’m gonna be making what I’m making now?’ It’s just not fair,” she told Yahoo! Sport.
“On one hand, do we need to pay players more? Yes,” Rapinoe says. “Do we need to have the ability to get a Dzsenifer Marozsan, Eugenie Le Sommer, Lucy Bronze, Wendie Renard, and these types of players here? Yes, 100%. But you’re not cutting me out of that upside.”
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