As we discussed in our first post in this series, women athletes have worked tirelessly over decades to come together to form players associations to advance the interests of their members.
This effort has resulted in incredible gains for these athletes including better pay, extensive health care coverage, and enhanced supports for the athletes and their families after their careers draw to a close.
In this post, we take a closer look at common themes found in the collective bargaining agreements (CBA) of two players associations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA), and the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association (PWHLPA). A history of these two players associations can be found in our first post in this series.
Before diving into the common themes in these particular CBAs, we briefly explain what a CBA is and what terms it typically contains.
What is a Collective Bargaining Agreement
A CBA is the overarching contract that sets out the terms of employment for athletes in a specific league. CBAs are the result of lengthy and often tense negotiations between the league and the players association.
CBAs create a standard contract that all players sign, outlining their entitlements like salary and benefits. A CBA will typically also set out salary caps for teams, which restricts the entire amount that a team can spend on player salaries. CBAs also establish a disciplinary process and set penalties for players that may break league rules. In addition, they create grievance and appeal processes for athletes who take issue with decisions made by the league or their team.
The Common Themes in the NWSLPA and PWHLPA CBAs
In 2023 and 2024, the PWHLPA and NWSLPA each signed CBAs with their respective leagues, with both agreements lasting for approximately eight years.
Both CBAs contain many of the same protections for each players associations’ members. For example, the CBAs include terms for the following elements:
- Salaries and Compensation: Both CBAs set a minimum salary and an average salary for athletes with yearly increases. For the NWSLPA, the athletes’ salaries will increase from approximately $38,000 to $83,000 between 2024 and 2030. The PWHLPA has bargained for their members to have a base salary of $55,000 in 2023, with an annual 3% increase. Both CBAs also set out bonuses for awards, all-star games, and playoffs, as well as compensation for meals, parking, travel, and relocation expenses.
- Team Competitiveness: The CBAs create conditions so that teams, and the league more generally, stay competitive. The NWSLPA CBA creates a salary cap that increases annually (from $3.5M in 2026 increasing to $5.1M in 2030) and a minimum that teams must spend on salary. The PWHLPA CBA adopts a unique approach, permitting teams to have their average team salary vary only 10% over or under the league’s average. This approach is designed to prevent massive salaries for individual players.
- Housing: Both CBAs provide compensation to support their members paying housing costs. The NWSLPA CBA provides for a “locality cost of living adjustment” which establishes a mathematical formula to ensure that roughly only 30% of an average athlete’s salary goes towards housing. The PWHLPA CBA has a $1,500 monthly housing stipend that increases annually. Housing costs can vary significantly, and players who live in high cost of living cities may find themselves paying significantly more for housing than players in lower cost of living cities.
- Benefits: Both CBAs provide comprehensive benefits, including health and life insurance, workers’ compensation, long term disability, and a 401(k) program.
- Terms Unique to Women Athletes: Both players associations have achieved a pregnancy benefit and parental leave, both of which cover 100% of a player’s salary. The CBAs also require the teams and leagues to provide a safe, clean and private place for nursing players as well as access to refrigeration for breastmilk, and associated breaks for pumping breast milk.
- Medical Autonomy: The players associations have ensured that their members have a right to a surgeon of their own choice. The CBAs also establish set procedures for assessing mental health and physical health complications.
- Licensing Rights: The CBAs set out the licensing rights for the use of the name, image and likeness of their players (often called NIL). This provision allows for the league or the players association to include players in commercials and video games. For example, the PWHL players are now featured in the very popular EA Sports NHL franchise video games.
The NWSLPA’s Leadership: CBAs in the Future
The NWSLPA has also made big waves in their most recent CBA.
The NWSLPA has sought to prioritize respect for its players in its 2024 CBA. The CBA abolished the entry draft for new players. In doing so, the NWSLPA explained “[t]he draft is an antiquated model that treats people as property to be bought and sold.” It has also established that player consent is required for all trades between teams. These terms are the first of its kind in professional sports.
The NWSLPA has also bargained for all player contracts to be guaranteed. This means that a team cannot terminate a player’s contract prior to the end of its term, even if the player is performing poorly or becomes injured. Guaranteed contracts ensure that players have stability in their compensation and benefits.
The CBA further provides for a Family Building Benefit as a part of the health insurance to provide access for athletes and their families to fertility treatments including In Vitro Fertilization.
The NWSLPA has also ensured options for its members after retirement. In addition to pension plans, the CBA entitles its athletes to subsidized tuition for college and university programs. The CBA also establishes a pathway for players to become coaches.
As other professional women’s sports leagues look to unionize or renegotiate their CBAs, the NWSLPA’s innovative approach will serve as a model for future growth and protection for women athletes and their players associations.
Nelligan Law is grateful for the contribution of Kevin Arnel, Articling Student, in writing this blog post.
