NWSL Introduces High Impact Player Rule to Strengthen Talent Attraction and Retention | News
NEW YORK (December 23, 2025) – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) today announced the creation of a new player compensation mechanism designed to provide clubs with expanded flexibility to attract and retain high impact players.The High Impact Player Rule underscores the league’s continued growth and its commitment to competing for the world’s top talent.
Under the new rule, each club may exceed the league’s established salary cap by up to $1,000,000 for high impact players.This threshold will grow year-over-year at the same base rate as the salary cap.The additional allotment may be applied to a single player or distributed among multiple players, providing clubs with meaningful flexibility to recruit and retain high impact talent while preserving competitive balance. For any contract utilizing this provision, the cap charge of the high-impact player must be a minimum of 12% of the base salary cap.
Players must meet one of the following commercial or sporting criteria to be considered a high impact player:
- Player is on SportsPro Media Top 150 Most Marketable Athletes within the one (1) year prior to the current league season; or,
- Player is selected in the Top 30 in Ballon d’Or voting in the two (2) years prior to the current league season; or
- Player is selected in the Top 40 of the Guardian Top 100 football players in the world in the two (2) years prior; or
- Player is selected in the Top 40 of ESPN FC Top 50 football players in the world in the two (2) years prior; or
- Top 11 minutes played for the USWNT in the prior two (2) calendar years for field players for all competition types; or
- Top one (1) minutes played for USWNT in the prior two (2) calendar years for goalkeepers for all competition types; or
- Player selected as NWSL MVP Finalist within previous the two (2) league seasons; or
- Player selected to the End of Year NWSL Best XI First Team within the previous two (2) league seasons.
The league will regularly review and update the qualifying commercial and sporting criteria to ensure they remain objective, relevant and aligned with evolving global market conditions and on-field performance benchmarks.
The High Impact Player Rule reflects a historic increase in league investment. In 2026, the NWSL will increase league-wide player spend by up to $16 million, with the potential to invest up to $115 million in additional player compensation over the term of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. These investments represent intentional, deliberate action to address an increasingly competitive global market for top players, while expanding clubs’ overall capacity to invest across their rosters.
“Ensuring our teams can compete for the best players in the world is critical to the continued growth of our league,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “The High Impact Player Rule allows teams to invest strategically in top talent, strengthens our ability to retain star players, and demonstrates our commitment to building world-class rosters for fans across the league.”
The High Impact Player Rule will go into effect on July 1, 2026. Teams will be able to sign High Impact Players immediately, provided the contract terms do not require the team to utilize the rule until the effective date.
Per the terms of the CBA, the NWSL exercised its discretion to establish the High Impact Player roster classification and reduce associated salary cap charges following consultation with the NWSL Players Association.
About the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):
The National Women’s Soccer League is the world’s premier women’s professional soccer league, featuring national team players from around the globe. The clubs are Angel City FC, Bay FC, Boston Legacy FC, Chicago Stars FC, Denver Summit FC, Gotham FC, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, NWSL Atlanta, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC, Racing Louisville FC, San Diego Wave FC, Seattle Reign FC, Utah Royals FC, and Washington Spirit.
