What college soccer fans need to know about the NWSL eliminating the draft

January 2025 will be a different month for NCAA women’s soccer players looking to continue their careers in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the only professional women’s soccer league in the United States.

On August 22, the NWSL and the Women’s Players Association (NWSLPA) announced a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, effective through 2030, that will eliminate college recruiting, among other changes. The NWSL is the first major American professional sports league to abolish college recruiting.

So what does this mean for the future of NCAA women’s soccer players looking to turn pro?

Well, that largely depends on the players, both the league and those looking to join. The absence of the college draft creates a major shift in the relationship between club and player, and frankly, only time will reveal what this change will look like. In the meantime, here are some facts you should know:

The history between the NWSL and NCAA women’s soccer

The first NWSL College Draft was held in 2013, with 32 NCAA student-athletes selected over four rounds. Most recently, 56 NCAA women’s soccer players were selected in the 2024 NWSL College Draft, the league’s largest draft class to date. Over the span of a decade, nearly 500 NCAA women’s soccer players have earned a spot in the NWSL via the college draft route.

Notable first-round picks included former and current national team members Crystal Dunn, North Carolina (2014); Sam Mewis, UCLA (2015); Lynn Williams, Pepperdine (2015); Rose Lavelle, Wisconsin (2017); Sophia Smith, Stanford (2020); Emily Fox, North Carolina (2021) and Naiomi Girma, Stanford (2022).

2024 NWSL Draft: Universities with the most selected players

There’s no question that college soccer has and will continue to produce some of the NWSL’s brightest stars, including Georgia alum Croix Bethune, who won Rookie of the Month for a record fourth time in August. Bethune was selected No. 3 overall in the 2024 draft. NCAA soccer has been by far the largest flow of players into the NWSL and that’s unlikely to change dramatically, despite the absence of a college draft.

The numbers: salary caps, minimums and room for growth

Traditionally, one of the core functions of the draft is to ensure that all clubs have a fair and equal chance to choose from a pool of top players who qualify for the draft. Essentially, it prevents the richest clubs from buying up all the best players. However, the complete abolition of the college draft triggers a transfer of power from the clubs to the players.

“The draft is an outdated model that allows teams to decide for players instead of players deciding for themselves,” said NWSLPA President Tori Huster. “Now, players can choose the team environment that fits their needs and maximizes their opportunities. Teams will need to step up to create environments that attract players.”

To combat any inequities, the new CBA includes a base team salary cap that will start at $3.3 million in 2025 and gradually rise to $5.1 million by 2030. The deal also increases the minimum player salary from $48,500 in 2025 to $82,500 by 2030 and does not set a maximum for an individual player’s salary.

These pay improvements align with the growth of not only women’s sports in the U.S., but also the rise of NIL deals at the amateur level. Today, college players are finding new success in monetizing their name, image, and likeness as bosses. As their financial autonomy increases, so will their expectations for self-governance in the professional landscape. By giving players the power to negotiate contracts directly with competing clubs, the NWSL is delivering on the growing status of player sovereignty.

“I’m now hopeful that in this new world players can really be at the center of their own careers and be in charge of their own careers,” Huster said.

Background of the NWSL

The National Women’s Soccer League launched in 2013 as the leading professional women’s soccer league in the United States. The creation of the NWSL came after two leagues failed to take off: the Women’s Professional League (WPA) folded in 2012 after three seasons of operation and, before that, the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), launched in 2001, was forced to suspend operations in 2003 due to a lack of funding and national attention.

The NWSL’s continued success goes hand-in-hand with the international growth of women’s sports and the emergence of soccer as a leading sport in American culture. Originally comprised of eight teams, the NWSL has grown to include 14 clubs with expansion plans for a Boston-based club and another to join in 2026.

Each team features between 22 and 26 players and the regular season runs from March through October, with playoffs in November. The 2024 season will be the first to feature an eight-team playoff, with quarterfinals and semifinals taking place on November 9-10 and November 16-17, respectively. The 2024 NWSL Championship Match is scheduled for Saturday, November 23 at 8 p.m. ET at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City Current, the world’s first purpose-built soccer stadium for a women’s professional team.