nwslpa history
Honoring the past, building the future
The NWSLPA is first organized. Yael Averbuch leads a card check drive to organize all NWSL players who have signed a Standard Player Agreement with the NWSL into a labor union. The NWSLPA adopts its Constitution & Bylaws, and Yael Averbuch is elected as the NWSLPA’s first President.
2017 MAY
The NWSLPA is voluntarily recognized by the NWSL as the exclusive bargaining representative of all NWSL Players who sign a Standard Player Agreement with the League.
2018 NOVEMBER
The NWSLPA hires its first Executive Director, Yael Averbuch.
2019 JANUARY
Brooke Elby is elected the second President of the NWSLPA. In December, she is named Co-Executive Director, splitting duties with Yael Averbuch.
2019 APRIL
NWSLPA engages in its first-ever work stoppage when Players on the Chicago Red Stars and Reign FC refuse to play in dangerous field conditions created by inches of snow on the ground.
2019 April
Tori Huster is elected the third President in NWSLPA history.
2020 january
The NWSLPA worked with the NWSL to become the first professional sports league to return to play amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Union successfully negotiated medical protocols that keep Players healthy and safe in the bubble.
2020 July
The NWSLPA notifies NWSL of its intent to negotiate its first Collective Bargaining Agreement.
2020 november
The NWSLPA and NWSL meet in-person for the first round of CBA negotiations at the bargaining table at the NFLPA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
2021 march 25-26
The NWSLPA names Meghann Burke as its first full-time Executive Director.
2021 april 1
Players speak truth to power, revealing misconduct by coaches and people in positions of power. After successfully canceling a weekend of games, Players stop play in the 6th minute of play on October 6, 2021 and stand together in silence, arm-in-arm at the center circle, to demand change. The NWSLPA issues 8 demands in that moment.
2021 August & October
NWSLPA enters into an agreement with OneTeam Partners, who will serve as NWSLPA’s agent to launch the group licensing program made possible by Players taking our rights back.
2021 October 11
NWSLPA enters into its first sponsorship agreements with Ally Bank and MasterCard.
2021 december
Sydney Miramontez is named NWSLPA’s Business Agent after recently retiring from NWSL.
2022 january 1
The NWSLPA ratified its first CBA, narrowly averting a strike. This historic CBA establishes free agency rights for the first time in domestic women’s pro soccer history, a significant increase in minimum wages, takes back group licensing rights, establishes a broadcast revenue share, and secures health and safety protections such as mental health leave, pregnancy and parental leave, the right to a second opinion in the event of injury and surgeon of the player’s choice, and many more “wins” for Players.
2022 january 31
Executive Director Meghann Burke and newly-named NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman sign the Collective Bargaining Agreement on the field of Banc of California Stadium before Angel City’s regular season home opener.
2022 april 29
NWSLPA hosts its first Players Party in conjunction with NWSL Championship weekend. The event brings dozens of Players together, in-person, for the first time in NWSLPA history to celebrate and recognize the strength of our solidarity. The inaugural event also revealed the NWSLPA's rebranded logo and colors; a process seen through by Players during the 2022 season.
2022 october 28
NWSLPA & NWSL enter into their first Commercial Rights Agreement pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
2022 december 7
The Joint Investigative Team constituted by the NWSLPA and NWSL release the findings of their joint investigation, which was formed in response to the demands issued by the Players on October 6, 2021 demanding the Players’ own investigation to bring about a reckoning in NWSL.
2022 december 14
NWSL announces unprecedented disciplinary sanctions in response to the findings of the Joint Investigative Team’s report. A new dawn in NWSL begins.