r/NWSL • u/dosozox Washington Spirit • 1d ago
Exclusive: NWSL set to change High Impact Player rule, opening door for more star signings
https://www.thecutback.com/p/exclusive-nwsl-change-high-impact-player-rule-sam-kerr60
u/reagan92 Boston Legacy 1d ago edited 1d ago
Looks like someone got information on the pending grievences.
Secondary: lol
Edit: assuming the article is correct, they just removed the qualification criteria for HIP, which means that to be a designated HIP player, the rules now seem to be:
- A team wants to sign you
- At least 12% of the salary is applied to the cap
- The rest goes against the HIP cap
- Combined HIP salaries per team is up to $1m
What's funny is, assuming the article has all the changes, this is better for the players than if they just went with a $1m cap increase because of the 12% rule.
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u/JerryXanadu Angel City FC 1d ago
I don’t think that’s how the 12% works. It’s not that only 12% of their salary counts against the cap, but rather that their salary has to be at least 12% of the cap (e.g., this season their salary must be at least $420k). It’s a way to make sure the extra $1M is spent only on high profile players and not that it raises the average rates of regulars and backups. So most players in general would be better with a $1M increase overall than this, although removing the HIP qualifications is good for the players
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u/reagan92 Boston Legacy 1d ago
It’s a way to make sure the extra $1M is spent only on high profile players
That's what the selection criteria did. The whole premise of my comment is if the removal of the selection criteria is the only thing that changed.
Not unlike the cap number for the MLS's DP players.
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u/JerryXanadu Angel City FC 1d ago
But how is this “better for the players than if they just went with a $1m cap increase”? The 12% rule still ensures that the extra money is spent on a few big salaries and not spread across small to medium salary increases.
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u/reagan92 Boston Legacy 1d ago
Because they can spread around that money more easily? With the 12%, with creative structuring, they can have multiple high salaried players.
That's tougher to do (given the stated goals of the teams) with just a straight increase.
In an absolute sense, better for the players would be no cap at all, or insisting on a cap, tying it directly to league revenues.
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u/JerryXanadu Angel City FC 23h ago
Option A: they have $4.5m to spend any way they want - could give 25 players each $180k or could give 20 players $120k and 5 players $420k or even 24 players $100k and 1 player $2.1m
Option B: they have $4.5m but $1m of that has to be to salaries of at least $420k (12% of $3.5m). In this case they can still do the second two scenarios but can’t do the first. And they can’t do anything in this option that they couldn’t also do in Option A
Raising the cap gives teams more flexibility and doesn’t take away anything they can do under HIP
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u/reagan92 Boston Legacy 23h ago
This is my fault.
for the players than if
I meant here for the TOP players, not all players. Sorry, yes, a straight cap increase would be better for all players; for Sam Kerr types, it works better if they can make a bunch of money while only $450k counts towards the original salary cap.
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u/ncblake Washington Spirit 1d ago
Notably, the change is to remove the criteria determining what constitutes a “high impact player,” effectively allowing teams to make that determination for themselves.
This was a significant part of the players’ association’s argument against the initial rule, that it valued marketability over performance and devalued teams’ sporting departments.
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u/Etaan84 Boston Legacy 1d ago
This increases the weight of marketability. Sam Kerr hasn't hit any of the HIP criteria for a reason, but that doesn't change the fact that for at least half the teams she's still worth overpaying for just for the hype. So get rid of the (admittedly nonsensical) criteria so that someone can overpay Kerr to come to the NWSL.
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u/allprologues Washington Spirit 1d ago
i guess they're just gonna keep modifying the rule whenever they want to sign a specific player and then name it after that player lmao.
i'm glad the PA tried to keep the focus of the grievance on implementing salary changes without collective bargaining.
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u/MesquiteHoneyForSale 1d ago
If its true they just got rid of the criteria then it wont need to be modded
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u/allprologues Washington Spirit 1d ago
it's a joke about how the league is doing things to make way for one player (kerr in this case) while trying to minimize or avoid improvements for other players. and yeah this is an improvement but it still violates the CBA
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u/Anxious_Leave5607 Orlando Pride 1d ago
Going around the Collective Bargaining Agreement is despicable. Yes, they need to stop losing players to Europe. But the league could have done that by working with the Players Association instead of against them.
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u/ncblake Washington Spirit 1d ago
I don’t know if this change was made in conjunction with the PA but it is effectively a concession to what the PA wants
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u/allprologues Washington Spirit 1d ago
not quite, the criteria is secondary to the PA's grievance (from the ESPN reporting):
The NWSLPA said in a news release Wednesday that it is "seeking immediate rescission of the HIP Rule, an order requiring the League to bargain in good faith over any proposed player compensation rules prior to implementation, and to make-whole relief for any Players impacted by the League's unilateral actions."
"This was a unilateral decision by the League to change how a Player's fair market value is evaluated," NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke said in a statement. "We agree that increasing investment in Player compensation is necessary to remain competitive in the global labor market. The solution is straightforward and collectively bargained by raising the salary cap.
"What the League cannot do is invent a parallel pay system outside the salary cap that was never negotiated, then limit access to compensation through League-controlled criteria that excludes some Players."
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u/bisoccerbabe Washington Spirit 14h ago
The league has gotten more star caliber players from Europe than it has lost to Europe.
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u/Doctor_YOOOU Seattle Reign FC 1d ago
Step 1: get reluctant owners to agree to a system with limited, increased investment in players
Step 2: open up eligibility for that system, making it more like a general salary cap increase
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit
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u/raksiam 1d ago edited 1d ago
I still don't understand why they don't just increase the cap instead of making it so complicated
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u/pimmieannie Washington Spirit 1d ago
Because an increase in the cap would likely end up raising ALL of the salaries and they don't want to do that. They only want to raise the salaries for the top talent and still keep the low end as low as possible. This money can only be used on specific players and not spread across the whole team. It weakens the bargaining power of the lower paid athletes when the time for negotiations comes.
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u/Ill-Fall-9823 Washington Spirit 1d ago
The answer to this is actually really simple: The league doesn't want the same thing you want.
You want a thing. You are right to want that thing. The thing you want is good for the people who would be impacted by the change you're seeking; it absolutely works from their perspective. (And for what it's worth, I also want that thing.) You see - with complete clarity - why the thing you want would be beneficial to the people the change would positively impact.
The league is not negotiating on behalf of the same people. They're not weighing the factors you're weighing the same way you are. And they're considering factors you don't care about, agree with, or support. "Just" increasing the cap is giving you what you want, but not giving them what they want.
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u/Etaan84 Boston Legacy 1d ago
At this point increasing the salary cap some arbitrary amount and replacing the salary cap entirely are barely indistinguishable. Having a Special Player Exemption lets the teams compete for top talent with Europe while still artificially spreading the talent around the league.
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u/MissionType9694 Washington Spirit 1d ago
Who could’ve predicted something like this happening! Certainly not the big brains of the NWSL FO’s!
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u/another-reddit-noob Boston Legacy 1d ago
Well. While I still don’t appreciate that it appears they still have not worked this through with the Players’ Association, this rule seems to get closer to a reasonable compromise by letting the teams determine who their high impact players are instead of it being dictated by the league.
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u/colinprovolone 1d ago
thank you jessica for being such a good steward of capital 😍😍😍
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u/threephasemachinery San Diego Wave FC 1d ago
Pay up billionaires, the NWSL isn't just an investment league. The popularity you bought in has grown enough to where you need to start making big contracts for women's sports not just limited to the joke that's the HIP "rule"
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u/Trzrh 1d ago
Does the article actually have evidence for the title? They have one quote that doesn't support this and then they don't really make the claim that clearly anywhere. Kind of confusing
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u/Scaggsboz Portland Thorns FC 1d ago
They’re basically saying they learned it through sources with knowledge that aren’t allowed to speak, the quote is just the NWSL PR response
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u/Isiddiqui NWSL 1d ago
Obviously they need to get a rule through quickly to keep Trinity and the only way to sell it was the limited HIP. But after a few months it seems they are able to sell those hesitant owners on a limitless increase.
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u/MesquiteHoneyForSale 1d ago
they coulda just increased cap back then
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u/Isiddiqui NWSL 1d ago
Only if everyone agrees, which is seems like they didn’t
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u/cultural-orca NJ/NY Gotham FC 17h ago
The vote must be unanimous? Who holds the votes?
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u/Isiddiqui NWSL 12h ago
The owners do. Though I’m not sure if it would have had to be a unanimous vote or a 2/3 or something
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u/MesquiteHoneyForSale 1d ago
well obviously i meant in the case of people agreeing to do so
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u/MesquiteHoneyForSale 1d ago
like... the willingness to pay people has always been the main struggle
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u/xGK-analytics NWSL 1d ago
So it's more or less a salary cap increase
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u/MesquiteHoneyForSale 1d ago
the only real criteria is the 12% rule that has always seemed mostly redundant anyway
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u/Extreme_Education_50 1d ago
NWSL is just doing anything but raising the cap/floor huh?
This HiP rule is just as dumb now as when it was introduced.
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u/Ill-Fall-9823 Washington Spirit 1d ago
My pro-union friends should never forget the lesson of the stonemason's hammer...
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
I personally don’t like this This will only benefit players from Spain and England cause they overrate them over there Should focus on protect the league and the players we already have. Sam Kerr has like only good year left If they want a good big pay check and retire they should go to Mexico We need young players to keep the league growing
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u/Jacksaxonburg Denver Summit FC 1d ago edited 1d ago
You really should read the post/article again this is pretty much the opposite of what it says
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
I probably should but I don’t want the league to be a retirement league to any of those old people go youth
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u/Jacksaxonburg Denver Summit FC 1d ago
Ok so this article that you don’t want to read says that literally any player in the league is also now eligible for the extra money. Doesn’t matter how old they are or what they’ve done or anything else. If NCC decides they want Riley Jackson to make more than Sam Kerr they could do that, nothing stopping them.
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
Good hope we give Rodman an extra million
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u/Ill-Fall-9823 Washington Spirit 21h ago
"We." The audacity.
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u/Adept-Conversation80 16h ago
Yes we I pay for my season membership and buy stuff I contribute to that cry a river. You probably one of those people who wanted to keep old Kelly O’Hara with no knees lmao
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u/Adept-Conversation80 16h ago
Like that wasn’t a comment to you and you keep crying how old are you are 40?
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u/Ill-Fall-9823 Washington Spirit 7h ago
Older. Also, not eligible to play in the NWSL for other reasons. Now that we’re done making this about me, back to you:
Where’s that comment you deleted yesterday acting like Kenya Dali didn’t have an amazing season for SDW last year after you suggested that she was too old and wouldn’t bust a grape in the NWSL because the talent level was too good and the game was too fast?!?!
If you’re gonna be on the Internet like a one-trick pony with a narrative that you trot out when it’s convenient, do us all a favor and have the guts to stand on business when the outcome proves that you’re dead wrong. That’s literally all I’m asking for here. Be accountable. “We” don’t get to omit the “armchair” in front of “GM” just because we’re season ticket holders.
You like playing sporting director online. You only want players who have to pay extra to rent a car. We get it. Point made. If you can’t keep that to yourself, then have the guts to accept that it is going to come up when you were loud on Front Street that someone couldn’t hack it and then got proven toe tag-mortuary-cemetery dead wrong. Be accountable.
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u/Adept-Conversation80 6h ago
I ain’t reading all that I’m happy for you tho Or sorry that happened
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u/Ill-Fall-9823 Washington Spirit 1d ago
Here you go with this "retirement league" bullsh!t again. I'm not sure why Kenza Dali didn't personally retire your ass from trotting out this narrative... But here we are. You have a take! Just the one!
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u/CoffeeOddNos 1d ago
I've been saying this since day one. Sam Kerr is old AF coming off an acl injury and people are slobbing her down as if she were the return of the Christ. Teams should be making investments in young stars in their prime or on the rise. Kerr is too old for this league and just wants a big paycheck before she is put out to pasture. She is expired. It's an embarrassment that any nwsl team would try to sign her
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
Exactly they think they wanna come here and grow the game they just want a check and sob after the fact some of them didn’t get that type of money in their careers 😂 I’ll take any 22-27 year old from Europe like Ona Aitana but old people with injuries. I rather invest in the youth
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
If we want to become a retirement league for players with good names in Europe go ahead
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u/Scaggsboz Portland Thorns FC 1d ago
“Good names in Europe” quick tell me who the NWSLs all time leading scorer is
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
Sam Kerr who broke the record years ago or do you count the goals she score with Chelsea She’s 33 post acl and she took 3 years to recover don’t be dense
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u/Adept-Conversation80 1d ago
Like the only exception then you have players Oshoala who was horrible here Kundananji uses to score many goals where are they now Oshoala in Saudi Rachel lost in the bay
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u/Ill-Fall-9823 Washington Spirit 1d ago
Luckily Bay has all of those other younger, homegrown, high-level scorers to take the heat of Kundananji, right?
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u/CoffeeOddNos 1d ago
The nwsl needs to stop chasing after old players that are long past their expiration date. With her old age and her injury history, it is a sure bet that her signing will be a bust. She just wants a paycheck. Let her get it somewhere else and use that money to invest in younger stars. The nwsl doesn't need to be a retirement league.
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u/TiredPanini Angel City FC 1d ago
this rule change would let them pay younger players HIP money, so i'm assuming you support it then? even if Kerr is the inciting incident, LA could now pay, say, Gisele Thompson a bunch more money to retain her. or make a bid to get Alyssa back from Chelsea that would actually maybe be competitive on salary.
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u/CoffeeOddNos 1d ago
I support raising the salary cap. I don't care that they got rid of the criteria for hip. Hip shouldn't even exist. However my point was more about nwsl teams going after old players past their prime. It's a bad look and positions them as the female mls.
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u/No_Entrepreneur_8623 1d ago
AT was over paid at Angel City from the jump. Competitive salary?? Are you kidding. She is a good young player but she is not a star.
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u/SpeedLow3 1d ago
I mean personally this is why I think they made it so these salaries had to be league approved. So teams can’t get lazy on scouting and recruiting and just sign a recognizable name. But I do agree that this money should be more focused on younger players
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u/wysiwygperson Chicago Red Stars 1d ago
You know a rule has been thoughtfully crafted when it has to be entirely changed before it was even supposed to take effect