Are NWSL trades and the associated playing rights system archaic? It’s a loaded question, but one that needs an answer. The concept of rights ownership in American soccer has always been a baffling and somewhat disconcerting concept to many Europeans. Tobin Heath’s recent struggles to free her NWSL playing rights from Racing Louisville have brought the issue back to the fore in recent weeks.
Is it right that a team should hold a players playing rights, effectively using them as bargaining chips, even when said player has no intention of playing there? Frankly, it’s all just a little bizarre. And, if I’m being honest, morally reprehensible.
Now, before I jump on my soapbox, I should preface this by acknowledging that playing rights are woven into the fabric of the great tapestry that is the American sporting landscape. The concept is utilised across the NFL, the NBA, the WNBA, MLS… I could go on. They’re, for many fans, an important nuance of American sports.
I’m not sure they belong in soccer, though. Women’s or men’s. But especially women’s. And here’s why:
The rest of the world doesn’t use them
World football is an open, global market. Well, it is everywhere except the United States. Transfers are incredibly complex, especially in the social era media. It’s almost impossible to keep anything quiet. There are so many ‘i’s that have to be dotted and so many ‘t’s that need to be crossed. But that’s all part of the drama. Look at all the ‘will she, won’t she?’ hullabaloo that surrounded Lauren James’ transfer from Manchester United to Chelsea in the WSL.
For those unfamiliar with the paradox that is European’s fanatical obsession with soccer transfers, we love the drama. Transfer Deadline Day is a whole event here. It’s like draft day, there are interviews, 24hr coverage on TV. It makes for great drama. It’s an event. It’s Jim White and his yellow tie, and Natalie Sawyer in her yellow dress and everything in between. The NWSL needs this drama. Not the drama it usually dabbles in.
Players should be free to choose where they want to play their soccer
Players. Should. Be. Free. To. Choose. Where. They. Want. To. Play. Soccer. That’s it. The recent controversy surrounding Amy Turner’s contract buyout at the Orlando Pride, and the stories of alleged retaliation on the part of the club’s coaching staff further underline the point that trades, in their current format, are a dangerous concept in the NWSL. It seems utterly ludicrous that a club can just send a player to another club, and that player has next to no say in it. It’s just… Wrong.
Here’s the thing, I don’t agree with the notion of trades in a league like the NBA or the NFL. But those players are earning eye watering amounts of money over a limited season. Most NWSL players make below the average US salary.
After a year in the @NWSL with @ORLPride, I have decided to move on and explore a new challenge in my career. Thank you to everyone at Orlando who supported me during my time there. Wishing the club good luck in the future! pic.twitter.com/tqXX3Qjgn2
— Amy Turner (@amy_turner4) June 17, 2022
Discovery rights… What? Exactly
Imagine if your place of work just sent you to a division in another city. And you can’t leave. Or if you do, you can’t work until the following financial year. You also won’t get paid. So the options are to either move abroad or poverty. Essentially. That’s the reality facing Amy Turner right now. The erstwhile Manchester United defender is not ‘discovery right eligible’ meaning she has to leave the NWSL if she wants to continue playing football. She has to leave her partner (Angharad James, who also plays for the Pride). It’s just not right.
Simultaneous to the end of that roster freeze, the Orlando Pride bought out the contract of defender Amy Turner. Turner is not discovery eligible in the #NWSL this calendar year, meaning she can't play in the league until 2023.
— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) June 17, 2022
Player’s lives shouldn’t be used as a bargaining chip, particularly in a league mired in controversies about abuses of power
You would like to think, ideally, that this wouldn’t happen. I cannot say that it definitely doesn’t, however. Sinead Farrelly, when she bravely spoke out about the abuse she allegedly suffered at Paul Riley’s hands, purported just that. Farrelly felt the threat was real enough. Meg Linehan reported in The Athletic:
‘Riley would, at times, encourage and support players, but it was often the hot and cold approach he used with Farrelly in Philadelphia — praise and criticism mixed in a way that kept them off balance, constantly worried about losing playing time and a midseason trade that would uproot their lives.’
*Riley denies the allegations against him.
There were also legitimate fears, on Farrelly’s part, that her alleged abuser would trade for her when he became head coach of the Portland Thorns. Just imagine that. An abusers club could trade for a victim, and that player would have no say in it. That’s just messed up.
In a world where controversies around player safety continue to plague the NWSL, surely purging this anachronistic method of player transfers should be a matter of the highest priority?
I’m not naive enough to suggest that clubs don’t use players as bargaining chips in Europe and other parts of the world. Footballers are valuable assets, although they shouldn’t be viewed as such in my opinion. We see it all the time, particularly in the men’s game.
You have to believe, that as the women’s game grows in Europe, and the finances involved increase further, there will be similar instances to saga’s such as Harry Kane’s in the summer of 2021. Tied to a club he patently wanted to leave, whilst Tottenham used their star man to get a bit of one-upsmanship over Manchester City. I hope I’m wrong. But at least the player has some power in this instance. Harry Kane was never going to be told where to go, even if he had to stay. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s a damn sight better than the one currently in place in the NWSL.
Creator: David Price Credit Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Look at the situation with Vivianne Miedema over the last year. Even if Arsenal had entertained Barcelona’s or Lyon’s advances, Miedema would’ve had the ultimate say on whether she left North London or not. Just like she has had, inking a new contract with the Gunners. In the NWSL there’s every possibility, she’d have been booked onto the next flight out of there without so much as a cheerio, had she upset the wrong person or if her club had seen an opportunity to acquire somebody, or something, else they wanted. The receiving club would also gladly accept her. Regardless of whether or not she actually wanted to join.
That might seem like a slightly narcissistic view, but it’s not un-precedented. This has happened before; obviously Tobin Heath is one such victim, with former Western New York Flash play Amanda Frisbie and even USWNT superstar Christen Press making up a rather depressing list.
There needs to be a more personable, less cut throat, approach to the transfer market at the elite level of American women’s soccer.
It’s a perplexing notion, to want to trade away a player’s entire life for sporting gain. A perplexing notion that just feels straight up sinister when said players are earning salaries comparable to a teacher or a police officer. Particularly with the cost of living soaring across the globe. It’s just madness in all honesty. And it needs to stop. So, in short, to answer my own question; yes, NWSL playing rights and the nonsensical trade system are archaic.
Written by Dan Berridge
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