The Washington Spirit offered Trinity Rodman a deal worth over $1 million a year, but the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has rejected it. The soccer team is hoping to retain Rodman in the league, as European clubs are reportedly pursuing her, and she became a free agent in November.

What did the Washington Spirit offer Trinity Rodman?

The club offered Rodman a four-year deal, in which she would have earned over $1 million annually. Rodman was drafted in 2021 and became a free agent in November after the season ended. The Washington Spirit offered the deal to keep her in the NWSL.

The contract would have made Rodman the highest-paid player in league history and the first female athlete in the U.S. to receive a seven-figure annual salary while playing a team sport, according to Bloomberg.

The National Women’s Soccer League Players Association has since filed a grievance against the league for rejecting the offer.

The union “has challenged the league’s rejection of this agreement on the grounds that it violates her free agency rights,” NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke said in a statement. “But this isn’t about Trinity Rodman. If NWSL can deny her free agency rights, they can deny anyone’s. The NWSLPA will not allow it.”

Why did the NWSL reject the offer made to Trinity Rodman?

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman rejected the offer, saying it violated the spirit of the rules.  She previously said that owners not being able to outspend each other keeps parity across the league.

This past season, the NWSL had a salary cap of about $3.5 million. This amount increases annually and is set to hit nearly $5 million in 2030, with additional boosts allowed beyond that. Bermain said the cap is needed to grow alongside the NWSL’s media and sponsorship revenue.

“We have to keep that balance between the relationship between revenue and with our expenses,” Bermain said, adding that it ensures the league is built “sustainably.”

As the Washington Spirit hopes to keep Rodman in the league, a NWSL spokesperson said they want to keep her despite the deal being turned down.

“Our goal is to ensure that the very best players in the world, including Trinity, continue to call this league home,” the spokesperson said, according to Bloomberg. “We will do everything we can, utilizing every lever available within our rules to keep Trinity Rodman here.”
The post Trinity Rodman’s Multimillion Dollar Deal Gets Rejected By NWSL appeared first on Blavity.



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