Alyssa Thompson and the Salary Cap

Author’s Note: I apologize for not having written in awhile, but I’ve been learning some new analytical techniques, and getting the hang of using R, and it didn’t make sense to write something, when I knew that in a few months I’d be able to take a better approach and have better insights. But that being said, I do have a little more time now, so you should expect a flurry of articles for all the ideas that I’ve had in my head.

The first time that I saw Alyssa Thompson play at BMO, she wasn’t even a member of Angel City yet. I was working on a movie called Family Switch, and we filmed some scenes at the stadium. Alyssa and Gisele played “The Switchblade Sisters,” the star players on the opposing team from our protagonist. Alyssa had already made her USWNT debut, but at that point was still supposed to go to Stanford, and hadn’t declared for the draft. I didn’t really have a chance to talk with her that day, but I was really hoping that she’d take the feeling of being on that field and decide to become an Angel City player. And then, amazingly, she did. When Angel City traded up to #1, I thought it had to be her, and I kept talking excitedly to Jennifer Garner about it. Luckily, my camera wasn’t working when the draft actually happened and I was able to watch it unfold.

I’m sharing that story just to illustrate how long I’d been hoping to see her play for ACFC. And she really was the perfect franchise player. Hometown player who had actually come as a fan to see them play before joining. She was the only actual USWNT member that we had (yes, a few others got caps here and there, but not consistent invites). And of course, she was absolutely electric on the field. Then Gisele joined, and it really looked like they would be the cornerstone players for Angel City for at least the next decade. When they signed their contract extensions in January, Mark Parsons said, “Alyssa and Gisele are very important for our club’s future, but also for the success of our league.” So how did this happen?

I don’t think that anybody planned on this, but Chelsea has been monitoring Alyssa for awhile. When Mayra Ramirez got hurt, I think that accelerated the process. They’re very different types of players, but Chelsea needed some attacking depth and I think they decided that they might as well move for the player that was already at the top of their wish list: Alyssa Thompson.

From Alyssa’s point of view, I think this has everything to do with the World Cup in two years. If she’s going to be a starter, she needs to level up even more. At Chelsea, I don’t think that Alyssa can just walk into that team. Kaneryd is a great player, and Baltimore has been playing more left back or wingback, but she’s also a great player. I mean, both of them are on the Ballon d’Or shortlist. But fighting for her place everyday will help her grow. Additionally, the Champion’s League means that Alyssa is going to get some personal experience against the other top players that the US will be competing against at the World Cup.

And I don’t think that we can underestimate the coaching influence. In Alyssa’s rookie season, both her national team head coach and her club head coach were fired. At the end of her second season, her club head coach was fired again. Then there was an interim, and then there was a new head coach. Four coaches in 2 and a half years at ACFC. Chelsea is a team with a clear identity, and one of the best coaches in the world in Sonia Bompastor. She’s been there a year, and won a domestic treble already, and Alyssa will be joining a team where everybody already knows their roles and knows the system. Frankly she deserves this stability. And I think that Alyssa has to have asked Emma Hayes about the move, and I’m positive that Hayes would encourage her to go.

Salary Cap

I have heard many people talk about money, and how if the NWSL doesn’t get rid of the salary cap, players are going to keep going to Europe. I don’t think that money was factor, but let’s look at what we do know. Unfortunately, that’s not much, because there is still so little transparency in this aspect of women’s football. Alyssa’s rookie deal was $1 million for 3 years, and no particular signing bonuses that were mentioned, so let’s say $333,000 per year. This January, she signed an extension that would have taken her to 2028. Those terms were not announced, but we know that when she signed it, Sophia Wilson had the highest contract at about $500,000 per year. If Alyssa had topped that, or I think even been close, that would have been news. So her new contract is somewhere in between, and I would bet, give or take, it was at $425,000 per year. But that’s just the number that feels right right to me; I don’t have a source.

Chelsea’s salaries are actually not that much higher. Sam Kerr is paid $541,000 per year, and she’s probably the best No 9 in the world. Mayra Ramirez is paid $470,000 and Lauren James is around $400,000. I can’t really see them paying Alyssa much more than James. The biggest difference is that Chelsea’s wage bill is over $13 million, per Statista. So they aren’t paying star players more. They’re just paying lots of players in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. That’s possibly the argument, that Chelsea has a stronger squad, because of those wages, and that players want to play with the best. I don’t completely buy that, though. I think that Kansas City could absolutely go head to head with Chelsea, and Barcelona’s best players came up through their academy. And Angel City’s problem hasn’t been about not spending, money. It’s been bad recruitment, and bringing in players that are a bad fit. If Angel City had Chelsea’s wage budget for the past three years, I don’t think that we’d see as good of a team.

The NWSL’s salary cap right now is at $3.3 million. However, the CBA already has built in escalation, putting it at a minimum of $5.1 million in 2030. But more importantly, the salary cap is tied to revenue sharing. So if revenue goes up, the salary cap goes up. Significantly, the new broadcasting deal that will be renegotiated in 2027 could add a massive amount to the salary cap, potentially even doubling it. And we have to remember that teams like Chelsea are associated with much larger organizations, with other, much larger forms of revenue. I like that NWSL teams are independent, but that is a challenge, and we shouldn’t be trying to beat teams like Chelsea at this game. Almost nobody knows how to set piles of cash on fire like Chelsea do.

This is also just looking at the top team in the WSL in Chelsea. I can’t find reliable data on this, but the WSL just implemented minimum salaries for the league, which they didn’t disclose, but called, “a full-time wage.” I take that to mean that at least some players have not been making a full-time wage. So yes, Chelsea players make more on average, but are they at Brighton, or Everton, or Leicester? Again, there is not enough transparency, but I would like to see what the average and median wages are in both leagues. My suspicion is that the lack of a salary cap raises the wages for the best players, but hurts the wages overall. Because if you’re a lower level team, why should you pay for better players when you don’t have a chance of winning anything?

So full disclosure, if you couldn’t tell, but I like the salary cap. I like a league with parity. In England, Chelsea have won 8 of the last 9 titles. Barcelona have won six straight in Spain. In Germany, Bayern Munich and Alex Straus won only the last three, but in the past nine years, it’s been either Munich or Wolfsburg every time. And in France, PSG won one title of the last eight, while Lyon took every other one. And in many of these cases, we see the top teams poaching players from their rivals. There is an especially well worn path of the best players from PSG going to Lyon. I don’t want a league with one superteam and every other fan base has to accept they won’t win a trophy. I’m kind of sick, in the world in general, of watching the rich get richer. It’s too late to change that in the men’s game, but the women’s game has the opportunity to make a different, and, in my mind, a better choice. There is no other league in any sport that is built on parity and is also the best on a global scale. The NWSL has the chance to be that league.

I also feel like money has to be discussed here. According to Forbes, only Kansas City is expected to break even in 2025. Every other team is expected to lose money. Of course, Kansas City has the benefit of owning their own stadium, which translates into lots of extra gameday revenue, but also extra sponsorship opportunities, like naming rights. I firmly believe that NWSL teams will become profitable, and the new broadcast deal should make a big difference there, but that’s just not the current reality. The whole point of a salary cap is to keep financial health for the teams. We’ve seen two other women’s leagues fail in the US, and we’ve reached this point in the NWSL through steady, sustained growth. I want to see the league growing, and not teams going bankrupt.

Finally, I worry about the type of investors that this would attract. Right now, the league is focused on people that think that women’s soccer is a good business opportunity, and is currently undervalued. Eliminating the salary cap, and having teams take millions in losses every year, will attract a different type of investor, primarily ultra-wealthy individuals or nations with terrible human rights records that are looking for sports washing opportunities. We’ve been seeing this growing in the men’s game, and the recent amount of money, and somewhat big-name players, going to the Saudi women’s league has me concerned that this is going to be a growing influence in the women’s game.

So, that’s a lot, but while a salary cap may hurt wages for a few players, I think a salary cap helps more players overall, and is better for the growth of the sport. And I think there will always be an attraction for American players to go to Europe, but I think there is also an attraction for other players to come play in the US. I’d especially like to see world class players from the CONCACAF region playing here, like Khadija Shaw and Melchie Dumornay. I actually think this kind of cross pollination is good. Having more Americans pay attention to European teams, and more of the rest of the world pay attention to the NWSL, will help the health of all leagues, and women’s soccer overall.

Conclusion

So where does Angel City go from here? Unfortunately, the timing of this move really hurts. It will be very difficult to bring in a world class player at this point. I don’t think that we’re going to see anything happen until the offseason. And at that point, it is imperative that the transfer fee gets reinvested to bring in new players. But we actually don’t have to look that far to see how this will work. San Diego had Alex Morgan retire, and sold Abby Dahlkemper, Naomi Girma and Jaedyn Shaw. I know a lot of Wave fans were really upset in the offseason. But they brought in world class talent like Delphine Cascarino and Kenza Dali, and they are currently third in the league. And I think that their front office was in even worse shape than Angel City’s. I think that we have a good coach in Straus, and almost $2 million to spend on the profile of player that he wants gives ACFC an opportunity, arguably a better one than keeping Alyssa would have done. I’m not saying that I would have wanted to see Alyssa go. I absolutely wanted to see her become a club legend and lead this team to silverware. But Angel City is currently very unbalanced. This is a huge loss, but it gives us the chance to bring in multiple players that will create a better overall team. I also don’t think that this actually changes the Angel City championship timeline. We’re still looking at two years, I think, for our younger players to fully come into their own, and Mark Parsons statement about progress in 2026 and contending in 2027 still seems right. Alyssa is probably the last player I wanted to see leave, but I still believe that Angel City can reach that goal. I wish Alyssa the best of luck, and I hope she thrives in England. And I hope that Angel City, and the NWSL keep moving forward.