You don't care about the NWSL? If you're a fan of the NBA, what happened last week could potentially kill your league too.
The NWSL collectively bargained away some shocking player gains--
But before we get to that, do you even know who's in the NWSL?
I thought there were only 8 teams in the league. Apparently, there's 14. And if you look at the standings, just like any other league, there's some really good teams and some really bad teams.
So let's look at the Utah Royals, a team that I didn't even know existed 5 minutes ago. Even though the team is 2-11-3, they can still look forward to drafting the best women's soccer player available next year....Oh wait, no they can't.
The NWSL collectively bargained away the draft. The Draft is how bad teams, in any sport, sell HOPE. As a fan, sometimes you don't mind suffering through the bad years as long as your good young players are growing. As the owner of any sports team, you want your fans to enjoy when you win and promise better times in the future when you lose.
Now if you're a 19 year old women's soccer phenom, where would you rather play next year? For the first place Orlando Pride or the last place Utah Royals?
Before you answer that obvious question, let's take a second as to dwell on why there's no Draft. In the year 2022, the NWSL was teetering on collapse. Why? Because an independent probe found that the league itself was "plagued" with emotional abuse and sexual misconduct. Many of the women cited mental health concerns as to whether they even wanted to continue playing soccer in the NWSL.
Let's address the Mental Health concerns first.
You know where else there's emotional abuse? At my day job. I was legit ready to fight my boss' boss JUST LAST TUESDAY. I bet there's a 50/50 chance there's some level of emotional abuse at your job, too.
Every professional league in America is a million-dollar pressure cooker, but here's the difference with the NWSL. I don't buy the mental abuse aspect, I think that happens, almost universally, from the college game on up. I'm not saying whether that's right or wrong, but that is not an NWSL-exclusive problem. But there were some really serious sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced, which seemed unique to that specific league, where coaches were dictating playing time based on sexual compliance. Those coaches should be fired and prosecuted. Some charges were so serious, I could argue, maybe the NWSL shouldn't exist today.
Why get rid of the Draft? So ladies could avoid situations which they thought could be potentially untenable based on sexual relationships, both straight and gay. Why mention the LGBT aspect? Some women don't want to play on teams with their former romantic partners.
But again, we are not talking about a law firm, a chain store, or a local school district. We are talking pro sports.
Thus, the NWSL is trying a Grand Experiment where teams will want to cultivate a positive environment in order attract good players. Here's the problem though, in pro sports, the best way to cultivate a good environment is to win. Statistically, only so many teams can win, so once all your best players gravitate to the best 2 or 3 teams, you are in a doom loop where the rest of the league cannot even sell hope to their fans.
Your argument is the salary cap will temper that.
No it won't.
In a few years, probably 18 of the league's 20 best players will be on a few teams and the league itself will become top heavy. The only way to compete with the best teams in the league is to hope that their top players get injured, because the salary cap will only prevent roster depth.
In the short term, let's revisit the original question. If you're a blue chip prospect coming into the league next year, do you want to play with Orlando or Utah?
You want to know if that player from Utah? Is Salt Lake a hotbed of Women's Youth Soccer?
I don't f**king know.
In 2019, NBA writer Kevin Arnovitz wrote that he had taken an informal survey and found that many NBA players were "unhappy." Their number one gripe? They didn't like playing for the city that had drafted them. The cities that were repeatedly referenced were placed like Minneapolis, Cleveland, Salt Lake City, and Sacramento.
Kevin Arnovitz's suggestion to make the players happier was to abolish the NBA Draft and allow the players pick their own cities.
I lambasted Arnovitz's suggestion. If a player can't find happiness with a $100 million contract in his back pocket because he's stuck in Cleveland, maybe that's on the player and not the city.
The reason those 9 figured contracts exist is because it's not about the team, but the NBA Product. The NBA Business Model, as a league, has sold the Root for the Winning Team/Sell Hope to the Losing Team concept since its inception.
Now I'm going to predict the future. In the year 2026 or 2027, teams in the NWSL that haven't won in 3 or 4 years, and have become doormats, will begin to fold. Average squads, where highly paid veterans will come to cash checks before retiring, will begin to move. By 2028, the NWSL will become the NASL and will either cease to exist or have to scrape, rebuild, and rebrand.
By abolishing the Draft, the NWSL has stated, on the record, that the player is more important than the league.
But let's say I'm wrong. Let's say the NWSL thrives. (It won't but hear me out.) When the NBA's collective bargaining agreement ends in 2030, the first thing the NBA Players Association is going to ask for is No Draft.
And my official opinion is no pro league (that makes money) can survive without a Draft. Do YOU think the NBA can survive if players pick their own teams (more than they already do?)
Players cannot be bigger than the league.
You say that's not fair?
News Flash: When did life become fair?
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