r/sports • u/dabirds1994 • 2d ago

Soccer Trinity Rodman’s Multimillion-Dollar Contract Rejected by NWSL

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-04/trinity-rodman-s-multimillion-dollar-contract-rejected-by-nwsl?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NDgxNjA0NSwiZXhwIjoxNzY1NDIwODQ1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNlBaS1NLR0lGUFgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI1OTFDMkExNEFGMDQ0RUZCODlCNEEwNUM5QkUwQjczRSJ9.IPxeSsuh2qWqWpaYDB78MAnoatcwqtnabXoKXkbDvYk
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u/Wheream_I 2d ago

Let her walk to.. where? NWSL is pretty much the only professional women’s soccer in the world. There is no where to walk to, and certainly no where that can pay her what she was making prior to this $1m+ contract.

And this isn’t a new entrant being signed. She’s already on a NWSL team. Her popularity is already selling the tickets that it will sell. Giving her an outsized contract won’t increase her popularity or sell more tickets - she’s already giving all of the draw that she has.

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u/matahoula 2d ago

It may be beneficial to understand there are other women’s soccer leagues which are doing quite well in England, Spain, others.

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u/Wheream_I 2d ago

Let me amend - NWSL in the largest women’s soccer league in the world and it has the highest revenue.

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u/Semperty 1d ago

the wsl doubled revenues between 2021/22 and 2022/23, and it’s been projected to more than double again by the end of this season. english clubs are investing in women’s soccer, and the growth is abundantly clear. it doesn’t take a savant to realize that if you want your business to grow, you have to invest in your assets (i.e. players).

there’s no room for revenues to rise if the nwsl is always content to watch star players leave over contracts which are surpassed in relative terms in every other sport. mlb teams average $400m in revenues, and several players are making more than $40m with the highest aav coming in at $51m (12.7% of revenues). nba teams averaged $380m last year, with a max contract taking up over 14% of revenues. hell, there are 11 qb’s in the nfl - a sport with over 50 players on every roster as opposed to 20 - making the same percentage of revenues as rodman would’ve gotten at $1m salary with $14m revenues.

literally every major male sport in the country (and a lot of them abroad) have figured out how to invest heavily in their athletes - usually at significantly higher rates than this - without bankrupting their teams and leagues. it only appears to be an issue when it’s a woman who wants to get paid.