Details from CBS Sports (March 14, 2024)
The executive director of the NWSL Players Association wants to get rid of all drafts and end trades without player consent.
Here's some background. December's expansion draft was highly criticized by players and coaches. And, Cece Kizer was traded from the Kansas City Current to the Houston Dash and says she was not aware of the move.
In an interview with CBS Sports, Meghann Burke said she's surprised other American sports leagues haven't talked about this.
"I don't understand, really, how this hasn't been more of a conversation in football and baseball and basketball because it's still the same," she said. "These are human beings. These are people. They have lives. They have homes. They have families. They have their kids enrolled in school and they have neighbors and things that they've done for years and they live in a community that are really important to them. That's still true for all those athletes. Maybe the difference is that because they're making millions of dollars, they can pivot more quickly in the face of rapid change and our athletes, who are making $37,856 minimum salary this year plus housing, can't make that pivot as quickly and it's a stressful change."
Back in January, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman was asked about the future of the draft. She reiterated the league's goal to be the best in the world and said the league would work closely with the NWSLPA "to assess all of the mechanisms and levers that we can pull ... [and] think strategically about shifts that we may want to make in the future that allow for us to compete in more meaningful ways."