NWSL announces roster rules, regulations and competition guidelines for 2021

The NWSL announced Thursday roster rules, regulations and competition guidelines for 2021. The senior roster for NWSL teams in 2021 is 22-24 players.

The 2021 salary cap has been increased by 5% from 2020 to $682,500. The league has also increased the maximum and minimum player salaries. The maximum player salary has increased by 5% to $52,500 and the minimum has increased by 10% to $22,000.

The players also receive healthcare from the league at no cost to the players. All players are provided housing directly or through a stipend of up to $3,000. Teams can also provide a car to players but the vehicle can not be valued at more than $50,000.

Healthcare, housing, and transportation do not count against the salary cap.

The NWSL’s discovery process was also reformed. Discovery is a way by which teams secure exclusive rights within the league to negotiate the terms of a Standard Player Agreement with an individual on behalf of the league.

Teams can now have up to seven players on their discovery list at a time with any combination of domestic or international players. Teams can remove a player from the list at any time and that player will become discovery eligible for the other teams in the NWSL. Players will also be removed from a team’s discovery list if the player and the league “fully execute an SPA or another team “wins” a competing discovery request for the player.”

The NWSL’s full release can be found here and the full 2021 roster rules and competition guidelines can be found here.