Sarah Spain

So at every turn, there is both a negotiation between clubs on a transfer fee and a negotiation between player and club. An interesting element that is potentially going to come up and is already being discussed in the MLS is should a player get a percentage of that transfer fee? Because ultimately, it's their value that's dictating how much is being paid and why.

So soccer is basically operating now in terms of global rules because we're behind. America is the one catching up. Whereas all the other leagues, we're sort of setting the precedent. And so I think it'd be harder to unravel. But if I were a men's professional athlete in the U.S. looking over at the NWSL...

So soccer is basically operating now in terms of global rules because we're behind. America is the one catching up. Whereas all the other leagues, we're sort of setting the precedent. And so I think it'd be harder to unravel. But if I were a men's professional athlete in the U.S. looking over at the NWSL...

Would I have a lot of thoughts about how much better it would be to be able to pick where I got to go instead of getting sent to fill in the blank where allegedly parody is what's driving things. But you know that it's a bad team that's poorly run with bad facilities, bad owners, everything else. And you have no choice. You're stuck there.

Would I have a lot of thoughts about how much better it would be to be able to pick where I got to go instead of getting sent to fill in the blank where allegedly parody is what's driving things. But you know that it's a bad team that's poorly run with bad facilities, bad owners, everything else. And you have no choice. You're stuck there.

You just made me think of something that I want to add, which is another way that women's leagues are saying what we've always done doesn't have to be the way we keep doing it. The Professional Women's Hockey League, the PWHL, uses a draft order point system so that the team with the most points after they've been eliminated gets a better pick.

You just made me think of something that I want to add, which is another way that women's leagues are saying what we've always done doesn't have to be the way we keep doing it. The Professional Women's Hockey League, the PWHL, uses a draft order point system so that the team with the most points after they've been eliminated gets a better pick.

So once you know you're not making it, you have to try hard instead of getting worse. So there's a lot of ways that I think women's professional sports are trying to look at what we've complained about for decades on the men's side. Unrivaled, for instance, uses an Elam ending for the fourth quarter of every single game. If people aren't familiar with that, it means you've got a target score.

So once you know you're not making it, you have to try hard instead of getting worse. So there's a lot of ways that I think women's professional sports are trying to look at what we've complained about for decades on the men's side. Unrivaled, for instance, uses an Elam ending for the fourth quarter of every single game. If people aren't familiar with that, it means you've got a target score.

You've got a game winner every single game instead of let's have 8,000 free throws and drag out the finish. So women's sports are looking at the things that aren't working in men's and trying out new things because they're not beholden to nostalgia and tradition and people who will be mad about, you know, mixing things up.

You've got a game winner every single game instead of let's have 8,000 free throws and drag out the finish. So women's sports are looking at the things that aren't working in men's and trying out new things because they're not beholden to nostalgia and tradition and people who will be mad about, you know, mixing things up.

As far as the NWSL goes, we are right in the midst of seeing the first handful of college players getting signed to teams. It's missing a bit of the pageantry in terms of draft day night.

As far as the NWSL goes, we are right in the midst of seeing the first handful of college players getting signed to teams. It's missing a bit of the pageantry in terms of draft day night.

But I had the executive director of the NWSLPA, Megan Burkhan, and the Players Association president, Tori Huster, on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, plug there, to talk about this right after the CBA went through. And one of the things they talked about is that was an artificial pageantry. The real moment where you feel like a pro is when you sign your contract.

But I had the executive director of the NWSLPA, Megan Burkhan, and the Players Association president, Tori Huster, on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain, plug there, to talk about this right after the CBA went through. And one of the things they talked about is that was an artificial pageantry. The real moment where you feel like a pro is when you sign your contract.

not when you put the hat on. So can you make that my pro moment? Can you find a way to put some pageantry behind the contract signing and that decision? Or in high school, for instance, we've got the people who line up the hats on the table and then tell you where they're going on decision day.

not when you put the hat on. So can you make that my pro moment? Can you find a way to put some pageantry behind the contract signing and that decision? Or in high school, for instance, we've got the people who line up the hats on the table and then tell you where they're going on decision day.

You could do that sort of thing the same way for players that are getting to decide their team as opposed to being drafted.

You could do that sort of thing the same way for players that are getting to decide their team as opposed to being drafted.

The dating game. The dating game. You've got the player, and then behind the wall, you've got four teams.