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Gotham FC’s Midge Purce is not a fan of the NWSL’s controversial “High Impact Player” rule.
The new rule is commonly called the “Rodman Rule” as the NWSL pushed it through in order to ensure that Trinity Rodman didn’t have to chase a bigger paycheck in Europe.
Purce told Front Office Sports on an upcoming episode of Portfolio Players that she feels the rule is restrictive.
“I hate it. I hate it so much,” Purce said. “I think maybe for different reasons than other people do…I actually said my issue with the rule was I think she’s worth more than what that rule allows her to make.”
The NWSL adopted the rule in December despite heavy opposition from the players. Under the new rule, teams can go up to $1 million over the salary cap for players that meet certain narrowly defined criteria. The players association preferred to simply increase the cap by $1 million per team. The union’s executive director, Meghann Burke, told FOS: “I have not heard from a single player who thinks this is a good idea.” In January, the players union filed a grievance with the league over the rule, which is still ongoing.
When announcing the new rule, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said it “allows teams to invest strategically in top talent, strengthens our ability to retain star players, and demonstrates our commitment to building world-class rosters for fans across the league.”
With the “Rodman Rule” in place, Rodman signed a three-year deal with the Washington Spirit worth more than $2 million annually with bonuses after serious interest from European clubs.
Purce said she feels the rule puts an artificial constraint on what Rodman can make in the NWSL, and that the league is going to lose talent because of it. Before the HIP rule, stars like Alyssa Thompson and Naomi Girma departed to earn higher salaries in Europe.
“We’re celebrating, ‘Oh, she’s the highest paid player in the league,’ but I’m like, ‘No, you’re putting a cap on what this girl is actually worth and what she can actually make,’” Purce said.
Players only qualify if they place above a certain threshold in Ballon d’Or voting, on football rankings by The Guardian and ESPN, on SportsPro Media’s list of most marketable athletes, in minutes of U.S. Women’s National Team play, or receive certain NWSL awards.
Purce said her “biggest issue” with the rule is that it gives media companies “the authority to decide who’s worth being paid in the league that they don’t cover well.”
“That to me was what I found to be mind-boggling,” Purce said.
The NWSL isn’t the only league that gives the media an indirect say in player salaries. In the NBA, media members vote on end-of-season awards that can ultimately swing contracts by tens of millions of dollars.
Purce highlighted an extra-time, game-winner scored by her teammate Katie Lampson in the final minutes of Gotham FC’s semifinal upset over the KC Current in November. Though the game was aired on ESPN, the goal did not make it onto SportsCenter, Purce said.
“And so I’m like, these are the places that you’re saying that they get to decide who’s worth what in our league, and they don’t know because they don’t pay enough attention,” Purce said.
Lampson’s goal was featured as a highlight during one version of the day’s SportsCenter, though it did not enter that evening’s Top 10 segment, a spokesperson for the network tells FOS.
The spokesperson also says the rankings considered in the HIP rule are compiled by 25 experts beyond ESPN staff that includes front office executives, media members, and former players.
“ESPN has a longstanding commitment to women’s soccer and the NWSL, and we continue to showcase the league and its athletes across our platforms through comprehensive coverage,” the company told FOS in a statement attributed to senior director of programing and acquisitions Sonia Gomez-Baker.
ESPN first broadcast NWSL matches in 2014, and has been part of the league’s rights package since 2019. The network has also ramped up its NWSL coverage in recent years, led by writer Jeff Kassouf, its weekly studio show, Futbol W, and its recently announced Women’s Sports Sundays that highlight the WNBA and NWSL.
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