The massive increase in NWSL Challenge Cup prize money 'changes people's lives,' players say
- NWSL Challenge Cup payouts increased tenfold for this year's tournament, thanks to title sponsor UKG.
- NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman told Insider players were "over the moon about the level of investment."
Select players in the National Women's Soccer League enjoyed a massive payday just as this year's regular season was beginning.
In a league where players have been open about low wages and their need for side hustles to make ends meet, the significant pay bump "changes people's lives" — as North Carolina Courage defender Carson Pickett said.
Ahead of this year's Challenge Cup final, the NWSL announced that it had struck up a deal to make payroll company UKG the tournament's first-ever title sponsor. The agreement, which is an extension of UKG's multi-million-dollar "Close the Gap" pay equity campaign, increased player payouts tenfold.
Pickett and her Courage teammates took home $10,000 for taking down the Washington Spirit in the Challenge Cup final in early May. The Spirit players earned $5,000 as runners up, while members of the semifinalist squads — OL Reign and Kansas City Current — took home $1,500 for their performances.
"This is a lot of money for people," OL Reign and US Women's National Team superstar Megan Rapinoe told Insider. "I would say for the majority of people that play in the league, this is very meaningful money. So I think anytime we can get players to have more money in their pockets, which gives them more freedom in a lot of other areas in life, that's amazing."
Because of UKG's commitment, the prize pool for next year's tournament will double once more. The 2023 increase puts Challenge Cup payouts on par with those from the US Open Cup — the commensurate American tournament on the men's side.
UKG Chief Belonging, Diversity, and Equity officer Brian Reaves told Insider the company's decision to partner with the NWSL came easily given their continued efforts "to shine a light on the systemic issues that hold us back from pay equity." Not only does the league represent "exceptionalism and excellence and great leadership... what all of us should invest in," as Reaves says, but raising the financial stakes of the Challenge Cup also offers these top-tier athletes a chance "to be paid equitably as well as to have equitable opportunity."
"I spoke firsthand with the two teams that made the Challenge Cup final last weekend — the North Carolina Courage and the Washington Spirit," NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman told Insider. "They were all just enthused and over the moon about the level of investment, not just for what it meant in that moment, but what it represents for the future of the NWSL."
"We're really seeing an inflection point right now across the league, where fans, brands, media partners, [and] investors... are all showing up, lining up to really join the NWSL in our effort to unlock the potential," she continued. "And our athletes are front-and-center in advocating for what they are entitled to and what they feel they deserve."
Reaves and Berman both understand that increasing pay for NWSL players is just one small step in the larger battle against the wage gap. Still, they hope what the deal represents will reverberate beyond the world of women's soccer and inspire other brands to tackle pay disparities on the basis of gender.
"We are that microcosm of the larger society," Berman said. "And so our success will be that proof of concept that ultimately can be taken outside of sport. And we can help UKG to achieve their dream and mission of closing the pay gap and also be successful and be able to provide the compensation that is appropriate for our athletes."