Uncertainty continues to surround the scheduled start of the 2026 USL Championship season, with the USL and the USL Players Association appearing to be far from reaching an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The two sides met for five hours on Wednesday, with a mediator present to help facilitate negotiations. While there was progress on some of the key issues, the USL and the USLPA remain far apart, making an agreement by this weekend highly unlikely.
The USL and the USLPA have been attempting to hammer out a new CBA since August of 2024. The previous deal expired at the end of 2025, though the two sides have been operating under the terms of that agreement as negotiations continued.
The talks are taking place amid a push by the USL to institute a separate Division 1 league that would sit on top of the USL Championship while also implementing a system of promotion-relegation beginning as soon as 2028.
The USL Championship season is scheduled to begin on March 6 with a match in Lexington, Ky., between Lexington SC and Louisville City FC. The remaining USL Championship teams are scheduled to play later that weekend. But hanging over the start of the season was a vote taken last week by the USLPA membership that authorized its bargaining committee to call a strike whenever it felt such a move was necessary.
It isn't clear at this time if the USLPA's bargaining committee will call a strike for this weekend. One union source told ESPN that "Conversations are ongoing," and that the union is "less than impressed" with the offer the USL has put on the table.
USL president of competition and administration Brett Luy indicated that the two sides continue to bargain in good faith, but felt that the USLPA wasn't meeting the USL halfway. "We need a willing dance partner here," he told ESPN via telephone.
Reached by telephone, USLPA executive director Connor Tobin declined to comment.
Wednesday's session saw some movement in terms of minimum compensation for players, a number that includes salary and a housing allowance. The USL agreed to raise its offer from $38,500 to $40,000 per year, while the USLPA reduced its demand from $43,000 to $42,000 per year.
The USL noted that, unlike the previous CBA, health insurance is now a separate benefit apart from salary and housing. But union sources countered that there is more nuance to what the USL is saying.
The league is also asking to be allowed to sign up to four players to what it calls Entry Contracts - referred to in the previous CBA as "flex contracts" - that would pay $33,000 per year in salary and housing allowances. A league source added that these are for players under 23 who couldn't have otherwise signed a USL Championship contract.
The USL agreed to remove a provision from its offer that would have allowed it to unilaterally buyout three contracts per team over two years. This had been a considerable sticking point for the USLPA in recent weeks, with the union stressing that the presence of such buyouts was something they never agreed to.
The latest offer from the league increased protections for players who are on teams that cease operations. According to the USL, its offer states that if a team folds before Dec. 1 of a given year, players will receive six months of salary. If a team folds between Dec. 1 and the start of the following season, the players affected would receive nine months of salary and two months of housing. The USLPA countered that both periods should include two months of housing allowances and health insurance.
The USL has also put in place terms that pay bonuses for players on title-winning teams as well as individual awards. Players will also be compensated for league-level promotional and personal appearances.
The remaining key issues were not discussed at Wednesday's session. These include a mandate that clubs provide health insurance to players. While there is agreement on both sides that this should be included in the CBA, the issue has been stuck between the USL's offer that players be given the option to obtain the same policy available to other club employees, while the USLPA wants all players across the league to have access to the same policy.
The issue of NIL rights, another key item for players, was also not discussed. Players are asking for $625,000 while the league is offering $125,000.
