The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for players in the USL Championship that was tentatively agreed to last May has been ratified by the USL Players Association (USLPA), both the United Soccer League (USL) and the USLPA announced on Friday.
The new CBA is effective immediately and runs through the 2030 season, with provisions for an extension.
"The ratification of this agreement is an important moment for USL Championship players and for the continued growth of our game," USLPA executive director Conor Tobin said in a statement. "This was a challenging negotiation, but it was also a measure of how far the sport and its players have come since 2018.
"When the USLPA was formed that year, we wanted to create an organization in which each player had a voice. Since then, players have used that voice in every locker room and in every market in this league. The remarkable progress we have seen for USL players and in American soccer over the last eight years does not happen without the players themselves."
USL president and CEO Paul McDonough added: "This collective bargaining agreement is a significant step forward for the USL and our players and reflects the shared commitment on both sides to continue growing the game and advancing professional standards.
"It provides long-term stability for our players, clubs and leagues, and greater confidence to invest in the future of the USL. Importantly, USL Premier will launch under an established labor agreement, giving the league certainty from day one as we continue pursuing our broader ambitions for the USL and the game."
The agreement contains improved terms for the players in several areas, including compensation, healthcare and commercial rights. Standard player contracts now last 12 months instead of the previous 10, while minimum base compensation will increase to $42,000 in 2026 -- up from $31,000 -- with annual increases thereafter.
The unilateral buyouts of contracts in midseason, a sore spot within the union, have been eliminated, though out-of-season buyouts are still in place.
The USL is in the process of establishing a first division league, USL Premier, on top of the USL Championship starting in 2028, with a system of promotion/relegation facilitating movement among the tiers. Ahead of that inaugural 2028 season, the two sides agreed on a minimum base compensation for USL Premier players of $67,500, with scheduled increases over the term of the agreement.
Every USL Championship club will now be required to offer health insurance at or above Affordable Care Act Silver Plan level, with health insurance costs no longer included in the minimum compensation calculations. There is a possibility that the two sides can agree on a league-wide plan for players at a later date. If this happens, that will trigger the adding of an additional year to the CBA's length.
The agreement also includes provisions for increasing payments to players for name, image and likeness rights across all four USL professional leagues -- the USL Championship, USL League One, Gainbridge Super League and USL Premier -- through 2031. The agreement enables players to participate in certain revenues generated through the league's commercial use of player likenesses, including soccer video games and league-sold merchandise.
The proposed CBA also offers greater protections for players who are contracted with teams that cease operations, though the level of protection varies based on the time of year that a team opts to close its doors.
