The World Cup came to North America this summer, and plenty of fans discovered there's a whole soccer pyramid below MLS. On September 4, the United Soccer League and the USL Players Association ratified a new five-year collective bargaining agreement for the USL Championship, the second division, and for USL Premier, a new first-division league planned for 2028.
The USLPA's president, Colorado Springs Switchbacks defender Duke Lacroix, played for Haiti at the World Cup, according to The Guardian. The deal runs through the 2030 season. "This was a challenging negotiation, but it was also a measure of how far the sport and its players have come since 2018," USLPA executive director Connor Tobin said, per The Guardian. The full text isn't public, but the league's announcement is specific enough to read closely. Two terms are worth a look even if you never watch a second-division match.
Takeaway #1: A year-round contract, finally
FROM THE ANNOUNCEMENT
"USL Championship players will move from the current 10-month contract structure to standardized 12-month contracts."
"Minimum base compensation for USL Championship players, inclusive of the value of housing or a housing stipend, will be $42,000 in 2026 and increase annually over the term of the agreement."
What it means for you. A 10-month contract leaves two months a year with no paycheck. Twelve months means pay, and likely benefits, all year. The Guardian calls it "a codified first in the US lower divisions," and says the minimum is up from $31,000.
Now read the fine print: "inclusive of the value of housing or a housing stipend." If the club provides an apartment, its value counts toward the $42,000. The devil is in the details. A minimum that includes housing isn't the same as $42,000 in cash.
Health insurance moves the other way. Every club must offer players coverage "at or above an Affordable Care Act Silver Plan level, with health insurance costs no longer included in minimum compensation calculations." So health costs no longer eat into the minimum. The deal also creates a separate entry-level contract structure for early-career players, and annual prize pools for the winners of the Players' Shield in the Championship and USL Premier. USL Premier players will start at $67,500, also including housing value, when that league launches.
Your move. Players and agents, when you compare offers, separate cash, housing value and benefits line by line. A contract's "total compensation" can hide what lands in your account.
Takeaway #2: Your face in the video game is a team deal
FROM THE ANNOUNCEMENT
"The agreement establishes a group licensing and commercial rights structure across all four USL professional leagues — the USL Championship, USL League One, Gainbridge Super League and USL Premier — through 2031. The agreement expands player name, image and likeness rights, with players also participating in certain revenues generated through the league's commercial use of player likenesses, including soccer video games and league-sold merchandise."
What it means for you. Group licensing is how a video game gets hundreds of real players at once. No game studio wants to sign each player one by one. So players' names and likenesses are licensed as a group, here through a structure the league and the union agreed to, and players share in some of the revenue. That's different from an individual endorsement, where one player signs one brand for one fee.
The phrase that matters is "certain revenues." Not all revenues, and not every use. Until the agreement text is public, we don't know which revenues count or how they're split. That's the question every player should ask the union.
Note the reach, too. The licensing structure covers all four professional leagues, including the Gainbridge Super League, the women's first division, and League One, whose own CBA expires after 2026, per The Guardian. It runs through 2031, past the CBA itself.
Your move. If you play under a group licensing deal, read your individual endorsement contracts with it in mind. Know what you've already licensed as part of the group before you sell it again yourself.
Sample wording (our illustration): "Player's individual rights exclude any use licensed under the league's group licensing program."
And always remember, don't sign it till you read it, my friends.
General information, not legal advice. Reading this doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Players should talk to the USLPA and their own lawyers about their contracts.
