The Women's National Basketball Players' Association (WNBPA) and the National Women's Soccer League Players' Association (NWSLPA) have forged a historic alliance, leveraging collective action to advance their causes. The partnership was highlighted during the WNBA All-Star Game on 19 July, when players wore shirts reading “Pay Us What You Owe Us,” sparking a viral campaign.
The NWSLPA soon joined the effort, with players wearing shirts reading “Pay Them What You Owe Them” before a match on 13 September. “It was a quick yes,” said Haley Hopkins, president of the NWSLPA, of her teammates' decision to participate. The unions have maintained constant communication, with senior advisor Erin D Drake of the WNBPA and deputy executive director Tori Huster of the NWSLPA speaking regularly.
The WNBPA, founded in 1998, has long been a model for the NWSLPA, which was established in 2017. “Their collective action, their advocacy, for sure has been a shining example of what we aspire to be,” Huster said. The alliance has extended to joint public actions, including an oversight committee for an abuse investigation in the NWSL in 2022, where WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson participated.
In December 2024, players and union leaders testified together in an Illinois hearing on House Bill 5841, demonstrating their solidarity. “Over time, as our union has grown in strength, that’s become a relationship of reciprocity and mutuality,” said Meghann Burke, executive director of the NWSLPA.
