USL Secures New Collective Bargaining Agreements Expanding Contracts and Salary Floors

The United Soccer League (USL) and the USL Players Association (USLPA) ratified two collective bargaining agreements covering the second-division USL Championship and the forthcoming USL Premier, a first-division sanctioned league slated to launch in 2028. The agreements introduce 12-month contracts for all players—a first in U.S. lower-division soccer—and establish compensation floors that rise annually through 2030. Championship players will receive a base salary of $42,000 in 2026, up from $31,000, while the USL Premier will start with a $67,500 floor in 2028.

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The new pacts build on earlier CBAs that standardized 10-month contracts after the USL assumed primary responsibility for professional lower divisions in 2018, following the collapse of the North American Soccer League’s second iteration. The first Championship CBA was ratified in 2021, and a similar agreement for League One was approved in 2021 after the Championship deal. The current agreements also refine group licensing, commercial-rights distribution, medical standards, mandatory healthcare, and introduce competitive prize-money mechanisms.

The Guardian

• Contract length: 12 months for all players in both leagues.

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• Championship salary floor (2026): $42,000, with yearly increases.

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• Premier league salary floor (2028): $67,500, with yearly increases.

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• Housing: Included in the base compensation for Championship players.

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• “A tremendous amount of time and energy went into the bargaining process to reach an agreement that establishes stronger standards for player safety, stability, and the long-term future of the game,” — USLPA

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