Should American pro sports ditch their player drafts?

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) just "scrapped the draft," said The Wall Street Journal. Player drafts have long been a "cornerstone of American pro sports," but the NWSL signed a new collective-bargaining agreement that lets new athletes entering the league automatically become free agents. No more waiting to see which team chooses them — players will get to choose "from among their preferred teams, negotiate a deal and start playing." That's literally a game changer.

The new agreement "reflects NWSL's unique challenge" of competing for players with European pro leagues, said Sportico. The Women's Super League in England and Liga F in Spain "don't feature a draft," which has made it easier for teams in those leagues to directly sign top talent. 

Will the new NSWL model be adopted by other sports leagues? "Maybe it should," Howie Kussoy said at The New York Post. In American leagues, the worst teams get to pick the best players first. That means college sports' top players are "penalized for their success" when they enter the pros.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

How to rebuild a bad team? 

The NWSL has thrown the draft "in the trash where it belongs," Luis Paez-Pumar said at Defector. Would leagues like the NFL and NBA be willing to follow the women's example? Probably not. Both leagues are committed to "maintaining control of player movement." But the unions that represent pro football and basketball players might think differently. And why not? Nixing the draft would empower players to find teams that are better fits when it comes to "playing style, development and lifestyle."

"Imagine a world where teams are incentivized to try only to … win?" Mirjam Swanson said at The Orange County Register. Middling pro teams often "tank" their seasons to get a higher draft pick and their chance at the best possible players. (Think "Suck for Luck" or "Tryin' for Zion.") And bad teams that don't tank have an easy crutch to get better. "How would an organization hope to get out of a rut and rebuild without a draft to fall back on?" Easy: They could recruit players who actually want to play for them. "Would that be asking too much?" Swanson added.

Drafts are 'effective revenue generators'

One obstacle? Drafts are big events for the big pro sports leagues, "effective revenue generators" that bring more money to team owners and players, said Time magazine. The NFL Draft, for example, is a "three-day ratings extravaganza" that "keeps fans engaged during the offseason" when there aren't any games to watch. That's partly because football and basketball players entering the pros are usually already well-known stars in college. "Undeniably, the college industry for football, for basketball, is massive," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman. Women's soccer players are less well-known, making it easier for her league to make its move.

"It's a smart move," said The Guardian. The new NWSL agreement comes along at an exciting moment for women's sports, which are expected to surpass $1 billion in revenues for the first time this year. Even if established leagues don't follow suit, NWSL officials expect that draft-free player movement will be good for their league. "It's critically important, in order for us to be the best league in the world, that we are attracting the best players," said Berman.