Trinity Rodman has become the highest-paid player ever in women’s football after a controversial rule change allowed Washington Spirit to tie her to a new contract worth more than $1m a year.
The 23-year-old forward and daughter of notorious NBA star Dennis Rodman has signed a three-year deal to remain in the NWSL, North America’s top women’s football league, and end fears she would be lured to a top European club.
It comes after NWSL chiefs bowed to pressure to find a way to retain its stars last month by introducing the High Impact Player rule – dubbed the Rodman Rule – which allows teams to spend up to $1m over their $3.5m salary cap on exceptional players.
“I’ve made the DMV [District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia] my home and the Spirit my family, and I knew this was where I wanted to enter the next chapter of my career,” she said.
“I’m proud of what we’ve built since my rookie season, and I’m excited about where this club is headed. We’re chasing championships and raising the standard, and I can’t wait to keep doing that with my teammates and the best fans in the NWSL.”
Rodman’s record-breaking contract is being bankrolled by Michele Kang, the billionaire women’s sport investor who owns a portfolio of teams including Spirit, London City Lionesses and French side OL Lyonnes.
“Trinity is a generational player, but more importantly, she represents the future of this club and the future of women’s soccer,” Kang said.
“This agreement reflects our belief that elite talent deserves elite commitment. At the Spirit, we are building something enduring: a club that competes for championships every year, invests in excellence and creates an environment where world-class players can thrive long-term.
“Trinity choosing to continue her career in Washington is a powerful statement about what we are building here.”
How Rodman Rule kept star in NWSL, not WSL
Rodman joined Washington Spirit in 2021, becoming the youngest player to be picked in the NWSL College Draft, aged 18 and helped the Spirit win the championship in her first season.
She has since racked up 28 goals and 17 assists in 97 appearances and become a key player for the national team, scoring 11 goals in 47 games and helping Emma Hayes’s team win gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Rodman, who has endorsement deals with Adidas, Red Bull and Oakley, reportedly earned $275,000 a year from her rookie contract, which expired at the end of 2025, and was courted by top European clubs, who are not subject to salary caps.
North American football has increasingly seen its leading talents, such as Chelsea defender Naomi Girma and Arsenal forward Olivia Smith, lured across the Atlantic, particularly to England’s WSL, by big-money deals.
The NWSL rejected a plan by Washington Spirit to sign Rodman to a new four-year deal, backloaded to meet the current salary cap, on the basis that it was against the spirit of the rules.
But, after the players’ union filed a grievance on behalf of Rodman, came up with the High Impact Player exception, which requires stars to meet seven criteria.
