Agreement Formalizes Allocation of Players to WPS Clubs

SAN FRANCISCO (February 16, 2008) – Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) today announced that it has finalized negotiations on the form of a player contract that teams will use to sign players from the U.S. Women’s National Team. Completed two months before the WPS inaugural season kicks off on March 29, 2009, the contract may extend over three seasons and provides for players in the U.S. Women’s National Team pool to be compensated by the teams for on-field play and for off-field commercial and marketing appearances.

“This is another big day in the evolution of our league from the planning and preparation stages to the start of our inaugural season in less than two months time,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “We are pleased to have these negotiations behind us and to work closely with the players to promote, support and help WPS thrive. I want to thank the parties on both sides – players and their representatives as well as team and WPS officials – for all the hard work and time that went into this.”

“The players are excited and ready to go,” said Christie Rampone, the U.S. Women’s National Team captain, two-time gold medalist and Sky Blue FC defender.  “It’s been more than five years since we last had women’s professional soccer in this country, and all the pieces are coming into place for a great inaugural season.”