The NWSL of 2025 is also not the NWSL of 2021, due to a change in leadership and procedures aimed at player safety. This is the first time, however, that the players have been offered some form of restoration, imperfect as it may be. Money won’t erase what happened. It shouldn’t.

The deal comes more than three years after allegations of harassment, emotional abuse and sexual misconduct sparked a crisis that rocked the league and the sport.

The National Women’s Soccer League has agreed to a $5 million settlement with three attorneys general over past mistreatment of its athletes, according to a joint announcement on Wednesday.