Former NWSL player says league culture pressured athletes to support political messages they opposed
After spectators displaying a "Save Women’s Sports" banner were confronted by other fans and removed from Friday’s Portland Thorns game, former NWSL player Elizabeth Eddy is calling out a league culture she says pressures players to support political messages they do not necessarily believe.
Eddy, who retired earlier this year after an 11-year professional career, told OutKick that the confrontation left her "really, really disheartened" but "not surprised at all." Her concerns extend beyond the stands to team environments where, she says, supporting a cause could become a test of being a good teammate.
"Hey, everyone wear the shirt, be a good teammate, be a good ally," she recalled.
But behind those public displays, Eddy said, "there was like no room to voice a different opinion."
For the retired NWSL veteran, that message created a difficult choice: publicly support a position she did not share, cover it with a sweatshirt or explain herself to people she depended on to succeed on the field.
"There was a lot of times where that was like the situation where you either wear it, you wear a sweatshirt over it, or you just flat out say, ‘I’m not wearing this,’" Eddy said.
"And then the repercussions of saying you’re not going to wear it on different teams in different political or social causes have different, I would say, responses and none of them are great."
Eddy, who announced her retirement in March after an 11-year professional career, is describing what she considers a gap between the NWSL’s public messaging and the private beliefs of some players. Her account centers on social pressure, team relationships and the perceived cost of disagreeing, rather than a specific disciplinary action she says was imposed for refusing a shirt.
She said the expectation to present a united front could leave little space to question a cause.
"There was like no room to voice a different opinion," she said.
Eddy described players being directed toward reading material when they disagreed. "Reeducate yourself" was how she characterized that response.
Her criticism comes from someone who spent years moving through the league’s locker rooms. Eddy played for the Western New York Flash, North Carolina Courage, Sky Blue/Gotham, Houston Dash and, most recently, Angel City FC. Her Angel City tenure ran from 2023 through 2025.
One example she cited was Angel City’s "Immigrant City Football Club" campaign. The club introduced the shirts in June 2025 as a show of support for Los Angeles’ immigrant communities, describing the campaign as a reflection of the city and the people within the organization.
Eddy said she was not dressing for the game, she recalled and watched from the stands, so she did not have to wear that shirt.
But she said players preparing to compete could feel that questioning a message was another distraction from the job they were trying to do.
"Most girls, I don’t really think believe in a lot of the stuff that they’re getting told to wear, and then like publicly parade around like they’re supporters of it," she said.
Asked specifically about messaging supporting transgender people, Eddy recalled teammates wearing shirts she believed said "protect trans kids." She acknowledged uncertainty about whether wearing them was required.
"I don’t remember if it was ever mandated or not," she said.
She said she did not think she personally had to wear the shirt because she may have been injured or not selected for that weekend. Asked what she would have done if she had been playing, she described a possible workaround.
"So I’d probably wear a sweatshirt over it and not deal with it," she said.
Eddy also pointed to Megan Rapinoe as a major influence on the political culture she described within the NWSL.
Asked how much Rapinoe helped shape that environment, Eddy answered, "significantly, a lot."
But Eddy also expressed respect for Rapinoe’s willingness to speak her mind, recalling that her outspoken positions initially challenged prevailing views.
"I mean, she's been a very outspoken person, her whole career," Eddy said. "I respect a person who's going to speak their mind."
Over time, Eddy argued, that influence helped move the broader group toward Rapinoe’s positions while others remained quiet.
"And then eventually that speaking over and over again, the group starts just going that way in the sense of like no one else is speaking," she said.
Eddy suggested that Rapinoe’s success afforded her a level of freedom to express opinions that less established players might not feel they have. Her criticism centered on what she viewed as an imbalance in whose opinions could be expressed comfortably.
The league’s collective bargaining agreement contains a protection relevant to political messaging. In its article governing promotional and other appearances, it prohibits the league and teams from compelling participation in an appearance requiring support for messaging that conflicts with a player’s sincerely held political, moral, philosophical or religious beliefs. How that provision applied to the warmup situations Eddy described would require additional details about the events and instructions involved.
Eddy herself participated in the union’s work: The NWSL Players Association lists her on the bargaining committee for the agreement reached in 2024. That deal guaranteed contracts, expanded free agency and prohibited trades without player consent.
Her concern, she said, is that an athlete can have reasons to remain quiet even when a disagreement does not result in formal punishment.
In a team sport, she argued, preserving relationships becomes part of protecting a career. Players have to train, compete and depend on one another while navigating disagreements that extend beyond soccer.
"But you almost like slowly keep compromising your beliefs the longer you’re in the system," she said.
Eddy publicly challenged the league’s approach to sex eligibility in an October 2025 New York Post opinion piece calling for clear standards for the women’s category. The article prompted public criticism from her teammates and a statement distancing Angel City from her views.
The club said it respected an individual’s right to express an opinion while maintaining its commitment to "equity, inclusion, and belonging."
Angel City captain Sarah Gorden and goalkeeper Angelina Anderson also addressed the article publicly. Gorden said teammates were hurt by it and objected to its language.
"We don’t agree with the things written for a plethora of reasons, but mostly the undertones come across as transphobic and racist," Gorden said at the time.
Eddy said she subsequently heard through teammates that some players agreed the league should have eligibility rules, even if they disagreed with how her position had been presented.
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She believes an active player taking a similar position could face professional consequences, although she acknowledged she could not specify what those would be.
"I think there would be like significant consequences. I don’t know what those would be," she said.
She said a player’s experience would depend on the general manager, coach and city. Her prediction does not establish that a player has been disciplined for expressing those views.
The NWSL has said policy changes would involve its player's association. Commissioner Jessica Berman said in August that every player competing in the league had been determined eligible and that changes to written policy or practice would be made in consultation with the union.
Eddy’s latest comments followed the Oct. 23 confrontation at Portland’s Providence Park, where supporters of female-only sports displayed XX-XY Athletics shirts and a "Save Women’s Sports" banner before a filmed confrontation and security removals. The Justice Department and City of Portland have separately confirmed reviews of the incident.
"I was really, really disheartened," Eddy said when asked about what happened.
She encouraged people who share her position to make their views known and consider where they spend their money. Asked whether she would attend a game and join the demonstrators, she stopped short of making a commitment.
"I will consider that," she said.
Eddy also said disagreement should lead to conversation rather than exclusion.
"It’s uncomfortable and it’s hard and it’s messy, but I think it’s the right thing to do," she said.
For her, the issue has become inseparable from a career she spent years trying to preserve.
"I love sports. I love soccer," she said. "And to have an 11-year career playing professionally and then to come to realize like, wow, this thing I’ve given a lot of my life to really turned in on itself."
The NWSL told OutKick, "The NWSL does not comment on statements by former players," in response to Eddy's comments.