U.S. women's national team forward Mallory Swanson has signed a record-breaking contract with the Chicago Red Stars, the club announced Tuesday. The forward will remain in Chicago through 2028 on a four-year contract with a fifth-year option, a newly approved league contract.
The terms of the contract make Swanson the highest-paid athlete in the league, surpassing a deal recently signed by Houston Dash winger Maria Sanchez. The Mexico international has opted out of a three-year contract worth a reported $1.5 million via free agency. CBS Sports understands Swanson's contract is expected to be worth more than $400,000 per year and would peg her deal at the $2 million mark.
Swanson was previously traded to Chicago from Sky Blue FC (now NJ/NY Gotham FC) in 2021, and her latest deal makes her the first official USWNT player to sign for the club under a new Red Stars ownership group. Laura Ricketts, co-owner of the MLB Chicago Cubs and minority investor in the WNBA Chicago Sky, led a collective of investors that completed the sale in October 2023.
Ricketts and the group have since hired a new club president, Karen Leetzow, and are working to build and establish a new club culture. With this groundbreaking contract, Swanson is officially the face of this rebuild.
“The Red Stars are very pleased with Mallory Swanson’s decision to extend her career with us here in Chicago,” said Leetzow. “Mallory embodies the courage, focus and resilience of our franchise and is an anchor for this team. Mal is a natural leader on and off the field and I look forward to working with her to build the Red Stars into a championship team.”
The club experienced a massive turnover of players over the last two offseasons after the franchise, former head coach and previous owner were implicated in multiple reports and investigations related to club culture and harassment. Player departures continued this offseason as the organization looks to renew its culture and begin a new chapter.
A new year, a new beginning for Mal Swanson
Swanson has been at the heart of the Red Stars' attack since her arrival at the club. She was a two-time MVP finalist and was runner-up MVP in 2021. In her first three seasons, she led the team with 18 goals and ten assists in all of the club's competitions to date, while playing under two different head coaches.
Still, despite Swanson's three-year tenure in Chicago, the new contract symbolizes a new beginning. The Colorado native was in remarkable form heading into the 2023 regular season in anticipation of a FIFA Women's World Cup, but her year was brutally cut short when she suffered an injury during a friendly against Ireland.
“Just to play. Plain and simple. Just to play,” Swanson told CBS Sports about her goals. “I’m looking forward to going into pre-season, getting there, seeing all my teammates and building new relationships. And just being able to play again is something I’m really looking forward to.” [that].
A ruptured patellar tendon in her left knee ended a sweltering year. Swanson scored seven goals in six games for the national team and there was great excitement that she could be the breakthrough player at the 2023 World Cup. Without her presence on the field, the national team struggled at the tournament and her seven international goals were the most of any striker on the team by the end of the year.
The Red Stars also struggled without her. The team simply couldn't get it done, finishing last in a 12-team standings and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015. This set the stage for another offseason of players departing but a first experience for the new ownership, and landing Swanson was a priority for everyone involved.
Family was a key factor in Swanson's next contract. Her husband, Dansby Swanson, is the Chicago Cubs' shortstop and has six years left on his contract. The length of Swanson's Red Stars contract is the longest contract signed by a free agent this offseason, and she signed it with the intention of spending a significant portion of her career in the same city alongside her husband.
“I think free agency can be different for everyone. To be honest, I wasn't very stressed. I am of course very happy and honored to have signed a new contract with Chicago and to remain with the Red Stars.”
Be part of a new era
Free agency is still relatively new in the NWSL and, like any professional sports league, there are many unknowns to navigate. Swanson was a top free agent target in the league, and other teams were also interested. Ultimately, however, uncertainty over whether they could steer her away from her current work-life balance weighed on her when she decided to stay with the Red Stars.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s like being back in Chicago with Dansby. I have always said that family is the most important thing. I think family comes before my career.”
The striker says the concept of a one-year or short-term deal elsewhere is not out of the question. Previous reports have detailed Racing Louisville FC's interest, but the ability to remain in the market and have new ownership has quelled any free agency fears.
With the advent of free agency last offseason, it meant there was an opportunity for clubs and players on the market to look for other options. The concept of using players as part of a rebuild has its challenges, but for the Red Stars and Swanson it came down to a shared vision.
“In conversations I had with Laura [Ricketts]She cares deeply about the vision and future of the club. She was also very willing to listen to the players, listen to the feedback and listen [about] their experiences. For me this is super important. Your vision for the club is heading in the right direction.
“I think it's the start of something new. This can be super, super exciting. Plus, Chicago has always had this hard-working, gritty, head-first mentality, and I think you can bring that into this new identity.”
Donaldson brings a tantalizing vision
While Swanson and the club are in the process of defining what that identity will look like, they will have a new coach to help get things moving. After hiring a club president, the Red Stars announced former Jamaica women's national team coach Lorne Donaldson as their new head coach.
Donaldson made history with the national team when he became the first Caribbean country, male or female, to ever reach the knockout stages of a World Cup. He has extensive experience in youth club soccer and is a former Swanson youth coach.
“He definitely knows how to get the best out of players and he definitely knows how to get the best out of me,” Swanson said of the hire.
“[He’s] fits perfectly into the group. I think what I like most about him as a coach is that he can get the best out of everyone. He knows how to get the best out of player 26 or player one. He can bring out the best in anyone and that is just something very special. He knows how to get the best out of me, when to push me and what part of the game I need to do more.
There's the perfect balance between having fun and then putting your head down and working. It's the perfect balance the way he does it. Because at the end of the day, we are here, playing a game as a job. We are very blessed and lucky to be doing this and it should be fun. I think he can get that out of the group too. This group deserves this.”