Sophia Smith, Thorns Agree to Historic New Contract; Becomes Highest-Paid NWSL Player

Sophia Smith will reportedly be the highest-paid player annually in the National Women's Soccer League after she and the Portland Thorns agreed to a new deal Wednesday.

According to Jeff Kassouf of ESPN, the forward's new contract keeps her in Portland through the 2025 campaign with a 2026 option. While the specific numbers of the deal weren't shared, Smith will be paid more annually than the deals ranging between $2 million and $2.5 million that Mallory Swanson of the Chicago Red Stars, Racheal Kundananji of Bay FC and Barbra Banda of the Orlando Pride signed.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

This deal will keep Smith with the team that selected her with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NWSL draft and prevent her from becoming a free agent after the 2024 campaign.

Yet more than just familiarity played a role in her decision.

As Kassouf noted, "former Thorns controlling owner Merritt Paulson, under increasing fan pressure in 2022, eventually agreed to sell the team after multiple investigations detailed how he and Thorns management mishandled prior player complaints and enabled alleged abuser Paul Riley to continue working in the league."

For her part, Smith said having the Bhathal family purchase the team "changes everything" because she had "just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more."

Her decision to stay in Portland is welcome news for the team and its fans, as her resume includes a league MVP (2022), a Golden Boot (2023) and 34 regular-season goals. She also led the Thorns to the franchise's third NWSL championship in 2022.

Smith is just 23 years old and has also established herself as one of the faces of the next generation of stars for the United States Women's National Team. She has 16 goals in 44 appearances for the national team and started in the 2023 World Cup.

With the contract situation settled, she and the Thorns will look to turn things around after a slow start to the 2024 season.

They lost their opening two games to the Kansas City Current and NJ/NY Gotham, although Smith already has two goals on the campaign. Next up for Portland is a game against Racing Louisville FC on Saturday.