--- description: Find out why Trinity Rodman was selected for TIME‘s 2026 list of the most influential people in sports. title: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026: Trinity Rodman image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30f8d6eee2bcc73c/6a2099ec70c5a9b07127c0e3/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Trinity-Rodman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jun 09, 2026 # Trinity Rodman by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/) ## Sean Gregory Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent  Jessie Rogers—USSF/Getty Images The list of athletes who have a rule named in their honor, however informally, is brief and prestigious. [Shohei Ohtani](https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/shohei-ohtani/ "undefined"), the two-way baseball superstar, has the “Ohtani Rule”—which sounds a lot jazzier than MLB Rule 5.11(b)—allowing a starting pitcher who hits for himself to remain in the game, as a designated hitter, after he’s done his work on the mound. The “Larry Bird Exception” lets NBA teams exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own qualifying free agents. And in December, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) introduced the “Rodman Rule,” technically called the High Impact Player rule, which permits teams to spend up to $1 million above the salary cap to sign high-performing, marketable stars. [Washington Spirit](https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/michele-kang/ "undefined") standout [Trinity Rodman](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213924/trinity-rodman/ "undefined"), who was receiving lucrative offers from teams in Europe to leave the U.S. club, inspired the provision. So what’s it like being one of the few people in the world who literally changes how a game is run? Rodman’s not walking around with any extra strut. “I hate looking at it like that,” says Rodman, 24, who in January signed a three-year contract with the Spirit, worth more than $2 million annually, making her at the time the highest-paid player in league history. “Because at the end of the day, all the other players around me and before me made that a possibility. I'm just happy to be in a place to continue to just spread the sport and be a name that you hear a lot, for good reasons.” With Rodman out front, the NWSL is riding a wave of women’s sports momentum. In March, the league set opening weekend attendance records. According to _Sportico,_ franchise valuations jumped 77%, on average, in the 18 months leading into the 2026 season. “Every single game, I think I have five to 10 people saying this is the first soccer game they've ever come to,” says Rodman. “That speaks volumes.” When she was around 5, Rodman remembers bawling to her mom about teammates on the Pink Panthers youth squad who preferred picking dandelions over making passes. “I wanted to win everything,” Rodman says. She was the youngest player ever drafted in the league when, in 2021, the Spirit picked her second overall at age 18\. In her first season, Washington won the title, and she was Rookie of the Year. On the international stage, Rodman played forward for the U.S. squad that lost to Sweden in the round of 16 at the [2023 World Cup](https://time.com/6295436/trinity-rodman-world-cup-2023/ "undefined"), the [earliest ever exit](https://time.com/6302113/the-u-s-world-cup-campaign-ends-in-historic-disappointment/ "undefined") for the U.S. women at the event. But at the Olympics in 2024, Rodman, wearing standout pink braids, teamed with [Sophia Wilson (née Smith)](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2023/6308476/sophia-smith/ "undefined") and Mallory Swanson to form a three-pronged attack dubbed Triple Espresso. The U.S. women won [their first gold](https://time.com/7009804/us-womens-soccer-team-gold-medal-win-paris-summer-olympics/ "undefined") in a dozen years. Currently, Rodman is featured in a men’s World Cup campaign for Adidas, an official World Cup sponsor, alongside [Lionel Messi,](https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/lionel-messi/ "undefined") Timothée Chalamet, [Bad Bunny](https://time.com/7373018/bad-bunny-super-bowl-halftime-show-analysis/ "undefined"), Spanish phenom [Lamine Yamal](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2025/7318809/lamine-yamal/ "undefined"), Jude Bellingham, the English star who plays for Real Madrid, and others. “At the end of the day, no matter what the commercial is, you're always going to want your most famous, your most successful people in it,” says Rodman. “They trusted me and felt that I was that personality that was going to grab people's attention, which I think is huge.” Some trailblazing young athletes don’t embrace their celebrity. Luckily for women’s soccer, Rodman relishes the role. “No matter what game it is, no matter what team I'm playing for, you'll always see creativity and fun,” she says. “I want to be a face off the field as well. I love doing fun commercials, fun partnerships, and fashion, especially.” She’d like to tease what’s coming, but she’s been sworn to secrecy. “Watch out,” she says. “Watch women’s sports. That’s it. Drop the mic.” Trinity Rodman: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/trinity-rodman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/trinity-rodman/"},"headline":"Trinity Rodman","datePublished":"2026-06-09T12:00:57.849Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T12:00:57.987Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/trinity-rodman/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30f8d6eee2bcc73c/6a2099ec70c5a9b07127c0e3/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Trinity-Rodman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/"}],"creator":"Sean Gregory","articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30f8d6eee2bcc73c/6a2099ec70c5a9b07127c0e3/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Trinity-Rodman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/trinity-rodman/","name":"Trinity Rodman"}}]}] ```