I'm hoping for future NWSL teams San Antonio and Austin and where they can play. Toyota Field in San Antonio Austin Bold stadium
How is that "close to each other" I can think of any number of MLS pairs (not in the same city) that are closer. Both Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte are over 2 million pop each and I don't know of anybody that drives from Charlotte to see the Courage.
Portland and Seattle are short of three hours away from each other -- more or less depending on traffic.
So depending on the new owners of Real Salt Lake, we could have Utah and Charlotte in by 2024. Maybe for 2025 we get Oakland and Cincinnati.
The supposedly new owners for Real Salt Lake have mentioned their intentions to bring back the Royals. Let's see if and when it happens.
Have they? I haven't seen any chatter of it on Twitter, and the RSL ownership thread has some posters speculating as such but no links directly saying the prospective owners are interested.
On a Houston Dash media call — owner Ted Segal said he is chair of #NWSL expansion committee, said they “intend to expand the league thoughtfully” over “next several years.”— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) February 2, 2022
Makes sense. Utah is a near lock for 2024, so I bet they'd want a 14th team by 2025 if possible. Three years to get one good expansion candidate coming to the table shouldn't be too bad. No need to go too quickly, especially with the new CBA.
Curious with the new increase in salary caps if those rumored MLS teams(Cincinnati, Austin, Minnesota, Atlanta) that once had a hint of interest in getting a NWSL team are backing off now.
I would be surprised if Atlanta (who's not only one of the richest MLS teams but is also backed by an NFL team) is going to be at all concerned about a salary cap increase that still keeps things well under $2mil. The others, IDK, but I'd be surprised if the salary cap increase really scares anyone off - I think anyone who was thinking of investing in NWSL was expecting the league to grow over time, after all.
Obviously Utah is #13. Cincinnati's talks come and go, but in terms of fan support, they should be #14. Atlanta and Austin, when ready, should be #15 & #16. Possibly have the NWSL at 16 teams by the 2027 season?
I don't have much faith in either Cincy or Atlanta. Austin is the only one of those "other three" who's shown any peep of interest recently.
Interest from who? From fans - absolutely. But from an interested ownership group? Not a peep. I think the Union sent out a single interest survey, like, four or five years ago, and that's been about it. But there's never been any hint of an interested ownership group having approached NWSL in any of the expansion rumors since NWSL was founded. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds actually tested the NWSL waters way back in the early years of the league, but that's been it from PA.
Any chance they look to move to the NWSL in a few years? BREAKING NEWS: Aurora home games will be played @VikingLakes #TCOStadium providing fans and players with a first class game day experience. Stay tuned for the schedule release today at 2 p.m. CST. Place your $30 season ticket deposit now > https://t.co/2jfRdSpWzG#WeAreAurora pic.twitter.com/UypFIH9sDD— Minnesota Aurora FC (@MNAuroraFC) February 3, 2022
Maybe, if they have some big investment groups to support it. Not to mention large attendances. The stadium they are playing has a capacity for 5500.
Any chance? Sure, there's always a chance. But this is a W League team, not even a Super League team, so despite the amount of professionalism they're giving to the team in the ramp to launch, I don't see them having any higher ambitions at all. Large attendances (or rather, the lack of) don't matter, just the ownership group. And the ownership group seems too disperse (it's a community-owned team) to have the clout for higher ambitions.
Leslie Osborne speaking to the NorCal Premier Soccer Committee: #NWSL Bay Area has raised $10 million so far, ownership group is made up of USWNT vets and Silicon Valley tech companies. 2023 was the target but won’t be official until 2024 at the earliest now.— Lis Schendel Misses the Pac-12 (@lis_ashlee) March 4, 2022 So potentially Bay Area/Oakland and Utah Royals for 2024?
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman says 'time is now' for expansion in growing league https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...-for-expansion-in-growing-league?platform=amp
That is... probably one of the most-thinly-written articles I've ever seen on ESPN. I would believe there's respectable expansion interest; I have trouble believing the "overwhelming" part. We thought we had "overwhelming" expansion interest after the 2015 WWC, when there was talk of going form 9 to 14 in just three or four years (which is still insane, and I'm glad it didn't happen that fast). If we add two pairs of team in '24 and '26... that would sound appropriate to me. Also, please NAME DROP. It's not very convincing to say "oh there's lots of interest" with no means of corroboration.
NYCFC expansion team? Doubt they'd play at Yankees stadium just due to scheduling constraints. #NWSL expansion is far from over. Here’s some of what new commissioner and Brooklyn native Jessica Berman had to say today about the league’s plans, and whether a second NY club could be in the cards, plus a few words on #GothamFC: https://t.co/pbty1TeDDo— Ryan Gerbosi (@RyanGerbosi) May 10, 2022
Article doesn't mention NYCFC at all. In fact, it seems more like an NY-based site asking the commish if there's a possibility of a second NY-based team (because that's their readership) rather than her giving any hints that there's interest there. Newsday is based in Long Island, so Red Bull Arena is definitely a bit of a trek for them.