I think going to 18 teams is a plan that is on the books right now, but beyond that has not been worked out in any detail. I am sure they want to, but by then we would be looking at getting new teams in 2030. If growth in attendance, sponsorship and media rights deals continues, then yes, it could go the MLS route at some point.
An NWSL expansion franchise would be a major coup for Cincinnati, a sports marketing executive said. https://t.co/BasEwi70YM— Cincinnati Business Courier (@BusinessCourier) November 13, 2024
Considering this new article suggests that the two Ohio C's are the top two candidates, I'm sure whoever loses out this round will probably have an easy in-road for the next round of expansion, should they chose to attempt again. To be fair, it's hard to really discern who the "top" bids are, since both of the past articles that have mentioned things likely have a home media bias at play, at least somewhere (i.e. the Cincy article saying Cincy is near the top, the Nashville article saying Nashville was near the top, etc.)
That's the thing, though - the more I think about it, the more telling it is that all of the expansion "news" is coming from local sources instead of established WoSo journalists. What that tells me is that NWSL itself is being very, very tight-lipped about how things stand, so the people with established connections don't feel comfortable postulating about anything aside from saying there are five groups in consideration, but the applying parties (or people adjacent to them) are taking whatever discussions they've had with NWSL and trying to spin up hype in their local markets. I bet it's less of an actual back-and-forth at HQ and more people making tsunamis out of little ebbs and flows in the discussions.
IIRC the league has only ever said it'd be by the end of the year; I thought it was one of the local news articles/rumors (Cleveland?) that suggested announcing it at the championship
More on Cleveland's bid plus news of Cleveland looking to submit for a WNBA expansion franchise, too. https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-th...es-bid-to-bring-a-wnba-team-back-to-cleveland
Caitlin Clark part of Cincinnati group in NWSL expansion bid https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/42530907/caitlin-clark-part-cincinnati-group-nwsl-bid
I think the ESPN article Friday was published maybe a couple of hours too early, as later in the day, the five groups in the running were officially reduced down to three finalists: CIN, CLE, and DEN https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/59...nver-nwsl-expansion-finalists-jessica-berman/ Reminders: CIN is closely tied to (but not owned by) MLS' FC Cininnati CLE is the same group trying to bring MLS Next to the city DEN is independent Also, direct quote from Berman: "All of the men’s leagues are 30-plus teams for a reason."
For those who don't want to put in their emails https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-named-a-finalist-for-nwsl-expansion-team#:~:text="All the men's leagues are,to be in more markets." Full quote "As we think about the geographic footprint of our country, we know that a 14-team league is not where we will end up," Berman told ESPN. "All the men's leagues are 30-plus teams for a reason, and in order to build the kind of national exposure, visibility and media deals that we think this league deserves and our fans deserve, we know that we need to be in more markets."
that statement guarantees the NWSL will keep expanding as long as there are enough investors and deep-pocket owners. Just award all 3 expansion teams, but add Cincinnati for 2026 and then Cleveland & Denver for 2028.
Is Cincinnati now the frontrunner? https://mlsmultiplex.com/cincinnati...ange-the-game-for-women-s-soccer-01je95tt9j8a
Maybe, but I certainly wouldn't weigh a basic summary from MLS Multiplex as strong evidence of it. Cincy has the flash factor with Clark joining but who knows what details NWSL itself is weighing most