that is encouraging because if they want fans to support the league they have to set it up so you aren’t having to meander through a labyrinth just to find out how and where to watch a game - I was watching the ACFC game on CBS sports on the Roku and then it just cut out after about 30 min saying my TV subscription didn’t allow me to watch the live stream on the Roku. You have to have a masters degree in electrical engineering to figure out how to watch a live Game and then heaven help you if you want to go to a sports bar to watch it there because none of them use these funky streaming services. Beyond frustrating.
Actually I think the past year or two has been pretty damn good... in your situation, it sounds like the Roku is the complicating factor. I just have P+ and I can watch 95% of the games because P+ also covers main-CBS broadcasts (CBS Sports Network games are the only ones I can't see at home, and that *is* a channel most bars have because it's on most cable sports packages.) I don't mind missing 5% of games when you just have one single, easy-to-use streaming service covering all the rest. When the deal was split with Twitch - or, worse, when they did the experiment with Lifetime and go90 - it was way more complicated and hard to watch what you wanted. I'm a little worried this more-distributed deal might complicate things unnecessarily unless the different services co-broadcast stuff.
So the Utah Royals have scheduled a major announcement for next week, 26 October. As a new team with lots to announce, that in itself isn't a big deal. But the location has me quite curious: the press conference will be held at the big RSL Residential Academy. I don't know why they'd go there unless to announce a component of that program to/for the Royals. Or so I hope.
It would certainly be nice to see the return of the RSL Women/Royals Reserves! Utah was great about that in their first iteration when not many NWSL teams had reserves/youth development sides. As the league grows, it needs to establish more of those.
it needs to establish what their purpose is and how they interact with the current system, if at all.
https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...nce-the-leagues-founding-mvp-also-redesigned/ NWSL unveil new-look championship trophy for the first time since the league's founding; MVP also redesigned Should also redesign the NWSL shield.
The Equalizer The KC Current have announced that CPKC have agreed on a 10-year naming rights agreement. The stadium will be the first built specifically for an #NWSL team.
https://justwomenssports.com/reads/...xmau7p8W9-77FBw3NlwA3GdKDB_Y0oOjGhr_h_4VFp9Tw NWSL commissioner: Next TV deal is ‘single most important thing’ October 22, 2023
https://www.kshb.com/sports/local-s...-old-forward-alex-pfeiffer-to-3-year-contract Kansas City Current signs 15-year-old forward Alex Pfeiffer to 3-year contract KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Current has signed 15-year-old forward Alex Pfeiffer to a three-year contract. Pfeiffer joins the Current with experience with the U.S. Women's National Team at the U15, U16 and U17 levels. "I can’t wait to get on the pitch with this team and help win some championships!” Pfeiffer said in a statement. She is the first player the Current has signed using the NWSL’s under-18 entry mechanism, which limits each team to two players under the age of 18 and guarantees a player may not be waived or traded until they turn 18. “Alex is a tremendous talent we are so excited to bring to the Current,” KC Current general manager Camille Ashton said. “We believe she has the ability to impact this team for many years to come and are thrilled she chose to take this next step in her career to continue her development with us in KC.” Pfeiffer is the fourth-youngest player to ever sign with the NWSL. She will turn 16 in November.
Rules and dates for the 2024 expansion draft are now official: https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/nat...r-2024-nwsl-expansion-draft-presented-by-ally Draft is 12/15, existing teams must have their protected lists finalized by 12/12 Up to nine players per existing team may be protected; an extra can be protected once one unprotected player is picked, and once a second unprotected player is picked, that existing team's remaining players are off the table. (Draft can go up to 12 picks per expansion team.) Players not eligible for selection (presumably not needing to use a protection slot) are both types of free agents, u18 players, and players on Discovery Lists (I hate that Discovery Lists are still a thing) Players whose contracts include a "no trade" clause must be protected.
Wouldn't be surprising. I don't see active rumors swirling right now on Insta or Twitter, but she's had limited game time this year and qualifies as a free agent this offseason, so it would make sense she's shopping around.
I hope she comes to Europe but judging by her post it doesn't seem like she's staying on. If she has already a club then clearly someone scouted her in the Nations League.
Well, the picture is clearing for the Reign: Sportico is reporting that the Sounders are in advanced talks to make the purchase. Nothing signed yet, ofc Link for it you subscribe: https://www.sportico.com/business/team-sales/2023/seattle-sounders-reign-sale-nwsl-1234745096/
Oooo. I approve. It has always annoyed me that the Sounders weren't the owners of the Reign and it created a decent amount of animosity between Sounders fans and the Reign when the team was (correctly) awarded to Predmores instead of the Sounders Women group (it did not include the Sounders, they licensed the name).
It was correct and it did create some frustrating animosity. Frankly i would prefer independent ownership but joint ownership with the Sounders brings a lot of benifts and there's a lot to like about it. As long as it is joint ownership not owned by. And as long as it is The Seattle Reign and we have the Valkyerie
Hanauer finally joined the Reign's ownership group right before Lyon purchased the team, so as long as the Reign's management is separate from the Sounders, I think it will be OK. I wouldn't even be shocked if the Predmores were brought in to some degree to help with running the team initially. I don't think the name will change, but the logo may get an update. It'll obviously get away from Lyons, but I wouldn't expect a return to the old Reign logo. I don't think the Sounders can name the team the Sounders given that MLS owns the trademarks and copyrights..
I wouldn't rule out a return to the old logo, but we can definitely assume the Lyon branding is going away. And since the Sounders just redid their own logo to acclaim, who knows, we might get an "update" to the old Reign logo with a fun secondary like the orca. And yeah, definitely no way it becomes "Sounders Women" again, licensed or otherwise, for that same trademark/copyright reason we don't have Dynamo Women or Thorns Women (Adidas vs Nike issue IIRC).
This is what I meant. Rather than return to the old logo, the Reign will get a "refreshed" version. I just hope the don't go with the Sounders rave green color scheme. I quite liked the old colors and hope they go there rather than Sounders colors but with a Reign logo.
Sounder at Heart has some additional information to what Sportico brought up. https://www.sounderatheart.com/2023/11/sounders-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-reign-report-says/ I don't have access to Sportico's article, so some of this may be covered there. Some things I found interesting in the S@H article. 1. The Predmores are reportedly involved with the Sounders purchase of the Reign. How much they are involved is unclear. 2. OL is reportedly valuing the Reign at $50 million after purchasing it for $3.5 million. 3. As the Sounders move out of Starfire to their new training center at Longacres, the Reign were already going to be moving into the Sounders space at Starfire. It is unclear what sort of facilities Longacres has for a Women's club, so while it makes sense for the Reign to move there as well, it is currently unclear if they would. 4. The Sounders have previously confirmed they are interested in partnering with the new Reign owners and left open whether that meant they would purchase the team.
Oh! And since I'm not sure if people in this forum are familiar with what the Sounders new Longacres training facility is going to look like, here's a link to their page for it: https://www.soundersfc.com/longacres/ The facility is supposed to be open for the 2024 season, but I haven't seen any recent pictures, so I'm not sure how far along it is. Sounders FC Center at Longacres: • 41,300 sq. ft of renovation • 10 acres of land activation • 4 fields: 2 natural, 2 artificial turf • Viewing deck and outdoor patio pic.twitter.com/UpBI9Ok3Dc— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) February 16, 2022 While the tweet says 4 fields, the Sounders got an environmental exception added so that they could remove some wetlands to add a 5th field.