Update: Meg also now reporting that her MLS sources similarly deny the claim an offer is on the table to buy NWSL. Now, I could understand if she was specifically asking about NWSL and didn't press on WPSL, letting that half of Dan's "mostly true" rumor actually be true. I could potentially see MLS buying up WPSL because it's a much smaller operation and the MLS academies already have girls' teams active to help create a vertical structure (academy - amateur - D3pro). I still hope it doesn't happen - I'd much rather NWSL and WPSL for a partnership similar to the one that MLS and USL formed a while back (which, now that I think about it, is probably why MLS is maybe trying to jockey into a "whole system" structure like USL was able to create thanks to that partnership-turned-competitor).
It's also a trust thing at this point. Meg has always covered the NWSL while Dan doesn't and never has. So Dan got a whif of some rumor and Tweeted it out and it blew up for him. Now Meg had to contact her sources and call him out.
NWSL part might not be true but I could see something with the USL Super League. No one has said about the USL and MLS not being real. Don't yall think?
Dan is known and trusted for covering lower-division stuff, which is the main reason why I think that MLS purchasing WPSL could potentially be something that happens. I also notice that it's odd he called it a "standing" offer - like, how long has it been on the table and not acted on? USL and MLS had a recent split over the men's D3 leagues, they're basically competitors now, especially with the row over the USOC - no way MLS buys one of USL's leagues, much less the whole pyramid. It's likely that MLS "trying" to get NWSL or WPSL is so that they remain the biggest player in the US soccer market and keep outpacing USL's own expansion.
Controlling stake of Angel City sold for $250 million Pretty steep price and it further suggests that NWSL isn't getting bought out by MLS.
Next time someone starts this kind of rumor they need to explain what they mean by MLS buying NWSL. NWSL is organized like MLS as a single entity with franchise investor/operators running the teams. Do they mean MLS taking over/merging the central entity, and then this entity would have separate franchise agreements for MLS teams and NWSL teams? In this case the current NWSL owners (not counting those who are already combined MLS/NWSL) would presumably carry on but leaguewide operations would change. Or do they mean MLS owners buying out all of the current NWSL owners and completely taking over operations? That would mean things like Merritt Paulsen regaining control of the Thorns and LAFC buying out the Angel City owners. This would be a much more radical situation and the scale of recent NWSL franchise sales seems to make this unrealistic. It's probably all bogus, so not worth getting too deep into it. One thing I could imagine is true is that at some point MLS has told NWSL "If you're interested in combining things, we're open to talking about it at any time," and that gets filtered into the Twitter rumor mill as a "standing offer."
If MLS would ever outbuy NWSL, most likely the first one would happen. NWSL club owners will still be NWSL owners but everything else from commissioner to player contracts will change. So basically everything that makes NWSL run, MLS could change. The only reason I think that the second one will not happen is because I don't think that Willow Bay and Bob Iger would spend the amount of money on a team that NWSL is thinking about changing ownership. Also, the reason why this might not ever happen.
I do not think MLS will buy or merge with the NWSL. There would be a rebellion among NWSL's strongest supporters, because the likely result would be the NWSL being treated as "second class" as compared to MLS. NWSL should stay as its own entity, be a lucrative investment on its own, and compete for the soccer dollar with those MLS "big boys."
Jeff Kassouf 14 hours ago NWSL valuations continue to rise. Angel City has set a new bar for a global women's sports franchise with a $250 million valuation -- 100x+ from its founding four years ago
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/29/metro/white-stadium-parks-commission-vote/ The approval to begin demolition on the Boston stadium site was not given at this month's parks commission meeting, although the design itself was approved. Once demolition approval is received (hopefully by next month's meeting, but an interim meeting might be scheduled as well), the permits can be filed and work can begin. Meanwhile the zoning changes (for lack of a better term) required for the Revs stadium plan failed to pass in the legislature, so another dead end, as there has been for almost 20 years.
Since NWSL compared to other leagues has been often discussed in this forum (but I can't actually find the best thread for this discussion now), I thought others might find this graph interesting. Of course, there are many ways to measure league strength, but the graph really shows the parity of the NWSL if nothing else: How do we measure league strength? The average Opta team rating in a league tells a different story to the average rating of only the top 5 teams in each league! We can see this in the top domestic women's competitions...Liga F can be ranked 3rd or 5th based on the approach. pic.twitter.com/HDGr2Ga0NP— Daniel Dinsdale (@DanDinsdale) August 9, 2024
There are of course far more detailed ways to use team ratings to quantify league strength beyond these 2 very simple measures, but it does make me wonder what "league strength" truly means. pic.twitter.com/r7ao0Q2YhH— Daniel Dinsdale (@DanDinsdale) August 9, 2024
New CBA incoming! From AP: https://apnews.com/article/nwsl-collective-bargaining-7f581acecd7de9be052d3830675d88c5 "No details for the new CBA were available, but they generally concern player movement, free agency and trades. The players’ union has not commented but posted a message on social media that said, “Any news concerning the Players’ lives will be shared directly by them, on their terms. Respect that. Stay tuned.”"
What sticks out to me: NWSL's full-league average is almost as high as the top-five average in Germany and France Granted, for many leagues, it isn't even top five that's ever in discussion, only the top three (think OL/PSG/PFC or Barca/Madrid/Madrid or Chelsea/Arsenal/ManCity or Bayern/Wolfsburg/Hoffenheim) so yeah, it's a tough question to define.
We could argue that the NWSL is the best overall league. NWSL has the best floor but I have a question about the ceiling
Alright, we gonna take bets on how much of the remaining NWSL season is played sans NTers thanks to an all-but-certain "victory tour"?
The current USWNT CBA requires USSF make a good faith effort to limit the number of matches outside of FIFA windows that would require players to miss club matches. Additionally, the CBA requires a victory tour to be in the FIFA window immediately following the tournament, and the matches in that window are already scheduled. I believe the CBA requirement just means those FIFA window matches must be with the Olympic roster; the victory tour element of those matches also means that the players get paid for those as if it was a Tier 1 opponent, regardless of who the opponent is.
I am kind of curious, do the USWNT players have to split the olympic money + victory tour money with the Olympic MNT per the CBA? Does the USOC gold bonus also go to the men?
In the CBA, only WC prize money is explicitly pooled and shared equally. For non-WC prize money, USSF pays 70% of the prize money to the participant team unless both the MNT and WNT participated in the same tournament (e.g. Gold Cup and W Gold Cup) in which case that money will be pooled and shared equally. Does the men's Olympic team since it's not the full MNT count in this regard as for the USOC gold bonus? That's not clear, but I don't think so, since it is spelled out that for the Olympics specifically, in addition to the normal roster and performance pay-outs, from USSF, rostered Olympic players receive a $12,000 bonus for a bronze medal, $24,000 bonus for silver, and $36,000 bonus for a gold Olympic medal. That's not pooled. Nor would victory tour matches' pay/performance bonuses since there's no real victory tour like there used to be. It's just the matches in the FIFA window after the tournament with the normal friendly pay structure, except for the addition of it being seen as a Tier 1 opponent. Also for those curious and wanting to do the math, for non-WC official tournaments like the Olympics, under the current CBA, the roster appearance fee is $10,000 plus a $12,000 win bonus, $4000 draw bonus, and $0 for a loss.
I'm pretty sure people were saying that the money that the USWNT wins in the Olympics will not be shared with the MNT. They said that before the Olympics started. The explanation they gave was that the USWNT is an A team and the MNT is a U23 team. CBA doesn't get involved with this.
All of that is supposedly being told Calum Ewing, a 16-year-old who writes for an Atlanta United blog.