Heaps left prior the start of play of NWSL (not sure of the exact timing). I'm not sure she is the best example. Albert would be better, but I think we also need to look at players like Fox, and subsequently Girma, Nighwonger, and then Thompson. How long will the other four stay in Europe? Unknown, but we'll see. The bigger questions, to me, will be Rodman, and to a lesser extent, Wilson and Swanson. Saying that, at the moment, there is limited places for all three plus the plethora of top strikers currently existing in Europe. I also think it is notable that Santos moved from Athletico Madrid to Washington at the start of last season. Post WC23, she became a fairly well known player. Sorry if I was unclear, this is what I was getting at. This is where I'm at. I think there is enough variety in NWSL to meet any footballing needs apart from the more general football culture. What I would be interested in knowing is the comparisons about being able to go out on a daily basis and be recognized (or not).
There's Cat Macario, Emily Fox. Naomi Girma is on a 4 1/2 year deal--wouldn't surprise me for her to stay in Europe for that contract and then a next one. If you're looking at historical track record before the last 3-4 years, you're in the era where the core USWNT players were on salaried contracts with the USSF that incentivized staying in the NWSL. With that gone, USWNT players are free to make their own club deals while national team compensation is based on match-by-match or camp-by-camp traditional callups, and it's a different era for how this is all going to work. Transfer fees are also booming--1.5 years ago Racheal Kundananji to Bay FC was a world record transfer at just under $800K, now there a fees approaching $2 million.
And the WSL numbers are going to be inflated by Arsenal, who draw 30k+ when playing at Eremites. NWSL is more evenly spread out amongst teams.
Indeed. At one point, Christen Press wrote an article about how she was quite happy playing in Sweden, but had been told by the Fed that she would lose her NT contract if she didn't move to NWSL. I think that at that time, the Fed was subsidizing NWSL, to make sure the league didn't collapse like its predecessors. So, I can kinda see their point. But, those days are long gone.
Former Boston Breakers coach Matt Beard just passed away at the age of 47. From what I've seen it seemed sudden, and 47 is young. For those that knew him, may his memory be a blessing. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6647471/2025/09/20/matt-beard-dies-wsl-liverpool-burnley/
San Diego Wave's owners are suing Jill Ellis: San Diego Wave owners are suing former president Jill Ellis, alleging she misled them during last year’s sale. They claim her resignation two days after the deal closed cost the club $40M in value.Via @sduthttps://t.co/qkVae1g9ES pic.twitter.com/uiUrGS66Pp— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) October 1, 2025
I know this is not really NWSL news, but it is related as it is WNBA news. And the article describes the heavy connection between the WNBA and NWSL player unions. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/oct/08/wnba-nwsl-unions-collective-action
NWSL executive committee approves 3-year extension for commissioner Jessica Berman: Sources - Yahoo Sports
This goal by Jordyn Bugg is one of the eleven nominated for FIFA's Marta Award for best goal of 2025. Three other current NWSL players are also nominated: Marta, Ovalle and Sentnor. Link to other goals nominated: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fifa+marta+award+2025
Geo-blocked for me. Anyway, Marta is special in many regards, including having an award named after her even before she ended her endless career...
Vlatko is stepping down as KC coach to focus on his role as Sporting Director: https://www.kansascitycurrent.com/n...porting-director-ryan-dell-as-general-manager
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...ki-cedes-coaching-job-focus-sporting-director And this had been in discussion with him and the Longs since last summer, so it's not a reaction to the defeat to Gotham. They seem to have a really solid organization, will have to reaffirm that with whom they select for the next head coach.
I know many here don't follow MLS, but last week MLS voted to change their schedule to align with leagues in Europe meaning they'll start playing a summer-to-spring schedule in 2027. Berman recently responded to that by saying the NWSL is "on notice" about potentially flipping to a summer-to-spring schedule. She said, "There are certainly opportunities that can be created with us not overlapping Major League Soccer, in that the schedule congestion for our summer calendar will be mitigated. On the other hand, there will of course be other challenges that it creates in terms of understanding and knowing stadium availability." Apparently flipping the schedule has been often debated among the GM's. What do y'all think? I see pros and cons on both sides. More in the ESPN article: https://www.espn.in/football/story/...ioner-berman-puts-nwsl-notice-calendar-change
I think this is just about the first sensible thing MLS has ever done. I have always felt that the summer season was a time for players to rest and for tournaments like the World Cup to be played. This will also make it easier to find players from all over as, by conforming to good sense, we get more aligned with the rest of the best in women's soccer. But it does, particularly if the women make similar changes, leave a little soccer gap in MY yearly schedule. is this some kind of reference to the bill that might be introduced that basically to allow prostitutes to make conjugal visits to all the prisoners' in federal prison's that request one? That, also, is a decision with clear "pros and cons."
Disaster. Pretty much the end of American soccer. It can't survive against basketball and hockey, plus the inherent "American culture sucks and got everything about sports wrong" messaging in American soccer's embrace of the European schedule and possibly pro-rel is not going to help.
Washington Spirit defender Esme Morgan, an England international who began her career at Manchester City, told ESPN that the NWSL's current schedule appeals to her "It was something that I saw as a positive coming here, to be honest," Morgan said. "I feel like going into international tournaments in the summer, you're peaking midway through the season, and that's something that's really positive. I also appreciated the thought of having good weather throughout the spring to autumn league. So, yeah, it was something that, coming from Europe, I saw as a really positive thing. I think it's interesting that MLS has changed." Morgan was part of the England team that finished runners-up at the 2023 World Cup and the squad that won the 2025 European Championship this summer. Winters in many northern U.S. markets are much harsher than those in England, Morgan said. "It's not fun; it's not nice playing in the cold," she said. "I think the cold is much more extreme here than it is back home. I think even just for viewership, like, no one wants to bring their children to catch hypothermia watching the game, do they? I feel like it suits this league well, to be honest, the way it is just now, but we'll see."
The players disagree with you. Several have commented on the timing of the NWSL season priming them for international windows. Weather has also been cited as a draw for internationals to choose the NWSL. Who cares if we are aligned. We don't compete against them. The stands will be empty and the league can fold as a result. But yeah. Good thing we aligned with people we don't play against.
Na, I'm against NWSL aligning. For all the problem with the heat in the summer, there are equal problems with the cold and snow in the winter. MLS is gonna do MLS and I don't really care that much what they do (though I think it is a good decision for them), but I don't see a benefit for NWSL to go to a winter season v. having a summer season. If NWSL does switch, there should be a mid season break for January, and maybe half of February to avoid the cold and snow. I think that's a bit over the top, but I would be interested to know the overlap in fan base. I'm not saying this with any certainty, but I would guess that there is not a lot of overlap with NWSL fans and fans of other sports other than MLS. That said, I really have no basis to support that assumption. It also seems that the women's international window is made with some regard to NWSL. To me, that speaks to the importance of the league in the world of women's football. One thing that came to mind as I was writing the above is injury prevention. Do colder temperatures cause more injuries in females as compared to warmer temperatures? A real quick look suggests it does, but what I saw was limited to track and field athletes, and winter-specific sports (skiing, etc), but ultimately I don't know.
For the Pacific Northwest -- Portland and Seattle at this point -- a change to a Winter schedule would be bad. It rains here all the time in the winter with temperatures in the mid thirties to the forties, not heavy rain but a pretty constant drizzle. It is a topic of conversation if we see the sun. What player wants to practice in a drizzle every day?
Doesn't it rain in Portland and Seattle all the time anyway? Other than temperature, I think much of the same can be said for the Bay area as well. And from when I was living in LA, there were many miserable days from November to February/March where it was rainy and below 50. And in high school, I even had a game cancelled once because it had snowed earlier in the day.
I do not believe there are a large number of top players to begin with. Better to look at what percentage of top players IN THEIR PRIME choose to play where. Bear in mind, they all have different personal circumstances. Players like Dumornay, Caicedo and Yohannes are often overlooked in these conversations.
For the NWSL to switch to a fall-to-spring calendar seems like it would be much less difficult than it is for MLS. The reason is simple: The NWSL doesn't play the looong schedule that MLS does. The NWSL's regular-season is eight or 10 games shorter than MLS' and the playoffs are only seven games (versus about 30 for MLS). The NWSL could get away with a winter break from mid-December to mid-March.