Good morning! Kick something today. Ideally a ball.
Fever Pitch? Mixed signals for America’s biggest women’s soccer league
The ever-expanding NWSL finishes its 13th season tonight, with a championship match in San Jose, Calif., between the No. 2-seeded Washington Spirit and No. 8 Gotham FC. The Spirit have Trinity Rodman, a huge star whose future is the subject of infinite speculation and consternation around the league right now. (More on her shortly.) Gotham, meanwhile, has a team of destiny feel. The last team in the field, Gotham started its postseason by stunning the league’s best team and heavy title favorite, the Kansas City Current, in the quarterfinals. Gotham then beat last year’s champion, the Orlando Pride, to book its ticket to the title game. An underdog? Not exactly, but this team is a good story.
Advertisement
The match is on CBS at 8 p.m. ET tonight. The final’s continued placement on network TV speaks to the NWSL’s growth over the past handful of years. But there are also reasons for concern, especially about the league’s ability to hang on to star players. Consider these mixed indicators:
Good sign: Valuations. In 2022, as the NWSL expanded from 10 to 12 teams, owners of new clubs in Los Angeles and San Diego each had to pay a roughly $2 million expansion fee. That fee has multiplied by an eye-watering 82 times since then. The owners of an Atlanta team joining the league in 2028 are paying $165 million. The NWSL has generated bigger and better media deals, and sponsors are bullish on the league as a place to spend their dollars. No wonder that when Los Angeles’ Angel City FC sold in 2024, the club’s $250 million valuation was the biggest in women’s sports history. It’s now valued even more highly, at a reported $280 million.
Bad sign: Talent exodus. The NWSL is having a very hard time keeping marketable players from leaving the league for greener pastures — specifically, European leagues, which pay more and have a longer tradition. It’s really just a few European teams doing most of this poaching, but that doesn’t make the problem any less acute for the NWSL.
Good sign: An aggressive new CBA. The talent retention problem isn’t new, and it’s not like the NWSL has sat on its hands. In 2024, the league and its players’ union came to an agreement geared toward making the NWSL a talent magnet. Salaries went up. The draft system went away, affording American college stars a chance to pick their own destination, as they could do if they were in Europe. Travel accommodations improved. The league did away with an individual player maximum salary, though a team salary cap of $3.5 million this year still set a limit.
Advertisement
Bad sign: Maybe the biggest star exit yet. Speaking of that salary cap, the NWSL is going to have to decide what it cares about more: the cap or keeping Trinity Rodman. As The Athletic explains this week, one of the faces of the next generation of American soccer — who’s about to play in the championship game for the second year in a row — is poised to cross the ocean. There’s some chance Rodman sticks around a bit longer anyway without the NWSL changing its rules to get her paid, but hoping for that isn’t a strategy. Rodman even has a domestic offer to leave that no NWSL team can match under the current rules.
Where does all of this leave the NWSL? How should we be feelingabout the trajectory of the league? I asked The Athletic’s women’s sports lead, Meg Linehan, to help me sort through it: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 5 is “treading water” and 10 is “on the path to becoming the best, most lucrative league in the world,” how do you rate the state of the league?
💬 The NWSL is probably hanging on around a 6 or 7. Yes, there’s plenty of solid news happening on the business side, and the league’s growth is undeniable from even five years ago. It’s essentially unrecognizable from when the league started. There’s still a massive project ahead when it comes to cultural relevance and creating the next generation of stars who break through to the general public. The ceiling is high, but sometimes the NWSL can get in its own way.
Get much more from our women’s soccer writers in your inbox for free. But, first things first: Gotham vs. Spirit tonight for all the marbles.
News to Know
49ers, Aiyuk headed for divorce
Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers ended a contract dispute last offseason with a massive four-year, $120 million extension. The star wide receiver tore his ACL seven games into that deal, and now appears to have played his last game for San Francisco. The Athletic’s Dianna Russinni and Michael Silver reported last night that the 49ers voided Aiyuk’s guaranteed money for 2026 after he failed to attend meetings and other team activities in recent months. A messy situation all around.
Advertisement
Liberty hire Warriors assistant
The New York Liberty hired Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco as the franchise’s new head coach, continuing a trend of NBA assistants becoming WNBA head coaches. The Liberty had reportedly been in the market for a coach with NBA experience after their surprising split from longtime WNBA coach Sandy Brondello. DeMarco has been with Golden State since 2012 and also serves as the coach of the Bahamas men’s national team.
More news:
Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward contemplated retirement after experiencing severe concussion symptoms for nearly a month. Important reading.
Advertisement
The NCAA has reversed course on a policy that would have allowed athletes and staff to bet on professional sports. Division I member institutions voted yesterday to rescind the proposed rule change.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said an announcement on Lane Kiffin’s future will be made after next weekend’s Egg Bowl. Read the latest.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix once again has a manhole problem. Meanwhile, heavy rain made for a treacherous qualifying last night.
Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward contemplated retirement after experiencing severe concussion symptoms for nearly a month. Important reading.
Advertisement
The NCAA has reversed course on a policy that would have allowed athletes and staff to bet on professional sports. Division I member institutions voted yesterday to rescind the proposed rule change.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said an announcement on Lane Kiffin’s future will be made after next weekend’s Egg Bowl. Read the latest.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix once again has a manhole problem. Meanwhile, heavy rain made for a treacherous qualifying last night.
Watch Guide
📺 CFB: FCS No. 10 Harvard at No. 25 Yale
12 p.m. ET on ESPNU
The FBS schedule is unusually light this week. Fortunately, several FCS conferences have de facto conference championship games. The Game is one of them. Added stakes this time around: The Ivy League participates in the FCS playoffs this year for the first time. Winner takes the league’s autobid and is probably the Ivies’ lone playoff team, though there’s a chance Harvard also makes it if Yale wins.
Advertisement
📺 CFB: No. 15 USC at No. 7 Oregon
3:30 p.m. ET on CBS
The Trojans will probably make the College Football Playoff — and box the Ducks out of it — if they can pull off an upset on the road. USC’s skill position players, especially receivers Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, are elite. Can the defense stop Oregon’s run game enough to give the offense a chance?
📺 CFB: Pitt at No. 16 Georgia Tech
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Tech makes the ACC Championship with a win. Pitt has a good chance if it wins here and upsets Miami next week. The Yellow Jackets have given up 82 points in their last two games. They’ll need to be better against a Pitt offense that has destroyed its non-Notre Dame opponents of late.
Advertisement
Pulse Picks
Trailblazing pitcher Kelsie Whitmore is ready to be the face of women’s professional baseball after going No. 1 in Thursday’s WPBL draft. But with that opportunity comes great relief: She won’t be alone anymore.
I feel awful whenever I inadvertently kill a houseplant. To combat this, I’ve placed a lot of sets from Lego’s lovely Botanicals line throughout my home. As Wirecutter’s resident Lego expert, I’m especially fond of the elegant little bonsai tree and their cheery chrysanthemum that’ll never wilt, but you really can’t go wrong with any of these picks, either. — Joshua Lyon
Looking for Thanksgiving sides that aren’t too hard to make but willmake you the de facto star of the party? (Because Thanksgiving is all about finally outshining that one cousin gratitude.) NYT’s “100 Easiest-Ever Thanksgiving Sides.” The Butter Swim Biscuits alone are worth the price of admission. — Hannah Vanbiber
Advertisement
How does Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla have fun? Well … he doesn’t — at least not in a traditional sense. Let him explain.
I’ll just say it: I enjoyed the new-ish Victoria Beckham series on Netflix, and you might too (especially if you liked 2023’s “Beckham”). An entertaining blend of nostalgia, celebrity and even some rumination on the concept of identity. — Torrey Hart
A couple travel stints without it reminded me David’s really is bleeping amazing toothpaste. I’m not alone! — Chris Sprow
In light of the internet’s recent discovery of the waterfalls in the Arkansas State stands, a look at college football’s strangest stadium quirks.
Advertisement
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The referee injury from “Thursday Night Football.”
Most-read on the website yesterday: Long-snappers, assemble!
Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
NWSL, The Pulse
2025 The Athletic Media Company
