NWSL Notes

Insane cost increase for a renovation, especially against recently built footy stadiums.

Allianz Field (MN) - $200 mil
Lynn Family Stadium (KY) - $65 mil
CPKC Stadium (MO) - $117 mil
CB Stadium (RI) - $132 mil
Lex SC Stadium (KY) - $82 mil

Doesn’t need to cost that much or use public funds.

They left her out of the squad? Yikes. Have to imagine she’s looking at a move asap

Furt and a slightly different version of allocation players is back In the league. Will the league ever learn?

Why did they bring back Furt? It’s 2026. Have people not learned from past mistakes? Empower Awards would have been just fine. It‘s not too late to change it. Overall it seems like a good thing just change the name

Bunny Shaw is a generational talent.

It’s good to see the Courage investing in their roster. They have an mvp type of player and they are using the transfer money to strengthen the squad.

It seems like Portland went from an all in type of club to a tbd club. The rosters were so elite but now it’s just a lot of questions.The roster is currently 11 forwards, 4 midfielders, and 8 defenders. Do they really need 11 forwards? No established 6, no big signings, and no HC.

Imagine boldly declaring you have no idea who Sam Coffey is while you write about women’s soccer.

These write ups rarely include
- Increasing Valuations
- Increasing Expansion Fees
- Increasing ticket prices
- Increasing Merch prices
- Increasing tv money ( too many Tv partners)
- Increasing partnerships

Every media day should have dogs

YouTube video by Expected Own Goals Who Does the NWSL Belong To?

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman says she's "a responsible steward of capital" and any changes to the pay structure need to be used "in service of our business objectives." So we ask: who does the game belong to: the players and fans, or the owners Berman works for?

Meanwhile a KC Current owner

Required reading

This

Required reading

This

This is not leadership. This is a terrible response. Did she try to do an all lives matter?
This is a team that has historically spoken up about subjects that matter. Now Emma is saying they play legos instead.

NWSL players who I've noted posting/reposting in solidarity with Minnesota on IG:

Mandy McGlynn
Izzy Rodriguez
Zara Chavoshi
Madison Hammond
Bella Bixby
Tierna Davidson
Alana Cook
Mandy Freeman

I'm sure I missed some, but probably not a ton. I'm disappointed, not going to lie.

It's my belief that NWSL has to be a well-designed, robust soccer league and a good business, but I also believe that the soccer coming first is the only way to make both things happen in the medium and long term.

I don't think the league's leadership/the majority of team owners feel the same way.

This is leadership.

Must read. The league has never even tried to get fan input like this.

Roughly sketching out *how* for Spirit w/a $2M+ annual deal for Rodman in the #NWSL's salary cap:

Adjusted 2026 cap is expected to be ~$3.7M per league source.

Rodman: $1M HIP, then roughly a $1M+ cap hit. The Spirit also have allocation money that they can use to offset the cap for any player.

1) Love to see players getting paid
2) How? Is Hip finalized? Would the league like to share final details

*It’s January 21st

Would be nice if the NWSL was this transparent. They are perfectly capable of sharing
- Cap Space a few times a season
- Allocation money ( although that may go away)
- Transfer threshold cap usage
Its January 21st and we still don’t know what’s happening with the salary cap

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This is terrible

I just went back to check and you are so right. That means at they could have used the buyouts for two years. In that case it won’t count towards the salary cap for either. Still they made nothing for two of their key players.

Jessica Berman needs to be asked why one of the NWSL's teams released a player on a free to go to a foreign team owned by an NWSL owner.

Two different tiers. San Diego didn’t even get any money for Sheridan or Cascarino. And if the buyouts were the same year it’s going to cost them.