The NWSL and WNBA Players Associations teamed up to release a joint statement on Thursday, with the unions expressing their solidarity with "all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity" after the recent ICE raids and ensuing protests in Los Angeles.
The move comes after Angel City published their own social media post addressing the ICE raids last Saturday, with the Los Angeles NWSL club noting "We know that our city is stronger because of its diversity and the people and families who shape it, love it, and call it home."
ACFC also directed immigrants in need of assistance in the wake of the ICE raids to two community organizations: the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights and the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Calling the WNBA Players Association "leaders in this space," NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke told The Athletic that the basketball union initiated their joint statement.
"It's important to stand together as workers' unions," she noted.
NWSL and WNBA unions speak to families impacted by ICE raids
"It's not lost on us that this country and the world are in turmoil right now," wrote the NWSLPA and WNBPA. "Across the country, families are facing fear, hardship, and uncertainty tied to immigration."
The athlete unions then crystallized their position, saying, "We stand with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from or where they hope to go."
"Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," they continued. "We know not every situation is simple. But offering compassion should never be up for debate."
The clock is ticking in the NWSL, with just two regular-season matchdays remaining before the league hits pause on 2025 play to make way for the summer's major international tournaments.
Only five points stand between No. 2 and No. 6 in the NWSL standings, with a slim goal differential determining which club sits above the playoff line.
Bolstered by news of midfielder Sam Coffey's contract extension, the No. 7 Portland Thorns are starting to turn heads, steadily climbing the table despite star striker Sophia Wilson sitting out the season due to pregnancy.
With middle-of-the-pack teams looking to make their mark as the 2025 season approaches its midway point, plenty of heat awaits on NWSL pitches this weekend:
- No. 8 Bay FC vs. No. 2 Orlando Pride, Friday at 10 PM ET (Prime): Bay FC has once again pushed into playoff contention, with the 2024 expansion team aiming to humble the reigning champion Pride in front of a home crowd.
- No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 6 Racing Louisville FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Still hunting a franchise-first postseason berth, Louisville will look to prove themselves against a No. 1 Kansas City side on a four-match winning streak.
- No. 7 Portland Thorns vs. No. 3 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 4 PM ET (CBS): The league's seventh-place squad squares off against the 2024 championship runners-up, with the rising Thorns looking to steal a point — or three — off a Spirit side mired in injury and personnel shifts.
While one result could shift a team's standings spot, clubs are on borrowed time with a lengthy break awaiting the league after the next two match weekends.
The NWSL is locking in its summer calendar, as teams across the league announce special July friendlies ahead of the regular-season break for major global tournaments.
Without a planned league-wide tournament like 2024's NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, its up to individual clubs to fill their schedules until NWSL play resumes in August.
While there might not be a trophy at the end, the gap does provide an opportunity for some fresh friendly competition beyond the confines of the league.
The North Carolina Courage will welcome Liga MX titans and Concacaf W Champions Cup contenders Tigres UANL back to the States for a one-off exhibition match on July 9th.
Then on July 12th, Kansas City will kick off its Teal Rising Cup, a four-team friendly tournament pitting the NWSL's Current and Chicago Stars against Brazil's Série A1 clubs Corinthians and Palmeiras.
Late July will see both the Seattle Reign and Bay FC square off against Japan's WE League champions the Urawa Red Diamonds, with Bay tacking on an additional July 19th friendly against Angel City.
The USL Super League is also getting in on the summer interleague action, with the NWSL's Angel City facing the Carolina Ascent on July 26th after Racing Louisville hosts crosstown USL squad Lexington SC on July 13th — giving fans a glimpse at how the two US systems stack up against one another.
As teams juggle lineups in the wake of summer international departures, these July friendlies may feature decidedly different rosters than regular-season play — though hungry NWSL fans likely won't mind.
Women's teams are big business, with global sports business conference SPOBIS International reporting this week that average WNBA franchise valuations rose to $90 million in 2024, while NWSL clubs weighed in at $104 million — doubling their 2023 mark.
In May, the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty sold shares at a $450 million valuation, qualifying them as the world's most valuable women's sports team.
SPOBIS's top five includes the WSL's Chelsea FC ($326 million) alongside NWSL side Angel City FC ($250 million), the WNBA's Dallas Wings ($208 million), the Kansas City Current ($182 million), and the Las Vegas Aces ($140 million).
US women's sports teams hold a key advantage in the race to the top of the valuations table, with WNBA and NWSL squads able operate independently from men's systems.
Having separated from their men's side last year, Chelsea FC was the only non-US team to make the list, bolstered by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's $26.6 million purchase of a 10% stake in the 2024/25 WSL champs last month.
Other European teams in line for similar value boosts include OL Lyonnes and the London City Lionesses, both independently owned and operated by Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang.
With many factors contributing to a team's overall value — namely capital, media deals, viewership, ownership structures, and popularity — it's tough to predict the next big thing in women's sports, but these numbers point to a red-hot market across major pro leagues.
This weekend's NWSL action saw Gotham FC's woes continue, with the Bats falling further from the playoff line in the 2025 standings after a Saturday loss to the Kansas City Current.
Despite the return of star midfielder Rose Lavelle, who made her 2025 season debut in the match's 74th minute, the 2023 NWSL champions fell 2-1 in a Current win that controversially saw two Gotham goals called back by VAR.
Although they recently lifted the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Bats' three straight NWSL losses have them now sitting in 10th place on the the table, while Kansas City saw their lead in the league balloon to five points following this weekend's action.
That extended lead came in part due to then-No. 2 San Diego's first loss in six games, with the Wave dropping to No. 4 this week after stumbling 2-1 to Seattle on Friday night — a victory that launched the Reign into fifth place.
"I just think there's belief," Seattle head coach Laura Harvey said after the match. "I think we would have been disappointed if we'd have come away without a win."
San Diego's loss also allowed the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit to leapfrog the Wave into Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on the NWSL table.
Weekend wins similarly fueled their jumps, with the Pride eking out a last-gasp 1-0 victory over the No. 12 Houston Dash on Saturday before the Spirit earned just their second home win of the season by downing the No. 11 North Carolina Courage 3-1 on Sunday.
2024 semifinalists Kansas City, Orlando, and Washington have now all regained their spots in the 2025 season's Top 3.
As the NWSL returns from the international break, powerhouse clubs below the playoff line are preparing for a midseason push that could make — or break — the 2025 regular season.
With just three matchdays left before the league's extended summer break, which begins June 23rd and ends on August 1st, clubs will look to shore up their spots on the NWSL table before pressing pause on regular-season play.
Hovering just outside the 2025 postseason line in a 12-point tie are a trio of NWSL clubs, all hunting midseason weekend wins to boost them back into contention:
- No. 9 Gotham FC vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, Saturday at 1 PM ET (CBS): Having slipped under the playoff line while off hoisting the first-ever Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Bats have their work cut out for them against the league-leading Current on Saturday — though Gotham could see their midfield bolstered by the return of star Rose Lavelle from her 2024 ankle injury.
- No. 11 Bay FC vs. No. 5 Portland Thorns, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Bay FC's bid to jump into the league's Top 8 runs through the second-hottest club in the NWSL right now, with the Thorns looking to add to their five-match regular-season unbeaten streak this weekend.
- No. 4 Washington Spirit vs. No. 10 North Carolina Courage, Sunday at 4 PM ET (Paramount+): The Courage have dropped just one of their last five matches after a winless season start, but they'll face a Washington side hungry for a win in DC. Despite holding a league-record 5-0-0 road tally this season, the Spirit have stumbled on the home front, earning just one 2025 victory in Washington.
The NWSL outlined new rules for expansion roster building and intra-league loans on Thursday, as two new franchises prepare to enter the league in 2026 without the benefit of an expansion draft.
"With the introduction of free agency and the elimination of the NWSL Draft and Expansion Draft, it was important for us to establish alternative player acquisition assets that support incoming teams while maintaining competitive balance across the league," said NWSL VP of player affairs Stephanie Lee in a league announcement.
Incoming clubs Boston Legacy FC and NWSL Denver will each have access to over $1 million in allocation funds to spend on players beginning on July 1st through the end of 2027.
Both teams can also sign players without being held to a salary cap until the secondary transfer window in 2025, providing players can be loaned out, put on Season Ending Injury designation, or acquired with allocation money used toward the salary cap.
Once the secondary transfer window opens this year, both Boston and Denver will have a $250,000 cap under which they can ink college athletes or international players not under contract.
In addition, the NWSL declared open season on intra-league loans on Thursday, allowing all teams to add athletes to their rosters from other league entities — provided both the player and the league approve the loan.
Each team can have no more than 12 players either in or out on loan at a time, and clubs can only bring in or send out a maximum of three athletes to/from any other single squad.
Overall, the NWSL intends these moves to bolster competition for both its current and future clubs.
"The introduction of intra-league loans — available to all teams — adds greater flexibility and opportunity for player development and strategic roster management league-wide," noted Lee.
Another Washington Spirit coach is departing DC, with multiple weekend reports linking current manager Jonatan Giráldez to the newly opened head coaching job at French Première Ligue side OL Lyonnes.
According to The Athletic, Giráldez will step away from the Spirit in June, with assistant Adrián González — who led Washington as interim manager prior to Giráldez's mid-2024 arrival — set to take over the NWSL squad on July 18th.
The move follows additional reports that first-year OL Lyonnes boss Joe Montemurro is Australia-bound after agreeing to head up his home country's national team, the Matildas.
Spirit coach swap raises questions for multi-team owner Kang
With Giráldez jumping from one Michele Kang-owned team to another, the former Barcelona manager's European return raises questions about Kang's multi-club ownership model — and concerns about the future of injured Spirit star Trinity Rodman, who recently took leave from the NWSL to seek treatment overseas.
"We are not going to sacrifice one team to make another team successful. Absolutely not," Kang told Forbes in 2024 interview. "Our goal is to make every team the champion in each of their leagues."
In addition to the Spirit and OL Lyonnes, Kang's Kynisca corporation also owns recently promoted WSL side London City Lionesses.
The Spirit has weathered big changes before, but Kang's involvement in this particular personnel swap will face critique should Washington lose pace later this season.
Racing Louisville FC's Kayla Fischer saw two games added to her original one-match red card suspension on Thursday, after NWSL match officials sent the midfielder off for unsportsmanlike conduct in Saturday's 3-2 win over Angel City.
Fischer — the No. 16 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft — earned a straight red in the match's 67th minute, with a referee spotting her pulling Angel City midfielder Madison Hammond’s hair and forcing her to the ground.
"After further review of the altercation, the Disciplinary Committee determined that Fischer's conduct violated Section 12.4.10, 'Major Game Misconduct,' of the League Operations Manual," the NWSL said in a release.
Fischer, who has contributed two goals and two assists to Racing's 12-goal season tally, will miss Louisville's upcoming June matches against the No. 13 Utah Royals, No. 3 Orlando Pride, and No. 1 Kansas City Current.
Due to the NWSL's midsummer break, Fischer will not be back in regular-season play until her squad's August 1st rematch against the league-leading Current, leaving No. 8 Louisville competing to remain above the playoff line with her.
Following the additional NWSL suspension announcement, Fischer apologized to both Hammond and Angel City in a statement to ESPN on Thursday, adding "I sincerely regret my behavior and letting my teammates down. I accept and understand the league's decision."
"When I return to the field later this season, I plan to show that I have learned from my actions and that this moment doesn't define me as a player or the respect I have for my opponents and the game," said Fischer.
Gotham raised a continental trophy on Saturday, with the NWSL side toppling Liga MX's Tigres UANL 1-0 to claim the first-ever Concacaf W Champions Cup crown.
Powered by a goal from star striker Esther González in the match's 82nd minute, the win punched Gotham's ticket to two additional global tournaments: the inaugural FIFA Champions Cup in 2026 and the 2028 debut edition of the FIFA Women's Club World Cup.
"The other day, we talked about the first-ever champions of competitions like the UEFA Champions League, the Euro, the World Cup, and the Olympics," said Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós following Saturday's victory. "Now, forever, the first team to win the Concacaf W Champions Cup will be Gotham FC."
"These players, with this coaching staff — we are incredibly proud of what they've accomplished."
Gotham wasn't the only NWSL club to claim a Saturday victory at the inaugural confederation tournament. Following a 2-0 loss to the Tigres 2-0 in Wednesday's semifinals, the Portland Thorns bounced back with a 3-0 win over Liga MX side Club América in Saturday's third-place match.
Now with hardware in tow, the Bats will have some ground to make up after the current international break, with Gotham slipping to ninth place in the NWSL standings during their absence from the league last weekend.