The NWSL is becoming a bigger investment, with team valuations skyrocketing over the last few years.

When the Washington Spirit were bought in February by an investment group led by Michele Kang, the club was valued at $35 million. Gotham FC was valued at a $40 million this year, as Sportico reported, with investments from the likes of Kevin Durant, Sue Bird and Eli Manning.

Angel City FC, though, stands at the front of the pack. The expansion franchise raised money in April 2021 at a valuation of more than $100 million, Sportico reported Friday – more than double that of the next closest known NWSL franchise and an NWSL record.

Angel City features a stacked roster of celebrity owners, among them Serena Williams and several former USWNT stars including Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach. Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria and Jennifer Garner are also among the owners, while Williams’ husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is the club’s lead investor.

In total, the club boasts nearly 100 owners.

Part of what goes into the valuation is how the club has acquired and prioritized sponsorship dollars. Angel City’s deals include an eight-figure deal with DoorDash, as well as partnerships with Gatorade and Heineken. There’s also a partnership with Johnnie Walker, which included the first-ever NWSL team anthem.

According to club co-founder and president Julie Uhrman, in total Angel City reportedly claimed $35 million in booked sponsorship revenue – some possibly multi-year deals and 10 percent of which is being redirected back into the community.

“I would say that Angel City has more sponsorship revenue today than two hands worth of men’s professional sports teams,” Uhrman said at a Sportico event in March. “We believe our kit is the highest grossing of any women’s team in the U.S.”

Additionally, the club sold more than 16,000 season tickets prior to the start of the season. A total of 22,000 fans showed up in the team’s first regular season game, helping to shatter the league’s average attendance record for opening weekend.

With an average of approximately 19,000 fans per game, Angel City has the highest attendance in the NWSL this season. The club is also outdrawing 14 MLS clubs and has more followers on Instagram than 19 MLS franchises.

Valuations in the NWSL stand to increase as time goes on. Broadcast deals with CBS and Amazon’s Twitch are expiring in the next few years and with increasing viewership, the NWSL should be looking for bigger and better deals.

As the league aims to expand by two new teams by 2024, the valuations appear to also be resetting that bar as well. For the first time, there will be a formal bidding process, with Sportico reporting that sources around the league feel as though the new valuations will land in the same range as the Spirit and Gotham.

FIFA announced the eight cities that will host matches at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil on Wednesday, primarily selecting sites on the South American country's East Coast over tropical regions that require more extensive travel.

In addition to Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracanã Stadium, the tournament's 64 games will take place across Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo.

"The selection of the host cities represents the moment where the dream begins to take shape," said Brazil’s minister of sport André Fufuca. "Each of the selected host cities represents Brazil — a diverse and vibrant Brazil, with people who are passionate about football, and places that already live and breathe the sport and that will now have the opportunity to leave a transformative legacy for their communities and for generations to come."

The 32 teams battling for the 2027 World Cup will begin their hunt on June 24th of that year, with the final taking place on July 25th.

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Marta, Formiga help announce 2027 World Cup cities

To bolster the news, FIFA tapped famous Brazilians for its announcement video, including star futsal player Amandinha and two-time NWSL champion Debinha.

Also helping drop the eight cities were the country’s most iconic women's soccer legends, Marta — the World Cup's all-time leading scorer — and Formiga, the only athlete to compete in seven editions of the tournament.

"I won't be on the pitch in 2027, but I'm always ready to represent Brazilian football – even more so at a special moment like this," said the retired Formiga.

"I know every corner of our country, and I can tell you: Each of these cities is full of women's football talents who need support and inspiration," she continued. "The Women's World Cup will be an opportunity for them to see the greatest up close and think, 'If they can be there, so can I.' That's the impact that only an event of this size can have."

Using the 2027 World Cup — the first ever hosted in South America — to grow the women's game is top-of-mind for former player Mariléia "Michael Jackson" dos Santos, who now serves as the country's director of women's football promotion.

"We want to create a solid network that will last well beyond 2027," said dos Santos. "The idea is to decentralise the impact so that women's football flourishes in every corner of the country."

"It's a unique opportunity to change the game, and we're going to make the most of it because Brazilian women's football deserves it, and so do the girls in our country."

WNBA teams continued to trim their 2025 rosters this week, as preseason matchups set the stage for the league's May 16th regular-season tip-off.

After wrapping their 2025 preseason slate on Tuesday, Wednesday saw the Las Vegas Aces waive Harvard alum Harmoni Turner — drafted 35th overall last month — and fourth-year veteran center Queen Egbo.

Turner was the Aces’ third-round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. pic.twitter.com/buxEKqdVVe

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 7, 2025

Other standouts recently shown the door include Indiana Fever recruit Bree Hall (20th overall pick from South Carolina), the Seattle Storm's Madison Conner (29th overall pick from TCU), and Minnesota Lynx rookie Diamond Johnson (undrafted from Norfolk State).

While teams can sign up to 18 athletes to training camp rosters, they must whittle their lineups down to the league's regular-season max of 12 players, a system that sparks lots of movement — both in cuts and additions — in the days leading to tip off.

To that end, after the Golden State Valkyries cut their 17th overall draft pick Shyanne Sellers on Saturday, the Atlanta Dream snatched up the Maryland grad on waivers on Monday — just in time for their final preseason showdown with Indiana on Saturday.

Also receiving good news this week was Dallas's Maddy Siegrist, as the third-year forward saw the Wings exercise her fourth-year rookie option on Tuesday.

Alongside Indiana's 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, Villanova grad Siegrist and the former South Carolina standout are the only 2023 draftees officially on rosters before the 2025 season's start.

Flush with talent and low on roster spots, the WNBA has long been one of the hardest sports leagues to secure a place in — and even more fan favorites are likely to land on the chopping block in the coming days.

With the 2025 WNBA season around the corner, sportsbooks have already been setting the field for this year's MVP race, with odds heavily slanted toward three early frontrunners.

Last season's Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark leads the 2025 race, with FanDuel currently placing the Indiana Fever guard at +200, followed closely by Las Vegas's three-time league MVP A'ja Wilson (+230), and Minnesota's 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier (+300).

DraftKings rates Clark similarly at +220, putting Wilson at +225 and Collier at +400.

After a blockbuster rookie season, opinions on Clark's sophomore ceiling vary, with ESPN ranking the 23-year-old as the WNBA's overall fourth-best player entering the 2025 season, trailing just Wilson, Collier, and New York's 2023 MVP and 2024 champion Breanna Stewart.

However, the media giant's own ESPN BET has Clark leading the MVP odds at +200, a likely response to bettor interest rather than analyst predictions.

Dallas's 2025 No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers is the clear favorite for this season's Rookie of the Year award, carrying -255 odds on ESPN BET despite not making the overall preseason Top 25.

There's no such thing as a sure bet, but the market is clearly mirroring fan interest, hyping up these young players before a single team takes the 2025 season's court.

The LPGA is back on the East Coast with the 2025 Mizuho Americas Open teeing off in New Jersey on Thursday, with defending champ Nelly Korda on the hunt for her first win of the year.

After an unprecedented 2024 run, the world No. 1 golfer has struggled to regain her consistency this season, despite strong individual rounds.

"I've had some really good rounds, and some iffy rounds as well," the 26-year-old told reporters earlier this week. "But I think that's just the game of golf — it's life, it's up, it's down, it's never going to be easy. And when you think you've got it figured out, it's going to humble you very quickly."

Korda isn't alone in her 2025 Americas Open pursuit, as fellow US star Rose Zhang makes her return to the links this week — despite battling a lingering neck injury.

The world No. 26 golfer, who turns 22 years old at the end of this month, won the inaugural Americas Open in her 2023 pro debut, but sat out last month's Chevron Championship — the year's first major — citing neck discomfort.

"I will say that I'm pain-free right now, which I'm very thankful for," Zhang told Golf Digest. "I never realized, and obviously it goes unsaid, but the neck is very important for anything that you do."

In addition to another chance to get back on course, Korda and Zhang will also be chasing the lion's share of the four-day tournament's $3 million purse — one of the largest non-major prize pools on the LPGA schedule.

Notably, the Americas Open follows a unique format, inviting 24 top American Junior Golf Association players to tee off alongside the LPGA Tour's 120 best at Liberty National Golf Club.

How to watch the 2025 Mizuho Americas Open

Coverage of the 2025 Mizuho Americas Open starts at 11 AM ET on Thursday.

The Golf Channel will stream the tournament through Sunday morning, with the competition's final round airing live at 1 PM ET on Sunday on CBS.