Gotham FC’s 2021 rebrand is more than a name change.

The club, formerly known as Sky Blue FC, has come a long way since its days with toilet-less locker rooms and potholed fields.

With Gotham days away from appearing in the NWSL Challenge Cup final against the Portland Thorns, it’s hard to believe that only three years ago, the club appeared to be on the brink of implosion.

LFG. pic.twitter.com/22r6sPoVtu

— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) May 2, 2021

Timeline: A team in peril to a championship squad

2018: Sam Kerr puts Sky Blue on blast

A summer 2018 matchup between Sky Blue and the Chicago Red Stars changed the trajectory of the New Jersey-based club.

Sam Kerr, a former Sky Blue player, scored a hat trick for the Red Stars but took no joy in clobbering her former teammates.

In a postgame press conference, the Australian forward told reporters:

“I’m just going to say the girls deserve better and leave it at that. These girls are great girls. They give everything for this club and this league, and they just deserve better. I scored a hat trick, but I wasn’t myself today. I feel sick playing against these girls.”

Kerr’s suggestions spurred a flurry of reports about life inside Sky Blue, citing horrific working conditions and forcing a response from the club.

Your voice matters, and we want you to know that we hear you. Let's work together to make this better for us all.#PushForward pic.twitter.com/kXnrOGnTgt

— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) July 9, 2018

Accounts of housing insecurity, inadequate travel accommodations and decaying training facilities continued to plague the organization.

A report that Sky Blue players were using a trailer with running water as a bathroom was enough to send most fans over the edge.

According to a source close to Sky Blue, a “trailer” with running water, a bathroom, and a shower has been put at the team’s training facility in accordance what the GM told us. It seems to actually be an RV, but it’s an improvement over what they previously had. #SBFC #NWSL

— Allison (Lee) Brown (@allibecc) July 18, 2018

Winter 2019: Draftees refuse to sign with Sky Blue

Sky Blue FC hit a new low in 2019 when top draft picks Julia Ashley and Hailie Mace chose not to play for the team.

Reports exposing the club’s dire conditions had now impacted their ability to recruit talent.

Ashley and Mace both opted to start their professional careers in Sweden rather than join the embattled club.

2019: Tammy Murphy steps in and Tony Novo steps down

When Tammy Murphy, co-owner of Sky Blue and wife of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, caught wind of the club’s untenable conditions, she decided it was time to get involved.

Shortly thereafter, Tony Novo, whom many blamed for Sky Blue’s lack of resources, stepped down as general manager.

Alyse LaHue was named interim general manager in his place. She immediately began turning the club around behind the scenes, tackling everything from the front office staff to the squad’s playing environment.

New Leadership for Sky Blue FC pic.twitter.com/gpsFC5KwTk

— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) April 9, 2019

June 2019:  Sky Blue fires Denise Reddy

The substandard conditions off the field at Sky Blue were compounded by the team’s poor performances on the field.

Head coach Denise Reddy was let go after an abysmal two seasons with the team, posting a 1-24-8 record in her tenure.

Shortly after the shake-up, Freya Coombe was named interim head coach and later permanent head coach in December 2019.

Fall 2019: Sky Blue signs with Red Bull Arena

In late 2019, Tammy Murphy announced that Sky Blue had inked a deal with Red Bull Arena for the 2020 season.

The venue upgrade signaled the team’s commitment to improving player conditions and a greater investment in the league writ large.

NEWS | New York Red Bulls and Sky Blue FC Announce New Partnership

📰 | https://t.co/99qNeILtzf#SBFC #NWSL pic.twitter.com/cwiH9epuP7

— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) November 18, 2019

Spring 2021: A new era

After making a run to the semifinals during the 2020 Challenge Cup, Sky Blue appeared to be on the upswing.

In April, that came in the form of a rebrand and name change. As NJ/NY Gotham FC, the team expanded into the New York market just in time for the 2021 Challenge Cup.

📍HOME. pic.twitter.com/pHq4MDn5mY

— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) April 6, 2021

Challenge Cup 2021: Birth of a contender

Gotham got off to a hot start in in their first competitive games under the new name, defeating Orlando and North Carolina.

Then mid-tournament, Gotham added a big name to their roster. Long Island native Allie Long returned to her hometown team in May in a trade from the OL Reign.

Despite going scoreless in their last two games, Gotham quieted any remaining detractors by securing a trip to the NWSL Challenge Cup championship game without dropping a match all tournament.

Flying into the final 🦇

See you next week, @GothamFC 🏆#CC21 pic.twitter.com/ncvunoVYv9

— National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) May 2, 2021

On May 8, Gotham FC will play for the Challenge Cup title, a feat unimaginable only a few short years ago.

The club’s tale of undervalued underdog turned East Division champs is one of horror and hope.

Gotham’s meteoric rise underlines the vital role investment plays in the NWSL and the game more broadly — a lesson that will loom large as the league addresses critical issues, like impending salary negotiations.

Gotham FC star Midge Purce put it best with her recent remarks at a White House event.

“You would never expect a flower to bloom without water,” she said. “But women in sport who have been denied water, sunlight, and soil are somehow expected to blossom.”

Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.

Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.

If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.

Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.

The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.

"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."

Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.

Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.

"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.

How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action

With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.

Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.

WSL side Liverpool opened their 2025/26 League Cup campaign with an emotional 5-0 win over WSL2 club Sunderland on Wednesday, dedicating the shutout victory to former manager Matt Beard after the 47-year-old's sudden passing last Saturday.

The match marked the Reds' return to the pitch following the postponement of their Sunday regular-season game against Aston Villa due to Beard's passing.

"It's a good win for Matt. We played with a lot of emotion," Liverpool defender Jenna Clark said afterwards, calling Wednesday "a really emotional night and an emotional few days for everyone involved with the club."

"We have pulled through together as a team the best we could and you saw that on the pitch tonight," Clark added.

Beard won back-to-back WSL titles with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014, departing the Reds in 2015 for a two-year stint with the NWSL's Boston Breakers.

He made his return to Liverpool in 2021, lifting the club back into the top-flight WSL by earning promotion his first season back at the helm.

"Matt will leave a huge void in the women's game," USWNT head coach and former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said in a statement earlier this week. "He was one of a kind, and his loss will be felt by all. My heart goes out to his family, but I want to take the time to acknowledge what a special man he really was."​

How to watch Liverpool this weekend

Liverpool will continue their 2025/26 WSL campaign against Manchester United this Sunday, kicking off live at 7 AM ET on ESPN+.

The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup culminates on Saturday, when host nation England battles for their first tournament title in more than a decade in a top-tier final against Canada, who are hunting their first-ever world championship trophy.

The Red Roses' long dominance on the Rugby World Cup pitch has led them to eight finals in the competition's nine editions, with England emerging victorious twice — in 1994 and 2014.

On the other hand, Canada will make just their second-ever appearance in the World Cup final this Saturday, as the Maple Leafs aim for a decidedly different outcome from their 21-9 loss to England in the 2014 championship game.

The top-ranked Red Roses will also be looking to avenge their narrow 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the tournament's most recent 2022 edition when they square off against No. 2 Canada in front of an sold-out crowd inside London's Twickenham Stadium — with another women's rugby attendance record on the line.

"You feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be," England defense coach Sarah Hunter said. "It's a cliché, but [the crowd] almost becomes the 16th person in those moments where you need them."

How to watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final

England and Canada will battle in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at 11 AM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on Paramount+.

While the No. 1 Kansas City Current have officially run away with the 2025 NWSL Shield, the race for top playoff seeding rages on, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit fights to hold their ground against an unpredictable No. 9 Houston Dash this Sunday.

Bolstered by star Trinity Rodman's return from injury, the Spirit enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak, going up against a motivated Dash side sitting just two points outside of postseason contention.

"Every game we just need to be a lot more clinical in the final third," Rodman said after last weekend's 2-2 draw with No. 11 Angel City. "We're doing all the hard stuff and then it's [lacking] quality at the end."

Washington isn't without top-table challengers, with No. 3 Gotham FC riding their own five-game unbeaten streak into a Friday night match against the No. 4 Portland Thorns, who sit tied for points with both the Bats and the No. 5 San Diego Wave in the NWSL standings.

"At this stage, almost everyone still has a real chance to make the playoffs, which is great for the league," said Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós after the Bats' 1-1 draw with Bay FC last Sunday. "But it also means nothing can be taken for granted."

How to watch the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC this weekend

No. 3 Gotham FC kicks off this weekend's NWSL action when they host the No. 4 Portland Thorns at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on NWSL+.

Then in Sunday's NWSL action, the No. 9 Houston Dash will visit the No. 2 Washington Spirit at 1 PM ET, airing live on Paramount+.