On Saturday, 915,000 people pointed remotes at TVs and sat down to watch the NWSL Championship. It stands as the most-watched match in league history, with a viewership increase of 71% from last year’s final.

Nearly one million people watched as Sophia Smith Michael Jordan-shrugged her way to an MVP trophy, and as the Portland Thorns collected their third championship in franchise history.

But numbers like this aren’t confined to one game or one league. The increased viewership in the NWSL shows a larger trend: If more people can watch women’s sports, more people will watch women’s sports.

Up 71% from last season's championship.

(via @NWSL) pic.twitter.com/RJ4XdvnyX4

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 1, 2022

Saturday’s contest marked the first time in the league’s 10-year history that an NWSL Championship was played in prime time. The match aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.

Before 2022, NWSL finals were held during the day and aired on various cable channels, making access more difficult for prospective viewers.

For NWSL players, especially veterans, Saturday’s prime-time final proved a much-anticipated step forward.

“I was fortunate to play in the first championship game and I think outside of the people in Portland, no one knew that the game was happening,” Christine Sinclair told reporters before the game. “So I’d say it’s what this league, it’s what us as players deserve.

“This, women’s sports in general, all they need is a chance. People will watch, people will come if given the opportunity to do so. For this game to be on prime time — on a major network — it’s just going to continue to grow the game to continue to inspire those youngsters watching.”

The match capped a season in which the NWSL saw record attendance: More than 1 million fans attended games in 2022, the first time the league has reached that milestone.

The demand for women’s soccer extends outside of the United States. Tickets for 2023 World Cup games in Australia and New Zealand rapidly sold out their allotments during the second phase of single game sales, held by FIFA in the early morning hours of Australian Eastern Daylight time on Tuesday.

A FIFA spokesperson told ABC Australia the organization wasn’t prepared for the high demand, calling it “unprecedented,” and said more World Cup passes have been sold in the first month of availability for the 2023 tournament than in the first four months for the 2019 World Cup in France.

Should FIFA have been surprised? Given the current trends in women’s sports, the answer is a resounding “No.”

The 2019 World Cup had 1.12 billion viewers, more than a 50% increase from the previous record. That doesn’t come down to a championship one-off. For the 52 World Cup games, an average of 1.27 million viewers tuned in, an increase of 106% from the 2015 World Cup.

And other women’s sports are showing similar growth. Both the WNBA and women’s college basketball saw similar increases during their most recent seasons.

During a WNBA season that marked the final campaign for veterans Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird, the league reached its most regular-season viewers in 14 years. Games shown on ABC, CBS and ESPN networks were up 16% from the previous season. League pass subscriptions also increased by 10%.

College basketball also smashed its previous viewership numbers. The title game between No. seeded South Carolina and No. 2 UConn pulled in 4.85 million people, making it the most-viewed college basketball game on ESPN for men or women since 2008.

In total, the season saw an 18% increase in viewership from 2021 to 2022. And this year’s national championship game will be shown on ABC after being broadcast on ESPN in previous seasons, setting it up for even more viewership thanks to better accessibility.

“Women’s NCAA championships continue to generate strong audiences across the ABC/ESPN networks and this move represents yet another unique opportunity to showcase this marquee event and the student-athletes who are competing for a national championship,” Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of programming and original content, said in a statement following the announcement.

More people are watching women’s sports because more people can watch women’s sports. It’s as simple as that. More accessible TV networks and better time slots lead to more viewers.

People want to watch women’s sports. It’s up to TV providers and the leagues to make sure they can. And if that continues to happen, viewership will continue to skyrocket.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins digs into what happened to Gotham FC's 2024 superteam — and whether the NWSL is built for such blockbuster rosters.

With the NJ/NY club kicking off with the same record over the first seven matches in 2025 as the 2024 roster achieved, Watkins uses Gotham to explore "a case study of how a super team does not work in the NWSL."

First, Watkins explains exactly what is meant by a superteam, defining the concept as being rooted in procuring massive talent through free agency — a strategy Gotham employed by signing four former No. 1 NWSL Draft picks and current USWNT veterans Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Tierna Davidson, and Crystal Dunn to build their 2024 superteam.

"Gotham is a perfect example of why super teams do not translate to the NWSL," says Watkins. "They were very good last year, they finished top four, they make it to the semifinals. They didn't win anything."

The reasons for the failure of a superteam in the NWSL, according to Watkins, include the pressures faced by players balancing the needs of their stacked club roster with their individual development needs to stay atop the international game.

"They need to be playing a certain amount of minutes. They need to be playing in certain positions," notes Watkins. "These players get notes from their US coaches on what they want to see. It's not a failing of anybody's character. It's their job, it's their livelihood. To get back to that level, they have to kind of be of two minds of what's best for them."

NWSL business model rewards parity over superteams

Watkins also digs into the role of the salary cap in NWSL teams' ability to retain top talent.

"It really doesn't seem like the salary cap is going anywhere, and that means the NWSL isn't in a place to reward established stars for the wages that they probably deserve," says Watkins.

Comparing the US league to European dynasties like Chelsea, Lyon, and Barcelona, Watkins explains, "That is not what the NWSL is built for. It's not really what the NWSL wants."

Instead, argues Watkins, the NWSL rewards "teams that build in a different way," by scouting less recognized talent and "building them up into All-Stars" — a "bottom-up" method that creates the league's most successful teams.

It's a lesson that Gotham is learning with the equitable success the club is experiencing this season, despite losing a significant amount of big-name talent from their 2024 superteam in the offseason.

"They haven't really stumbled in the wake of these departures, proving my point," remarks Watkins.

Ultimately, "the NWSL has decided that they don't really want the Gothams of the world," argues Watkins.

"They don't want roster stashing or this top-down talent that can really bulldoze a league. That is the opposite of what the NWSL is selling. And I think that's both cool and a little bit of a harder road sometimes."

About 'The Late Sub' with Claire Watkins

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes on the USWNT, NWSL, and all things women's soccer. Special guest appearances featuring the biggest names in women’s sports make TLS a must-listen for every soccer fan.

Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

Subscribe to The Late Sub to never miss an episode.

The city of Columbia, South Carolina, honored South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley with her very own statue this week, reflecting the three-time national champion leader's legacy as a change-maker in women's college basketball.

The 14-foot bronze likeness, which sits just next to the university's alumni center, reflects Staley's championship prowess, with the statue showing the coach on a ladder holding a cut-down basketball net.

"This statue is a tribute, but it really doesn't encompass what she's delivered for us as a community, what she's done for women’s sports, what she's done for young people, especially young women,” Columbia mayor Daniel Rickenmann told reporters before Wednesday's ceremony.

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A legendary coaching resume

After her decorated pro career, the six-time WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist took over the South Carolina coaching job in 2008, building the program into the behemoth it is today.

To date, Staley has led the Gamecocks to nine SEC regular-season titles and nine conference tournament crowns as well as seven Final Fours — including appearances in the last five NCAA tournament semifinals.

The four-time National Coach of the Year is far from done, though.

Staley, who turns 55 years old on Sunday, inked a contract in January to remain with South Carolina through the 2029/30 NCAA season.

That blockbuster deal — worth over $25 million — makes her the highest paid women's college basketball coach in history.

Staley agreed to statue to increase representation

Staley's statue now joins one of former star player and now reigning three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, who saw her own likeness installed outside Colonial Life Arena in 2021.

Though initially opposed to becoming a bronze sculpture, Staley later acquiesced to the honor in order to boost the currently low numbers of US statues depicting women, particularly Black women.

"I agreed to the statue not for me, but for the girl who will walk by one day and wonder who I was," Staley said at the Wednesday unveiling. "Maybe she'll look me up. She'll see that I did some things in basketball, of course — but I hope she sees much more."

"I hope she sees that I was a champion for equity and equality. That in my own way, I pushed for change... not as someone perfect or extraordinary, but as a regular girl who used her gifts to open doors so other girls wouldn't have to knock as hard."

The legendary 1999 World Cup-winning USWNT is heading to Hollywood, with Netflix announcing Wednesday that the streamer is in development on The 99'ers, a feature film based on Jeré Longman’s book The Girls of Summer: The US Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World.

Like Longman's book, the film will chronicle the USWNT's journey to winning the 1999 World Cup before a then-US record crowd at the Rose Bowl — as well as the ongoing impact that victory has on women's sports worldwide.

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Helmed by Liza Chasin from 3dot Productions as well as a production team that includes actor Ryan Reynolds, who co-owns third-tier UK men's soccer club Wrexham AFC, the film will be directed by Nicole Kassell.

Kassell, who's resume includes The Leftovers and The Americans, earned both an Emmy and Director's Guild Award for her work on the HBO series Watchmen.

Screenwriters Katie Lovejoy and Dana Stevens, who wrote Netflix's Love at First Sight and The Woman King, respectively, will pen The 99'ers script.

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Netflix boosts women's soccer content in lead-up to World Cups

This is far from Netflix's first foray into women's sports, with the streamer boasting documentaries on tennis star Naomi Osaka and gymnastics legend Simone Biles, among others — and a new series on F1 Academy women drivers dropping later this month.

Even more, the content giant is all-in on women's soccer. After chronicling the 2023 World Cup journey of the USWNT in a four-part docuseries, Netflix closed 2024 by snagging the exclusive US broadcast rights to the 2027 and 2031 Women's World Cups.

While Netflix acquired the rights to Longman's book in 2020, the timing of The 99'ers development is likely an effort to bolster the broadcaster's women's soccer content in the lead-up to the upcoming World Cups.

The Chicago Stars parted ways with second-year manager Lorne Donaldson on Wednesday, as the last-place NWSL club attempts to bounce back from a dismal 1-5-0 start to the 2025 season.

"We are grateful to Lorne Donaldson for the culture, respect, and sense of self-belief he helped build within our squad. We appreciate his work and wish him the best for the future," said Stars GM Richard Feuz in a club statement.

Stars assistant coach Masaki Hemmi will step up in an interim capacity while the Chicago front office conducts its search for a replacement for Donaldson.

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Depleted roster a factor in Stars' struggles

Following an eighth-place finish and short-lived playoff push in 2024, a relatively dormant offseason transfer window, and a somewhat controversial rebrand, Chicago has struggled to find results this season — due in part to a dwindling lineup.

The team's opening day roster featured only six defenders — including an injured Natalia Kuikka, who has yet to make her 2025 club debut after suffering a knee sprain while on international duty with Finland in February.

Superstar USWNT forward Mallory Swanson also remains out indefinitely, having missed the first six games of the NWSL season due to personal reasons.

When points aren't coming, front offices often try to shake things up with sideline changes — though Chicago's troubles appear to extend far beyond the former head coach.