One of the top free agents in the NWSL has a destination: Debinha is headed to Kansas City.

The NWSL MVP finalist spent her first six seasons in the league with the North Carolina Courage, and she entered the offseason as one of the most sought-after free agents. The Current have signed her to a multi-year deal through the 2024 season, with an option for a third year.

More world-class talent in Kansas City 🇧🇷

Welcome, @Debinha7 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ijrk3rI0q5

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) January 9, 2023

“As a professional athlete, I always want to get better and to be on a competitive team that fights for titles, with excellent professionals,” Debinha said in a statement. “I’m sure it will help me in that goal and Kansas City showed that last season.”

The Brazilian national team member also noted that Kansas City’s plans, which include a new stadium and training facilities, “left me really motivated.”

“All of this made me want to be part of it and made me think about being here today,” she continued. “I’m happy for this new journey that is just beginning.”

Debinha joined the NWSL in 2017 as a member of the Courage. She helped the team to three straight NWSL championship appearances, as well as two titles and three consecutive NWSL Shields.

In 2019, she was named NWSL Championship MVP after scoring the game’s opening goal.

The 31-year-old midfielder has been named Challenge Cup MVP twice, including in 2022, and owns the record for most goals all-time in the tournament with nine.

She finished the regular season last year with a career-high 12 goals through 18 matches. That total ranked third in the league behind Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan (15 goals) and NWSL MVP Sophia Smith (14 goals). Debinha also had four assists, which also put her among the best in the league.

“We are thrilled to welcome Debinha to Kansas City,” Current co-owners Angie and Chris Long said. “Debinha is one of the most talented, accomplished, and well-known players in the world. Her name is synonymous with excellence. We can’t wait for Kansas City to have the special opportunity to watch Debinha play and cheer her on.”

One of the biggest free agents of the offseason, Kansas City knows what it’s getting in Debinha.

“Obviously, she was sought after by I think just about everyone,” Current general manager Camille Levin Ashton told The Athletic. “There was a lot of competition for her. What makes this really special for us, and a big statement for us, is that she had all those options and chose to come here to Kansas City and be a part of what we’re building.

“We continue to build on the success that we had last year, obviously falling short, and she’s a winner. She wants to bring championships to Kansas City.”

But the signing is also huge for the league as a whole, as reports also had linked Debinha to Arsenal, as well as Barcelona, PSG and Manchester United, according to Rob Pratley and ATA Football.

As other players have made moves to clubs offering more money, it’s becoming increasingly clear that NWSL clubs will have to start forking over more cash in order to keep players.

“Our value of her, and what we honestly believe the global soccer community values her, as she is one of the best players in this league and in the world — we think that the salary we provided her reflects that,” Levin Ashton said.

One other NWSL club made a serious offer to Debinha, The Athletic’s Steph Yang reported: the Orlando Pride. The offer “would have made Debinha one of, if not the highest-paid player in the league,” Yang reported last week.

The same source that gave details of the Pride’s offer indicated that Debinha was more interested in Europe, including the boost that the Champions League could provide to her player profile. But, according to Levin Ashton, that potential move never came up in talks with Kansas City.

“I think everyone understands the value (of Champions League) and that players do want to play in Champions League,” Levin Ashton said. “At the end of the day, when we look at the NWSL as a whole, this league is the most competitive league in the world. It has been, and that hasn’t changed. Players that want to be the best and want to continue to get better and prove themselves, being in the NWSL, you have to prove yourself week after week, game after game.”

Debinha’s agent, Benito Pedace of SOW Sports, told The Athletic that the decision to remain in the NWSL came alongside what the midfielder views as new challenges alongside “great structure.”

“Not everyone entered the final stretch of decision-making,” Padace told The Athletic, “and she ended up choosing to stay in the league, knowing that she will have new challenges, will have a great structure for her to continue evolving and doing what she loves most, which is playing football at a high level in a league she knows and knows that every season the teams get more and more competitive.”

The Current will aim to make another run to the championship game in the 2023 season, though they’ve lost the element of surprise. A number of blockbuster signings have bolstered the team’s lineup, including Morgan Gautrat and Vanessa DiBernardo via free agency. They’ve also re-signed defenders Alex Loera, Hailie Mace and Kate Del Fava.

Incoming NWSL expansion team Denver announced more infrastructure news on Thursday, naming the squad's first-ever employee in decorated sports executive Jen Millet, who will serve as club president.

"Jen stood out amongst an extensive list of qualified candidates," said controlling owner Rob Cohen in a club statement. "Jen’s understanding of soccer, building world-class brands, ability to engage the community, and passion for creating a culture of excellence made her the ideal fit to run our club."

Previously, Millet served as the chief operating officer for 2024 expansion team Bay FC, a club she led to the league's top in merchandise sales and top-three in ticketing revenue in the franchise's inaugural season.

The Denver post, in which Millet will lead all of the club's business operations, will return Millet to her hometown as she takes on another NWSL launch.

"People might say I'm crazy to do back-to-back builds," Millet told The Athletic. "But I actually love this kind of work, and so I'm excited to get going."

With a new dedicated stadium and training facility in the works, plus record season ticket sales and, now, NWSL-savvy leadership, Denver looks prepared to hit the ground running as the league's 16th team in 2026.

The 2025 PWHL Takeover Tour was a smash hit, with the second-year league’s nine-game out-of-market series drawing record-breaking crowds across North America.

Built as both a marketing push and a way to size up cities for future expansion, the Takeover Tour has given hockey fans access to the PWHL from Seattle to Québec City.

"The PWHL Takeover Tour has been one of the most rewarding initiatives since our inception — for our fans, our athletes, and our staff," said PWHL EVP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Record-setting crowds packed PWHL Tour stops

According to a Friday press release, a total of 123,601 fans visited the Tour, setting a new US attendance record for professional women’s hockey with 14,018 cheering in Denver on January 12th — a mark that fell just over two months later when 14,288 fans filled Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on March 16th.

More than half the games rank in the PWHL’s Top-10 most attended matchups, with the Takeover Tour's January 8th Vancouver stop registering fourth on the list with its 19,038-strong sellout crowd.

Even more, the league estimates that 80% of the Tour's attendees witnessed their first-ever PWHL game, making the series a rousing success in expanding the league's reach and growing the game beyond its six home markets.

"Across the nine stops, we connected with new fans, grew the game, and gave audiences the opportunity to experience the unparalleled excitement of a PWHL game live," said PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer.

"This Tour created core memories for our fans and players and its success is a true testament to the passion and support we’re seeing across North America."

Already looking deep into the future, the Tour also gave 945 hockey-playing girls access to clinics and meetings with PWHL stars — a move that Hefford hopes inspires the young athletes to aim for pro careers of their own, now that the league has paved the path into "an achievable goal."

Projected 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers announced her first pro deal on Friday, signing with new league partner Ally Financial as the bank gears up to help launch the WNBA’s first-ever Rivalry Week.

"I think the biggest lesson I've learned is to give with what you've been given," Bueckers said during a Friday morning press conference. "A lot of my partnerships, we have values aligned of giving back."

As draft prospects weigh the factors behind the decision to turn pro, Bueckers's early endorsement splash challenges the idea that NIL opportunities end the moment college players exit the NCAA.

The brand-new NCAA champion has been out of the college game for less than one week, but by cashing in with a deal immediately, Bueckers is proving that her value isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

"I think at times there's too much made about salary, and too much made about what's going on in college," Dallas GM Curt Miller told reporters on Thursday. "The top players that we're talking to, their endorsements are going to travel with them."

Ally backs debut WNBA Rivalry Week

In line with the deal, the Ally-sponsored inaugural WNBA Rivalry Week will run from August 9th through the 17th, highlighting matchups with a significant amount of recent history.

Key games will include Midwest regional foes Indiana and Chicago battling it out on CBS, new expansion team Golden State hosting a California clash against the LA Sparks, and a pair of WNBA Finals rematches featuring the NY Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, and the Las Vegas Aces.

Monday’s 2025 WNBA Draft could seriously shape the future for the three teams at the helm of this year’s lottery, as top pick-holders Dallas, Seattle, and Washington all prepare to make major moves after a rollercoaster offseason.

The Wings currently hold the overall No. 1 pick, while Seattle will select second after a blockbuster three-team trade with LA and Las Vegas sent star Jewell Loyd to the Aces and the No. 2 pick to the Storm.

Washington also wields significant draft capital following another series of trades, which sent top guard Ariel Atkins to Chicago in exchange for the No. 3 pick. Meanwhile, the Mystics also hold Monday's fourth and sixth first-round selections.

While Dallas and Seattle wield the highest picks, Washington’s wealth of selections gives them the most first-round influence — especially over expansion franchise Golden State’s No. 5 pick.

"I think it actually creates an opportunity for us to build strength in a couple of different ways," said Mystics GM Jamila Wideman.

Flexibility is key in navigating the WNBA Draft

Uncertainty has reigned supreme in recent months, as team executives find out alongside the public exactly which college stars are entering the WNBA’s talent pool as some eligible standouts opt to remain in the NCAA for one final season.

"We're always nimble as GMs in this league," Dallas GM Curt Miller told media on Thursday. "You don’t truly know who is declaring and coming into the draft until the very end."

As for teams outside of the lottery, they'll have to cross their fingers and wait patiently on Monday, as last year’s lowest record-holders raid the draft pool first.