The 2023 NWSL regular season kicks off this weekend, and commissioner Jessica Berman is expecting it to be one of the most successful opening weekends in league history.

“We’ve already surpassed the number of sales for opening weekend [over 2022], and we still have five days to go,” she told reporters Monday. “We know that that will just continue over the next five to six days, so we’re excited to break some records.”

Season ticket sales already are up 20% across the league compared to the entirety of the 2022 season, even with days to go before the 2023 season begins.

“We’re comparing a full season of sales to what is a prospective sale for the upcoming season,” Berman said. “So if you are really comparing apples to apples, which we will do, you would see what the number and the percent increases at the conclusion of 2023 … we will be excited to share that number and certainly expect it to be significantly more than a 20% increase.”

Berman described ticket revenue as “rocket fuel” for the league in its 11th year, building on the strong increases the league had already seen from 2021 to 2022. More than 1 million fans attended games in 2022, the first time the league has reached that milestone.

The NWSL also experienced a jump in viewership from 2021 to 2022, including a 71% jump for the NWSL Championship, which brought 915,000 fans to CBS in prime time.

The rising numbers have fortuitous timing as the NWSL actively negotiates its new broadcast contract. The league is in talks with a number of prospective partners, as the exclusive negotiating period with CBS expired in 2022 (though CBS still has its hat in the ring).

The NWSL’s previous contract, extended an extra year after the suspension of the regular season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was reportedly worth $3.5 million. Yet as expansion fees skyrocket, Berman is optimistic the NWSL can negotiate a rights deal that reflects where the league is going.

“The conversations we’ve had have been robust,” she said. “There are many interested parties in the media landscape.

“We’re looking at it both from a domestic as well as international perspective. And we think that there are some really interesting opportunities here and overseas to consider as we think about growing our brand globally and really claiming our spaces the best league in the world.”

Berman highlighted other investments the league has made in itself this offseason, including doubling the NWSL’s staff size and officially opening an office space on Madison Ave. in New York City. The league is preparing for its first season after investing in VAR, which includes a greater investment in production quality.

The changes are player-driven, Berman said.

“[Players] really felt that it needed to be a priority for the league to invest in broadcast production, and for the game itself to be able to showcase in a way, for fans to be able to appreciate their athleticism and how great the NWSL is,” she said. “That was a consistent theme, and almost every team of players that I spoke with, I think we also know that we expect to really have more visibility with our next media deal.”

For a league coming out the other side of years of controversy after bombshell reporting exposed years of league-wide toxicity and in some cases abuse, Berman wants the focus in 2023 to have room for storylines on the field as well as off it.

Two NWSL teams put up for sale in the aftermath of the abuse reports, the Portland Thorns and the Chicago Red Stars, are in “advanced stages” of the ownership transfer process, with the league eager to close a painful chapter and to get the final decisions right.

“The most important thing is that we have the right ownership in place who are not just resourced appropriately, but willing to invest what’s necessary to provide the professional environment that we all know is necessary,” Berman said. “And so long as we feel that the process is moving forward in good faith, we’ll continue to make sure that that is the utmost priority.”

WE PLAY ⚽️ THIS WEEK!
WE PLAY ⚽️ THIS WEEK!
WE PLAY ⚽️ THIS WEEK!
WE PLAY ⚽️ THIS WEEK!
WE PLAY ⚽️ THIS WEEK!

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 20, 2023

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.