The first international window of the NWSL season is here, allowing us all to take a giant deep breath and enjoy some USWNT friendlies.

Each NWSL team has 4-5 games under their belt, and it feels like this break is coming at a good time for most. The Pride at the top of the table will hope the two weeks allows Sydney Leroux time to get healthy, while Kansas City at the bottom will take the much needed time to continue to develop players as the team searches for their first win.

Here’s how I see the league today:

10. Kansas City (–)

With a loss to Houston, Kansas City stays in last place in the Power Rankings and the actual table. They’ll want to take these few weeks to go back to the drawing board as they continue to search for their first win of the season. 

9. Racing Louisville (-1)

Michelle Betos stood on her head and Louisville still lost 3-0 to Portland. Being a “young team” is one thing — conceding eight goals in their last two matches is another. 

8. Chicago Red Stars (+1)

They’ve been terribly inconsistent BUT the Red Stars just got their biggest win of the season, in their best performance of the season, with a 1-0 upset over the North Carolina Courage. THIS is the Red Stars team that needs to show up for them to get back into the playoff conversation.

7. Houston Dash (–)

The Dash had to beat last-place Kansas City and they did just that. A small step forward, but they’re trending in the right direction. 

6. OL Reign (–)

They might have deserved more out of their loss to Gotham FC, but they now have lost two straight games on a set piece goal. Will the French connection (and return of Alana Cook) be the difference maker when we return?

5. North Carolina Courage (-3)

That Louisville thrashing is starting to look more like an outlier as the Courage were shut out again, even with the likes of Lynn Williams, Jess McDonald, Sam Mewis and Debinha in the starting XI. If you take out that 5-0 win over Louisville, the Courage only have one goal in their other three games. Ouch. 

4. Gotham FC (+1)

How spoiled are Gotham FC to have two goalkeepers who simply know how to win? It’s hard not to root for this team.

3. Washington Spirit (+1)

The Spirit are good. They dominated Orlando, and had it not been for Ashlyn Harris and the crossbar, likely would have walked away with 3 points. They’ll be disappointed to have just about gifted Orlando the tying goal, but they can still go into the break with their heads held high.

2. Portland Thorns (+1)

With their second straight win (and clean sheet), the Thorns appear to have found their footing again. Louisville never threatened and the defense is looking less leaky than it did in their two straight losses. 

1. Orlando Pride (–)

The draw against Washington wasn’t their prettiest or most dominant game of the season, but they still came away with a point. We also learned just how much Sydney Leroux matters to the Pride keeping the ball out of their own end. This is what elite teams do: they learn how to win ugly and without all their players. 

LOVB volleyball is coming back to cable, as the pro volleyball league announced a Wednesday night primetime partnership with USA Network for its 2026 season.

From January through April, USA Network will air a "Match of the Week" nearly every Wednesday evening, starting with a 2025 championship rematch between runners-up LOVB Nebraska and title-winners LOVB Austin on January 7th, 2026.

USA Network will also broadcast a portion of LOVB's 2026 postseason, including one semifinal and both games in the league's new two-match championship series.

Gearing up for its second season, LOVB features a talented player pool amid an increasingly crowded pro volleyball market.

One in every five LOVB athletes are Olympians, with 90% of the league's international players and 75% of its US players boasting national team experience.

Even more, growing demand for the sport has expansion on the horizon for the six-team league, with LOVB preparing to launch its seventh franchise in Los Angeles — backed by Angel City and Chelsea FC investor Alexis Ohanian — in 2027.

How to watch the 2026 LOVB season on USA Network

The second season of LOVB opens when inaugural champions Austin take on runners-up Nebraska at 6 PM ET on January 7th, 2026.

Live coverage will air on USA Network.

With the rookie card of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark still doing numbers, trading card manufacturer Panini America is debuting Caitlin Clark Chronicled this week, dropping a limited-edition release on Monday that features a 22-page collectible book and 100-card set of the WNBA standout.

The book spans images of Clark on and off the court, and includes eight four-card packs and 32 randomly inserted trading cards, as well as autographed exclusives.

"I'm excited to launch 'Caitlin Clark Chronicled' with Panini America and share some of my favorite moments on and off the court from my first two years in the WNBA," Clark said in Monday's statement. "We wanted to create something different that combined great photography with trading cards, including some special exclusives. I am proud of this collection and hope fans enjoy it."

The WNBA superstar is an exclusive Panini partner in the trading card and autographed memorabilia space, with Clark making headlines last July when her one-of-one autographed rookie card sold for more than $600,000 — setting a new world record for a women's sports card.

How to buy Panini's 'Caitlin Clark Chronicled' card set

Panini's limited edition Clark collection is currently available for purchase at Target stores and Target.com.

Tensions remain high between the WNBA and WNBPA, after The Athletic reported on Monday that the latest CBA proposal from Players Association more than doubles the league's revenue share offer — suggesting a deepening rift in negotiations.

The union outlined a deal that would give players around 30% of total WNBA and team revenue — a significant leap from the league's proposed 15% share.

According to sources, the WNBPA also suggested linking the salary cap to the previous season's total revenue, factoring in player benefits and the number of teams in the league.

The move intends to undercut an accusation from the WNBA that the players have yet to put forward an economically viable revenue sharing model.

The union's proposal begins at 29% of the prior season's total league grosses, then grows to 34% by the final year of the CBA with a one-time adjustment for the new 11-year, $2.2 billion WNBA media rights deal.

Notably, the league recently rejected a flat 33% revenue share CBA proposal, prompting this week's 1%-per-year increase system in response.

It's clear that the WNBA office and the WNBPA are at odds, but the union is showing their work as both sides strive for a CBA that will keep players on the court in 2026.

Olympic swimming icon Katie Ledecky has done it again, becoming the first woman to break the 15-minute mile with a time of 14:59.62 at her namesake Katie Ledecky Invitational in Maryland.

Smashing her own US record of 15:01.41, Sunday's sub-15 minute mile gives Ledecky the 1,650-meter freestyle's eight fastest times, with US teammate Erica Sullivan earning the ninth-best in 2019.

"This is a special one for sure," Ledecky said afterwards. "This has been a goal of mine, to break 15 minutes in the 1,650, for probably eight or nine years. So, just putting in the hard work, believing that I could do it someday, and to do it at this meet, is really special."

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The 28-year-old Washington, DC, product is the most decorated women's swimmer in the history of the sport, prompting Nation's Capital Swimming — where Ledecky got her start at age six — to name their annual event in her honor earlier this year.

"I definitely was a little nervous before the race, just knowing there were a lot of eyes on me and all that," she continued. "But I knew I could just relax and have fun with it, and whatever happened, happened."

How to watch Katie Ledecky in action

Ledecky's next major competition will likely be the TYR Pro Swim Series, which kicks off in Austin on January 14th, 2026.

The domestic competition series will be covered across NBC Sports platforms.