The NWSL underwent massive change in 2022. The league ratified its first-ever collective bargaining agreement, reeled from the findings of two massive investigations into wrongdoing and put on one of the largest championship weekends in NWSL history.

To call it an eventful year would be an understatement. Let’s take a look at a few of the moments we’ll never forget.

The year of the union

The year began with the NWSL in a precarious position. Collective bargaining agreement negotiations had slowed, and multiple investigations into misconduct were ongoing after bombshell reporting revealed cases of abuse throughout the league. With every day that passed, the possibility of a player strike became more likely as the league neared the preseason CBA deadline of Feb. 1.

What happened next shaped not only the NWSL for the next five years, but also women’s soccer forever. The league’s first CBA guaranteed new player rights, including free agency, maternity leave and a doubled league minimum salary. Preseason began on time, and years of work by the NWSL Players Association culminated in a new foundation upon which the league could build.

The NWSLPA’s work, though, didn’t end after the ratification of the CBA. Questions like whether players with team-first contract options can be considered free agents and whether new avenues should be created for teenage players to enter the league were debated and partially resolved. The PA has emphasized that CBAs are valuable only if they are being enforced, and constant vigilance in the face of the Sally Q. Yates report provided a sense of stability.

At the end of the year, the NWSL and NWSLPA finally released their joint investigation into wrongdoing and misconduct, in what is hopefully the final page of a volatile chapter in the league’s history. Even if more challenges lie ahead, the strength of the union gives players a reliable advocate.

The calamity of the Challenge Cup

The year marked the beginning of the end of the Challenge Cup as a preseason tournament. Originally placed between preseason and the regular season as a pandemic safeguard, the scheduling of the Challenge Cup in 2022 arguably altered a number of clubs’ entire seasons.

The North Carolina Courage defeated the Washington Spirit in the third Challenge Cup final on May 7, in a game on CBS that overlapped with the beginning of the regular season. Both teams had to reschedule their regular-season games that had been slated for the same weekend after picking up an additional knockout game the Wednesday prior. The match itself was ugly, and neither team rode their success into a playoff appearance. The Spirit struggled through a dire early schedule to finish the season in 11th, a far cry from winning their first NWSL Championship in 2021. The Courage fared slightly better, making a late surge but falling just short of a playoff spot in the final week of the season.

With a new name sponsor and prize money attached, the Challenge Cup has a place in the NWSL’s calendar, but it became very clear that something had to change in the name of player safety. In 2023, the Cup will become a mid-season tournament, played throughout the year during other breaks in the regular season.

The Challenge Cup clearly needed to evolve, or the NWSL needed to move on from the format entirely. With a new system in 2023, the tournament has a chance to reach its full potential.

California dreamin’

The year 2022 will likely always be remembered as the one the NWSL went all-in on the beaches of California. Angel City’s regular-season opener at the Banc of California Stadium marked a season of record attendances, and San Diego’s mid-season debut at Snapdragon Stadium showed what was possible for an expansion club in its first year.

San Diego, in particular, crushed expansion expectations on the field. Alex Morgan won the Golden Boot, Naomi Girma won both Rookie and Defender of the Year, Kailen Sheridan won Goalkeeper of the Year, and Casey Stone won Coach of the Year. The Wave became the first expansion club to qualify for the NWSL playoffs in their first year, and for much of the season, they were in legitimate contention for the Shield at the top of the table.

NWSL expansion was once seen as a risky proposition, with teams struggling to find local attendance footholds while slowly developing on the pitch. Angel City showed that women’s soccer can be big business, and San Diego backed it all up on the field. The next teams to join the league in 2024 have large shoes to fill.

Portland Thorns’ triumph, uneasy future

On the field, the Portland Thorns were one of the best clubs in the NWSL in 2022. They finished second in the league table, won their semifinal and looked like they were in cruise control on their way to the franchise’s third NWSL Championship over Kansas City. League MVP Sophia Smith ended the best year of her young professional career with a championship goal (and shrug celebration) that entered the annals of NWSL legend. For one moment, it seemed like the Thorns might be able to put their off-field troubles behind them.

But the offseason brought more radical change. Owner Merritt Paulson finally announced his intention to sell the club after being named in the Yates report for allowing former coach Paul Riley’s misconduct to be covered up for years. Paulson intends to divest the Thorns from the Portland Timbers, changing both the club’s relationship to their home in Providence Park and the infrastructure of the front office.

Paulson’s decision to sell felt somewhat inevitable with the NWSLPA report looming, but Portland’s upheaval had only begun. The same week as Paulson’s announcement, head coach Rhian Wilkinson abruptly resigned from her position after developing feelings for a player that went beyond friendship.

Suddenly, Portland’s championship win became a story not of mere triumph over adversity, but the last image of the club as it existed for the first 10 years of the league’s existence. Now, the Thorns enter 2023 without a manager and with more questions than ever despite their clear talent advantages.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

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.