Reigning NWSL champions Gotham FC are adding to their remarkable free agency haul, announcing the signing of World Cup champions Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett on Thursday.

Sonnett and Lavelle are the third and fourth USWNT mainstays to sign with the New Jersey club this year after midfielder Crystal Dunn and defender Tierna Davidson also reached multi-year deals with the team. All four World Cup champions will remain with the club through 2026.

Both Lavelle and Sonnett join Gotham most recently from OL Reign, where Lavelle won an NWSL shield and both players reached the 2023 title game (losing in the championship match to Gotham.) 

“Rose is an amazing talent, and we are very excited to have her as a part of the club,” said Amorós in a team release. “She is a very exciting player to watch because of her creative and technical abilities.”

Sonnett is a two-time NWSL champion, first with the Portland Thorns in 2017 and the Washington Spirit in 2021. The 30-year-old flourished in 2023 after making a position change from center-back to defensive midfielder, becoming a USWNT starter at the position during and after the 2023 World Cup.

Both Lavelle and Sonnett are also well-known at the international level, winning the 2019 World Cup with the USWNT as well as a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. They join a stacked Gotham roster, which includes Spanish World Cup champion Esther, Lynn Williams, Midge Purce, Kelley O’Hara, Allie Long and more. The club finished a storybook “worst to first” run in 2023 behind a roster refresh and the clear leadership of manager Juan Carlos Amorós.

“We are incredibly excited to have two exceptional talents like Rose and Emily join the club,” Gotham general manager Yael Averbuch West said. “Rose is a crafty and entertaining player, and our fans and club will be very excited to watch her at Red Bull Arena, and Sonnett is a true professional and competitor, who understands what success in the league looks like. The club and our fans are extremely excited to have players of their stature as we build upon the success of last season.”  

The signings coincide with a Thursday morning announcement by the NWSL that the 2024 salary cap will be $2.75 million, almost doubling teams’ operating budgets from last year. The league is also slowly doing away with allocation money, which limited the flow and usage of funds despite not counting towards a team’s salary cap.

For fans trying to understand how Gotham could possibly afford to bring in four of the biggest stars in the league, the salary cap increase alongside a few big player departures might prove to be a big part of the puzzle. World Cup champion center-back Ali Krieger has retired, and star midfielder Kristie Mewis recently finalized a transfer to West Ham United in the WSL, with an immediate severing of her contract at Gotham. 

It’s possible that Dunn could slot into Mewis’s role, or the team will rethink the midfield with Lavelle as the primary playmaker and Sonnett as a defensive midfielder. 

Long, who most recently came off the bench in a No. 6 role, is currently an unrestricted free agent out of contract with the team, as well as veteran midfielder McCall Zerboni.

Davidson will likely replace Krieger at center-back, who retired at the end of 2023. She’ll slot into a backline that includes 2023 NWSL Rookie of the Year Jenna Nighswonger, rising Brazilian talent Bruninha, and Spanish international Maitane López.

No matter how Gotham lines up on the field in 2024, all four signings should be considered a historic high in the league’s young history with free agency, only in its second year. The era of the NWSL superteam might be upon us, and all roads are leading to New York.

The 2025 NWSL Championship claimed a major viewership milestone on Saturday, as Gotham FC's 1-0 title win over the Washington Spirit became the first-ever league match to record an average of more than one million viewers.

The CBS evening broadcast averaged an impressive 1.184 million fans and peaked at 1.55 million viewers, making it the most-watched NWSL match of all time.

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The 2025 final marked a 22% viewership increase over the 967,900 fans who watched 2024's Orlando Pride victory — the previous NWSL viewership record-holder — and a 45% ratings gain over Gotham's 2023 championship win, which averaged 816,800 viewers.

Saturday's gains both matched the 22% viewership increase the NWSL regular season saw this year and also far exceeded the 2025 postseason's pre-final year-over-year increase of 5%.

Calling the one-million viewer mark "an extraordinary achievement" in Tuesday's league statement, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman also noted that the "record-setting audience demonstrates the deepening connection fans have with our players, our clubs, and the world-class competition on the field, and it underscores the growing demand for women's soccer on the biggest stages."

"We're incredibly proud of what this moment represents for the NWSL and for everyone who continues to invest in and believe in the future of our game," Berman added.

Incoming offseason league Project B scored more major WNBA signings this week, as the upstart venture continues stacking its roster ahead of a planned November 2026 launch.

Indiana Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham have both publicly signed on with Project B, joining already announced talent like Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike and Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones, and Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd.

Also inking deals to join the inaugural season of Project B are Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün, and Li Meng, a former Washington Mystics guard and current player in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association.

The multi-continent, Formula One-style traveling tournament circuit will ultimately sign 66 international stars, as Project B looks to field six 11-player teams in its debut 2026/2027 campaign.

Project B player signings will undoubtedly impact other offseason leagues like Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited, but the new venture is also looming large over the ongoing WNBA CBA talks.

With negotiations racing toward this Sunday's extended deadline, Project B is putting WNBA compensation offerings under increased pressure, as the new league is reportedly anteing up multimillion-dollar salaries to its signees — far exceeding the 2025 WNBA maximum as well as the $1.1 million-max currently on the negotiating table.

World No. 1 Spain will take aim at a second-straight UEFA Nations League title this week, as La Roja take on No. 5 Germany in the first leg of the 2025 tournament's final at 2:30 PM ET on Friday.

The defending Nations League champions booked their spot in the 2025 final by dismantling No. 3 Sweden 5-0 on aggregate in the semifinal round, while Germany advanced after a tense 3-2 aggregate win over No. 6 France.

Germany must also contend with availability issues during Friday's match, as 28-year-old Bayern Munich forward and senior national team leading scorer Lea Schüller will be out due to family reasons.

To overcome that disadvantage, German head coach Christian Wück is reinforcing the team's back line, adding Athletic Bilbao defender Bibi Schulze Solano to the roster on Wednesday.

Also aiming to shut down Spain's offensive firepower on Friday is new NWSL champion goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who joined her German compatriots late following Gotham FC's title celebrations in New York this week.

While Spain and Germany will contend for the 2025 Nations League trophy this week, the pair — along with ousted semifinalists Sweden and France — have already booked spots in the top group of teams battling for tickets to the 2027 World Cup, with UEFA qualifying set to begin in 2026.

A full 19 months removed from their back-to-back Final Four runs, No. 11 Iowa basketball refuses to go away, with the Hawkeyes already notching one Top-25 win in the young 2025/26 NCAA campaign so far.

The still-unbeaten Hawkeyes took down No. 15 Baylor 57-52 last Thursday, with Iowa starting post players Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden combining for 28 points while guard Taylor Stremlow added another 12 off the bench in the marquee win.

"We have nice pieces," said Iowa head coach Jan Jensen this week. "But it's knowing when to play which pieces and with whom, and we're six games in."

The Hawkeyes have been finding their new identity under Jensen after a transformative period saw Iowa's longtime head coach Lisa Bluder retire while superstar guard Caitlin Clark joined the WNBA.

"Jan's been amazing," Stuelke told JWS at the Big Ten Media Day in October. "She stepped up like she needed to, and she's been growing every day since she's been the head coach, which it's really cool to see she cares. And it's a great environment for all of us."

"I have a year under my belt," Jensen echoed. "I know what this chair feels like now, and I have a little better of understanding of what that first road trip feels like, what that first big win feels like, or the tough loss feels like."

Iowa's season heats up with a ranked rivalry matchup against No. 10 Iowa State on Wednesday, December 10th.

The state rivals will tip off at 7 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.