The sideline is the new runway in the NWSL.

Players throughout the league aren’t messing around with pregame fashion this season. While the idea of gameday fits isn’t necessarily new, the range of the players’ styles has reached new levels this year.

Gotham FC has been at the forefront of the movement. To give you a better understanding of what goes into each player’s fashion choices, we’ll be highlighting the fits from every Gotham home game for the rest of the 2021 season.

Welcome to the very first issue of The Net Gala.

Mandy Freeman

Sustain a knee injury, but make it ✨ fashion ✨. Freeman has been bringing it each and every week, so it’s only fitting that she was able to turn her mobility cane into the hottest in-season accessory.

Top: Vintage — JNCO Jeans 

Pants: Thrifted 

Boots: Ganni

Cane: Hackensack University Medical

Midge Purce

The shades and tank are mandatory in New Jersey’s summer heat, but the purse lets everyone know Purce is all business.

Bag: Dagne Dover

Paige Monaghan

Stripes over checks and a little black dress. Balllllller.

Sunglasses: Quay

Earrings: Mejuri

Necklace: “P initial” David Von

Necklace (Herringbone): Madewell

Dress: Abercrombie & Fitch

Shoes: Adidas

Imani Dorsey

All about those neutrals. Dorsey’s monochromatic game is unmatched — just look at the matching bucket and high-waisted cropped jean combo. 🔥

Hat: Adidas

Shoes: Adidas

Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Tank: Zara

Pants: Zara

Estelle Johnson

“They act like two legends cannot coexist.” — Estelle Johnson while rocking the throwback Crystal Dunn jersey.

Boots: Doc Martens

Jeans: Pistola

Kit: Game-worn Crystal Dunn Jersey

Sunglasses: Amazon

Bucket Hat: Burberry

Caprice Dydasco

The floral top with a flowy silhouette is a whole vibe.

Top: Scotch and Soda 

Pants: Zara

Shoes: Golden Goose

Bag: Marc Jacobs

Ify Onumonu

Knit fits>>>>

Pants: & other stories 

Top: & other stories

Shoes: Clark’s

Domi Richardson

Richardson hails from California, so it’s only right she brought a taste of the West Coast to the Garden State.

Crop top and Button down: H&M

Shorts: Zara

Bag: Zara

Shoes: Steve Madden

Nicole Baxter

A message to the h8rs and a shoutout from the 🐐 — Baxter wins the week, month and year.

Top: Chnge – Women Don’t Owe you Shit

Big-name roster cuts dominated the WNBA headlines on Wednesday, with teams scrambling to meet the league's size and salary cap requirements before Friday's 2025 season tip-off.

The Golden State Valkyries, Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream, Washington Mystics, and Dallas Wings announced finalized rosters, leaving a handful of teams still weighing their options as the clock ticks down.

Expansion side Golden State caused the most Wednesday commotion, dropping 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella story Kaitlyn Chen (UConn) and 2023 No. 8 overall draft pick Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina), among other cuts, after initially waiving this year's No. 17 overall pick Shyanne Sellers (Maryland) last week.

With this year's No. 5 overall pick Justė Jocytė (Lithuania) choosing to remain overseas for this summer's EuroBasket, the Valkyries will now make their WNBA debut without a single 2025 draftee.

The South Carolina alum scored 20 points in her preseason debut for the Valkyries and was selected 8th overall by the Dream in the 2023 Draft. pic.twitter.com/JNQVpP1twS

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 14, 2025

2023 WNBA Draft Class takes a hit

The hits kept coming for the 2023 WNBA Draft class, as Atlanta's No. 6 overall pick Haley Jones (Stanford) and Minnesota's No. 7 selectee Grace Berger (Indiana) joined Amihere on the league's cutting room floor on Wednesday — leaving only five 2023 first-rounders currently on WNBA rosters.

On the flip side, the Connecticut Sun dropped 30-year-old guard Diamond DeShields on Thursday morning — just three months after signing the 2021 WNBA champion.

Ultimately, rookies, mid-career players, and veterans alike are on the chopping block this week, with teams showing little mercy for fan favorites as they hone in on what promises to be a highly competitive 2025 WNBA season.

The NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) is advocating for an immediate change in protocol in the name of player safety, with the union voicing concerns about the handling of Angel City defender Savy King's mid-match medical event last Friday.

Following current league guidelines, the game between the LA club and the Utah Royals resumed play on Friday, picking up where they left off after King's on-pitch collapse required nearly 10 minutes of life-saving intervention from medical staff.

Amid a crowd of visibly distressed players and coaches, paramedics rushed King to an area hospital, with the 20-year-old later undergoing successful surgery to fix a previously undetected heart abnormality.

"These moments demand humanity, sound judgment, and restraint," the NWSLPA posted on Wednesday. "Any medical emergency that requires the administration of life-saving care should bring play to an end. The match should not have continued."

"Our members are elite, world-class competitors who have proven they can perform under unimaginable conditions. That does not mean they should have to," the statement continued.

"Incidents of this severity must prioritize our collective humanity and should automatically trigger suspension of the match. The Players Association is committed to making this the standard in [the] NWSL."

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NWSL player safety again takes center-pitch

As the NWSL braces for rapid expansion, the NWSLPA remains laser-focused on ensuring player safety never takes a backseat, both on and off the field.

That priority was mirrored in the league's own Wednesday post.

Shortly before the NWSLPA's statement hit feeds, the NWSL issued its own statement, saying "Player Safety is paramount to the NWSL. The seriousness of this incident requires a deliberate process that is careful and methodical. That process is underway and will include necessary revisions that prioritize the consideration of player, staff, and fan well-being."

The lack of an instant protocol change doesn't sit well with NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke.

After reviewing the league's post, Burke told Front Office Sports "The reality is these decisions are made in real time. A decision needed to be made last Friday night.... Five days later, they still [haven't] decided whether or not this game should have been suspended." 

"This is a human issue. The right thing to do was to call this game. It doesn't take this long to realize that."

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is Chelsea FC's newest owner, with the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams reportedly dropping £20 million ($26.6 million) on a 10% stake in the WSL champions earlier this week.

Ohanian is no stranger to investing in women's sports, from launching Angel City as the 2022 NWSL expansion club's majority owner to last year's founding of Athlos NYC, an annual women's track and field event with a $663,000 purse.

"I've bet big on women's sports before — and I'm doing it again," Ohanian posted on social media on Wednesday. "I'm proud to announce that I'm joining @ChelseaFCW as an investor and board member. I'm honored for the chance to help this iconic club become America's favorite @BarclaysWSL team and much, much more."

"These players are rewriting the game. Undefeated season. Eyes on the treble," said Ohanian about Chelsea FC's historic 2024/25 success. "But this isn't just about winning titles. It's about finally matching their talent with the resources, visibility, and respect they deserve."

Ohanian's investment comes amid soaring valuations for women's pro teams — with Chelsea's $257 million price tag ranking as the highest in all of women's soccer.

Calling Ohanian's buy-in "game-changing," Blues manager Sonia Bompastor told reporters on Thursday that "It's really important for the women's game but also for England to have someone to invest in a team like Chelsea."

"We want to be the leaders," she continued. "We want to be the team who shows to every other team how you need to perform and how you need to invest in the women's game."

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Women's clubs still successful after splitting with men's teams

Ohanian's investment also indicates Chelsea's commitment to further distancing their women's team operations from their men's side, following last June's ownership move to place the women's squad under an independent subsidiary.

Though most European women's teams remain closely affiliated with their men's counterparts, severing ties is on the rise, with US billionaire Michele Kang assuming majority ownership over women's clubs Olympique Lyonnais and the newly promoted London City Lionesses in recent years.

With skyrocketing revenue — plus Kang's fleet proving that independence benefits women's teams — expect to see even more US investors eyeing women's sports opportunities abroad.

FIFA is setting a new goal for the Women's World Cup, with organization president Gianni Infantino stating this week that the governing body is aiming to generate $1 billion in revenue from the international championship tournament.

"Women's football and women in football are crucially important," Infantino said at the 2025 Saudi Arabia/US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.

"It's growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting [growth] as well to have $1 billion revenue just with the Women's World Cup to reinvest in the women's game."

The public push to hit the billion-dollar mark comes after the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand became the first edition of the tournament to break even, generating a revenue total over $570 million.

The 2027 World Cup will take place in Brazil, becoming the first iteration ever held in South America, while the US — as the only bid on the table — has a near-guaranteed lock on hosting the 2031 edition.

As FIFA takes aim at its $1 billion target for the 2027 tournament, the 2031 World Cup could have a leg up in the revenue game, with FIFA expanding the competition's field from 32 to 48 teams just last week.

Consequently, that 16-team increase boosts the total matches from 64 in 2027 to 104 in the 2031, instantly creating 62.5% more inventory — a move that could help meet or potentially exceed FIFA's bold new revenue goal.