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Mark Parsons, Netherlands part ways following disappointing Euros

(Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Mark Parsons is no longer manager of the Netherlands women’s national team after the two sides agreed to part ways.

The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) confirmed Parsons’ departure Wednesday in a statement. The news comes after the squad was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the UEFA Women’s Euro in July. The Netherlands had entered the tournament as the defending champion.

According to the KNVB, the two sides came to the joint decision after a review of Parsons’ performance revealed there wasn’t enough confidence in the coach.

“In the run-up to and at the European Championship, both the games shown and the results were disappointing and we cannot afford that,” KNVB board member Jan Dirk van der Zee said. “The bar is high.

“The Netherlands was defending champion and also a finalist at the last World Cup, we want to participate for the prizes… The group came from an incredibly strong period and supplemented with young players, the team had to lay the foundation for new successes. Mark has managed to scout new talents and give them a chance in this interim phase and we are grateful to him for that. We wish him every success in his further career.”

After finishing second in Group C behind Sweden, the team lost to France in the quarterfinals. That game marked the return of star forward Vivianne Miedema, who had been out due to COVID-19 protocol. In a recent column for AD Sport, Miedema detailed how difficult the Euros were for her.

“It was a very difficult European Championship for me. I still haven’t processed everything. My expectations were high, I felt good, but then I got corona,” wrote Miedema, detailing how she laid in bed with a fever for nine days.

“I played 120 minutes against France, I have no idea how I did that,” she continued. “I was going to be substituted, but then we were 1-0 behind and we had to score.”

While recognizing that the tournament was a disappointment for the defending champions, she also highlighted the play of those like Daphne Domselaar, who stepped in when Sari van Veenendaal went down with an injury. The team was also missing Lieke Martens due to injury.

The issues with Parsons, though, seemingly run deeper than the Euros run. When Danielle van de Donk was asked after the Euros loss what she had learned with Parsons at the helm, she said she would “think about that.”

Parsons was announced as the successor to Sarina Wiegman in May 2021 after she departed to manage England. Wiegman led the Lionesses to the Euros title at this year’s tournament. Parsons joined the Netherlands from the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, where he had coached for five years.

He also spent time with the Washington Spirit, D.C. United and Chelsea Reserves.

Parsons released a statement Wednesday saying that it was a “privilege” to coach the Netherlands.

“I want you to know that I always worked with one goal in mind and that is to help this team move forward,” he added. “I truly wish to have achieved better results for you.

“This has been a very challenging 12 months but I remain honored I have had the chance to work with these players and KNVB. I wish you all the best and good luck for September’s qualifier. I will be cheering you all on from afar.”

The Netherlands sits atop Group C in UEFA World Cup qualifying with a two-point lead over Iceland. The two will meet in a match on Sept. 6, and Netherlands could secure a World Cup spot with a win.

2025 WNBA Season Shatters 23-Year-Old Attendance Record with Dozens of Games Still to Play

Golden State Valkyrie fans cheer during a 2025 WNBA game.
2025 WNBA expansion side Golden State has played in front of multiple sold-out crowds this season. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

One full month before then end of the 2025 regular season, the WNBA shattered its overall attendance record, with Front Office Sports reporting that the league topped the 2.43 million fan mark last Friday.

The WNBA has sailed past the previous season-high attendance of 2.36 million set in 2002. Even more, it surpassed the record in 41 fewer games than the entire 2002 season, claiming the new mark in a total of 215 games.

Leading the attendance charge are the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries, the No. 6 Indiana Fever, and the No. 2 New York Liberty. Both the Valks and the Fever passed the 300,000 total this week, with the reigning champion Liberty guaranteed to hit that mark on Thursday night.

Though the clamor to see the Fever is not a surprise, 2025 expansion team Golden State is somewhat unexpectedly topping the WNBA demand this season, continuing to break records by selling out every one of the Valkyries' 17 home games so far — fully packing San Francisco's Chase Center to its 18,064-seat capacity.

While this year's additional franchise plus the expanded 44-game schedule would be enough added inventory to significantly boost the league's attendance totals, overall demand is also driving the new record, with the WNBA logging a record-setting 11,000 additional fans per game throughout the 2025 campaign so far.

With 59 games still left on the 2025 regular-season docket, expect a banner year for the still-expanding league, as the WNBA is currently on track to blast through the 3 million attendance mark.

Paige Bueckers Ties WNBA Record in Rookie of the Year Dallas Wings Performance

LA Sparks guard Rae Burrell gives chase as Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers drives to the basket during a 2025 WNBA game.
Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers scored a career-high 44 points against the LA Sparks on Wednesday. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dallas star Paige Bueckers all but slammed the door on the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year race on Wednesday, tying basketball legend Cynthia Cooper's 1997 single-game rookie scoring record by dropping a career-high 44 points in the No. 11 Wings' narrow 81-80 loss to the No. 9 LA Sparks.

Despite the Sparks officially eliminating the Wings from playoff contention, Bueckers's efficiency was on full display, tallying the highest single-game performance by any player in the league this season while shooting over 80% from the field.

"People have [seen] the struggles — the injuries, the ups and downs," Bueckers said afterwards. "For people to continue to follow me and still believe in me, it really means a lot."

The 2025 No. 1 overall draftee leads a rookie class thriving in the pros, with the No. 10 Washington Mystics' Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen and the No. 13 Connecticut Sun's Saniya Rivers hot on Bueckers's heels.

On the WNBA stat sheet, Bueckers currently sits fifth overall in points per game and ninth in assists per game, while Iriafen is fourth in rebounds per game and Citron — who recently set a new Mystics rookie scoring record with 537 career points — is fifth overall in clutch points.

Despite the Sun's struggles, Rivers has excelled defensively, becoming the fastest-ever WNBA player to record 30 career blocks by doing so in just 31 games.

Ultimately, while Sparks guard Kelsey Plum's game-winning buzzer-beater ended Bueckers's postseason dreams on Wednesday night, the rookie's heroics continue to shine with the WNBA's end-of-season awards fast approaching.

New York Shoots for Consistency as Liberty Host Chicago Sky

Natasha Cloud and Kennedy Burke celebrate a game-clinching three-point shot from their New York Liberty teammate Sabrina Ionescu.
The New York Liberty can hold fast to the No. 2 spot with a win over the No. 12 Chicago Sky on Thursday night. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Coming off Tuesday's 85-75 momentum-grabbing win over the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, the No. 2 New York Liberty will shoot to maintain late-season consistency against the now-eliminated No. 12 Chicago Sky in Thursday's WNBA slate.

Tied with the No. 3 Atlanta Dream at 22-13 on the year, the Liberty could benefit from the lopsided Thursday matchup, potentially adding space above Atlanta in the WNBA standings considering the Dream face an uphill battle against a motivated Lynx side.

"We're focused on the next nine games," New York head coach Sandy Brondello said following Tuesday's victory. "It's all about focusing on us and getting as high a position as we can in the standings."

The reigning champs still have work to do, however, with recent weeks seeing the Liberty post the second-worst 10-game record for any team above the playoff line — complete with three losses to their 2024 WNBA Finals rival Minnesota.

As for Chicago, the Sky are now focused on the future, bolstered by star forward Angel Reese's return from injury as they continue to build under first-year coach Tyler Marsh's system.

"I want to hoop," Reese said earlier this week. "I'm just happy to be out here to play the game I love."

How to watch Chicago Sky vs. New York Liberty in Thursday's WNBA slate

The No. 2 Liberty will host the No. 12 Sky at 7 PM ET on Thursday, tipping off live on Prime.

WNBA Drops Schedule for 2025 Playoffs, Expands Finals to Best-of-Seven Series

The 2024 WNBA Championship Trophy sits bathed in the New York Liberty's signature seafoam green light.
The 2025 WNBA Playoffs will begin on September 14th. (Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images)

As the regular season winds down, the WNBA announced this year's postseason schedule on Wednesday, with the 2025 Playoffs officially tipping off on September 14th.

The latest possible finish for the 2025 WNBA Finals is October 17th, with three rounds of play standing between the eight-team postseason field and this year's championship trophy.

Notably, the WNBA is instituting two main changes to its previous Playoffs format in the 2025 schedule.

The postseason's first round — a best-of-three series — will shift from the WNBA's home-home-away format, in which the higher seeds could sweep at home, to a one-one-one structure.

With this change, the league is guaranteeing that every playoff team will host at least one home game.

Additionally, while the best-of-five semifinals will remain the same with its two-two-one hosting structure, the 2025 WNBA Finals will be the first to expand to a best-of-seven series, feeding fans' growing appetite for additional postseason clashes and offering upwards of four title-deciding matchups.

This new Finals format will see the higher seed host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7, giving each team a possible two opportunities to clinch the 2025 championship in front of a home crowd.

All games in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs will air on ESPN platforms, with matchups across ESPN2, ESPN, and ABC.

Currently, the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx are the only team to clinch their 2025 postseason berth.

On the other hand, the No. 11 Dallas Wings, No. 12 Chicago Sky, and No. 13 Connecticut Sun were all recently eliminated from playoff contention.

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