Making her 2022 NWSL debut wasn’t the only thing U.S. women’s national team defender Becky Sauerbrunn was celebrating on Wednesday. Just as she was ready to return to the field for the Portland Thorns following a two-month recovery from knee surgery, the U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) announced a historic collective bargaining agreement Wednesday morning, guaranteeing equal pay for the men’s and women’s teams.

As USWNTPA president, Sauerbrunn has been an integral part of that journey, starting in 2016 when she and four teammates — Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo — filed a lawsuit against the USSF for gender inequity.

Now 36 years old, Sauerbrunn spent a lot of days wondering if an agreement would be reached while she was still playing.

“A lot of things had to come together and a lot of people had to work together,” Sauerbrunn said. “There were definitely days where I was wondering if it was going to happen sooner or later and luckily it happened sooner.”

History has been made….and It’s About Time. pic.twitter.com/lYYMDtgXav

— USWNT Players (@USWNTPlayers) May 18, 2022

The ratified CBAs, which will run through 2028, are the first in the world to include equal FIFA World Cup prize money for the men’s and women’s teams, long the sticking point in the USWNT players’ legal battle for equal pay. The teams will pool their respective bonuses from each World Cup and split it equally among them, a significant step considering how wide the gap in prize money is between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The groundbreaking accomplishment would not have been possible without the former USWNT players who negotiated the first CBA, demanded better playing facilities and fought for gender equity throughout the last three decades. The fight started in 1995, when a group including Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers and Kristine Lilly sat out of Olympic training in protest of their pay.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without all the generations of women’s national team players that came before that decided to fight for better everything,” Sauerbrunn saud. “So much credit needs to go to them, and I hope they feel pride in what they did because we wouldn’t be here without them.”

Orlando Pride coach Amanda Cromwell was training with the national team when players boycotted training camp in 1995. She was a young player fighting for her roster spot at the time.

Cromwell and Akers, now an assistant coach with the Pride, can fully appreciate the significance of Wednesday’s announcement, knowing where the group started 27 years ago. From the sideline of the Pride’s 2-1 win over the Courage on Wednesday night, Cromwell wore her “Equal Play” shirt, which she fortuitously brought with her to North Carolina without knowing the CBA would be announced while she was there.

“I love everything about it,” Cromwell said of the agreement. “It makes sense to have that kind of pay equity. It is a dream come true for all these players and the future of our sport is very bright, and I think we’re in good hands now with U.S. Soccer and the NWSL CBA. There’s a lot of positives happening in our country and around the world with our sport, and as a former national team player, I’m very thankful for that.”

USWNT and Gotham FC midfielder Midge Purce noted the non-economical parts of the agreement, like child care and safe work environments, as setting a standard for women in any workforce.

“I think it’s game-changing,” said U.S. national team defender Abby Dahlkemper. “It’s going to affect not only women’s soccer in the U.S., but throughout the whole world and will just continue to keep driving the standard and passing the torch down, and I think it’s exciting for the future generation.”

Part of that next generation is 21-year-old Sophia Smith, who has 15 caps and four goals so far with the USWNT and will get to reap the benefits of the CBA for years to come.

On Wednesday, she was filled with nothing but gratitude.

“I don’t think we can even begin to understand the hours that went into fighting for this, the players that came before us who have dedicated their lives to fighting for equal pay for not only themselves but for us and for the next generations that will benefit from it,” she said.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

An age-old rivalry headlines the WSL this weekend, as second-place Arsenal gears up for Sunday's Stamford Bridge showdown against league leaders — and reported recipient of USWNT star Naomi Girma — Chelsea FC.

Both clubs are on an undefeated tear, with Chelsea yet to register a loss halfway through the 22-match 2024/25 season.

Meanwhile, newly minted head coach Renée Slegers's Arsenal will attempt to avenge the Gunners' lone loss — a 2-1 October stumble to first-season WSL boss Sonia Bompastor's Blues.

Chelsea and Arsenal's dominance goes beyond the WSL, as both sides also advanced to the semifinals of the League Cup with massive shutout wins this past Wednesday.

Wright shines spotlight on WSL investment debate

A product of a system that often places men's and women's teams under the same leadership, Chelsea and Arsenal have set the standard for the top-flight UK league — and cast other clubs in their shadow.

As some WSL teams continue to snag top international stars, those seeing departures risk falling by the wayside — putting into question a system that might be inhibiting the league's growth and parity.

"In England, with the women's league, I believe if you gave some owners the opportunity to back out of supporting the women's game, I think they would, simply because I feel like they're all about profit," Arsenal legend and outspoken women's football advocate Ian Wright told The World Economic Forum in Davros this week.

Wright acknowledged that the women's game, which suffered from a near 50-year FA ban, is still "playing catch up on every level, infrastructure, training, coaching and every level of development."

"Because of the past it wasn't allowed to be built up, so we are trying to do that now. So, it needs owners, individuals and corporates that will invest."

Currently, the English FA is considering expanding the lower tiers of the women's football pyramid to incentivize development and professionalization at the club level.

How to watch WSL rivals Chelsea vs. Arsenal in the London Derby

Sunday's WSL rivalry match pits the league-leading Blues against the Gunners at 7:25 AM ET, with live coverage on ESPN2.

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball is back, as a second slate of weekend games shines a spotlight on the new league's three winless teams as they rally for redemption.

Phantom BC, Mist BC, and Rose BC are all 0-2 out of the gate, with the six-team league evenly divided between the undefeated and the winless after last week's debut.

At least one of the three will end up in the win column on Friday night, with the Mist and Phantom squaring off in the first game of the doubleheader.

Both lineups contain serious firepower, with Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart leading the Mist alongside sharpshooter Jewell Loyd, whose 20 points per game have her currently in fourth-place on the league's stat sheet. The Phantom boasts the talents of Sabrina Ionescu and Brittney Griner.

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While both have fallen victim to more cohesive game-plans, the Phantom in particular have struggled, posting a league-low average of 58.5 points per game to ultimately drop their first two outings by an average of 29 points.

Saturday's action sees Chelsea Gray and Angel Reese's Rose BC step into the spotlight, going up against a Mist team facing back-to-back matchups.

The Rose roster features two of the offseason league's top scorers in Gray and Kahleah Copper, who each averaged 14.5 points per game through Unrivaled's opening weekend. However, they'll need to lock in on defense to quiet Mist standout DiJonai Carrington's shooting in transition.

Friday's Unrivaled doubleheader tests undefeated teams

The second game of Friday's doubleheader flips the script as two teams put their undefeated starts on the line.

The Laces, led by Kayla McBride's 24.5 points per game, will take on a Vinyl side that rosters three of the league's Top 10 scorers — more than any other Unrivaled team. The trio of Rhyne Howard, Dearica Hamby, and Arike Ogunbowale are poised to cool the Laces' hot start.

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball games

Unrivaled's second weekend slate tips off on Friday with the Phantom vs. the Mist at 7:15 PM ET, before the Laces play the Vinyl at 8:15 PM ET. Live coverage of both games will air on TNT.

One of the NCAA's fiercest rivalries hits the hardwood on Friday, when undefeated No. 5 LSU travels to No. 2 South Carolina for yet another high-stakes SEC basketball battle.

Anticipation for the matchup has been building since Wednesday, when the NCAA postponed the game. Originally set for Thursday, winter weather disruptions in Louisiana delayed LSU's ability to safely travel to Columbia.

"It's a rivalry, it really is," newly re-signed South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley​ said earlier this week. "It's not only a rivalry between the programs on the floor, but it's a rivalry with the fanbases."

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A championship-fueled SEC basketball clash

With the last three national championships under their belts,​ LSU (2023) and South Carolina (2022, 2024) have seen WNBA superstars like Angel Reese and Aliyah Boston pass through their ranks.

This season's lot is just as talented, with LSU's Aneesah Morrow and Flau'jae Johnson preparing to lead the Tigers against the a dominant Gamecock defense anchored by team rebounds leader Chloe Kitts.

Coach Kim Mulkey's roster will have their work cut out for them in Columbia, where South Carolina is on a 68-game home winning streak. Even more, the Gamecocks haven't lost to the Tigers since January 2012, winning 16 consecutive meetings between the pair.

That said, while last year's South Carolina team ran the table on their way to a national title, LSU is one of just two Division I teams to still hold a perfect season. The Tigers' 20-0 record is the second-best start in program history, just below their 2022/23 team who strung together 23 wins before South Carolina handed them a first season loss.

If Staley's squad can do it again on Friday, they'll earn an eighth victory over currently ranked teams — and third over a Top 10 roster — so far this season. Their lone loss came at the hands of No. 1 UCLA, the only other program still holding an undefeated record.

On the other hand, LSU has just two victories over ranked teams so far, with Friday's matchup marking their first Top 10 test of the season.

How to watch LSU vs. South Carolina college basketball

LSU tips off against South Carolina at 5 PM ET on Friday, airing live on ESPN.

Friday's Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball debut was an unequivocal success for TV partner TNT Sports, as the new offseason 3x3 league's opening lineup became the most-watched women's basketball games in the broadcast network's history.

The doubleheader logged viewership averages of 313,000 and 311,000, respectively, with the first game peaking at 364,000.

Notably, these numbers do not include viewers on Max, where every Unrivaled game is available to stream live under the league's six-year, $100 million media deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

In 2022, WNBA games averaged 372,000 viewers across Disney networks, with the league later surpassing 500,000 across ABC, ESPN, and CBS in 2023 before reaching a 1.19 million average on ESPN in 2024.

Unlike the well-established WNBA, which is on the cusp of entering its 29th year, Unrivaled is a new-look product in its first-ever season. With that in mind, Unrivaled's initial numbers are promising, particularly for a league that's prioritizing long-term wins over instant gratification.

"I think we put ourselves in a great position to be successful right away, but it’s a marathon,"  league president Alex Bazzell told The Athletic before Unrivaled’s launch. "We’re not running out there from Day 1 trying to get millions of viewers out of the gate."

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One piece of the Unrivaled fan engagement puzzle

Viewership is just one way the league is measuring fan engagement, with Unrivaled also turning an eye toward social media metrics.

"[Viewership is] not fully indicative of what is the overall fan interest because there’s so many ways to consume leagues and teams and highlights," noted Bazzell.

It's one reason that partnering with WBD was so appealing to the new league. The media giant's already robust sports social media channels are elevating Unrivaled content across platforms to an established, sports-hungry audience.

To that end, Unrivaled’s opening weekend content garnered 31 million views across WBD’s social channels and fueled a 59% viewership boost of the media giant's women's sports-specific TikTok account.