The NWSL lit up the baseball diamond on Saturday, claiming a new attendance record as the No. 2 Washington Spirit defeated No. 12 Bay FC 3-2 in MLB's Oracle Park in San Francisco.
The 40,091-strong crowd not only shattered the prior NWSL record, when 35,038 fans watched Bay beat Chicago inside Wrigley Field in June 2024, Saturday also set a new attendance mark across all US professional women's sports leagues.
"The players deserve it. They've worked so hard and this league has come such a long way," Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya said following the historic loss. "When you get football like that, I think every single person that watched that game can leave and say 'Hey, I'd do this again,' because it was entertaining. It was good quality football all around."
The victory marked the Spirit's sixth road win this season, as Washington climbs the table behind midfielder Croix Bethune's first goal of 2025 — and forward Trinity Rodman's first start since April.
"The atmosphere was fantastic," Spirit manager Adrián González said. "The setup, the fans, and having the opportunity to have an experience like this, I think, is just something unique."
Washington now sits 12 points behind league-leaders Kansas City, while just six points separate the Spirit from No. 7 Racing Louisville in an increasingly congested top of the NWSL standings.
Following the NWSL attendance record set by Chicago at the historic Wrigley Field in June 2024, Bay FC will gear up to best the Stars' title during this weekend's clash inside another MLB stadium — the San Francisco Giants' Oracle Park.
With over 35,000 tickets already sold, Bay will officially claim the league's single-game attendance record when the No. 11 NWSL club hosts the No. 4 Washington Spirit on Saturday, topping the 35,038 fans who showed up in Chicago last summer.
With a capacity of 40,260 seats, Saturday's match could significantly surpass that June 2024 mark.
The game will also set the attendance record for all US professional women's sports leagues.
"This is a landmark moment not just for Bay FC or the NWSL, but for the future of women's professional sports in the United States," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a statement. "Breaking the league's single-match attendance record at a venue as iconic as Oracle Park is a testament to the growing demand, passion, and momentum behind our league."
Reflecting the continued growth of the NWSL, the six most-attended matches in league history have occurred in the last four seasons, with markets like San Diego, Seattle, and Chicago all reaching new heights.
"This is about more than just a match, it is about pushing boundaries and creating something bigger than ourselves," noted Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart. "Everyone who is at Oracle Park [on] Saturday has the chance to be part of history and together show the world what's possible in women's sports."
The No. 5 Portland Thorns snagged another result over the weekend, grabbing a point off a 1-1 Saturday draw with the No. 9 North Carolina Courage to further solidify their spot on the NWSL table.
Midfielder Olivia Moultrie opened scoring with a first-half bullet to put Portland up 1-0, before Courage forward Tyler Lussi equalized with a 70th-minute strike.
With her 13th career goal on Saturday, 19-year-old Moultrie became the NWSL's joint-leader in regular-season goals scored by a teenager — sharing the all-time record with North Carolina attacker Jaedyn Shaw.
The Portland Thorns are currently making a case for the league's "best of the rest," after Saturday NWSL action saw the San Diego Wave rocket up the table to No. 2 with a 2-1 win over No. 11 Bay FC while the No. 1 Kansas City Current and now-No. 3 Orlando Pride ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
Despite losing veteran anchors Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Meghan Klingenberg to retirement and USWNT star Sophia Wilson to maternity leave, Portland has figured out how to generate new offensive opportunities via young talent like forwards Reilyn Turner and Pietra Tordin.
More experienced midfielders like Moultrie and Sam Coffey are also contributing, with Coffey scoring her second season goal on August 10th to match her entire 2024 total.
As for North Carolina, the questions continue for the Courage as they struggle to stack results amid the abrupt sacking of head coach Sean Nahas earlier this month.
According to a statement released after the Courage's August 8th loss to the then-No. 12 Houston Dash, Nahas was removed due to "confounding performance issues, culture issues, and a perceived lack of fit that created an environment that club leadership felt was untenable to the point that change was necessary at the head coaching position."
How to watch Monday's NWSL match
In a rare Monday matchup, the NWSL's 16th matchday will wrap with the No. 6 Seattle Reign hosting the No. 13 Chicago Stars — with a Reign win sending Seattle above Portland to No. 5 on the NWSL table.
Live coverage of the 10 PM ET match will air on CBS Sports Network.
Incoming 2026 NWSL expansion team Boston Legacy FC is making big moves, with two key Monday announcements shoring up the club's place in the larger New England sports ecosystem.
Buying into the Legacy on Monday was Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston, with the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year investing in the club after playing high school ball at Massachusetts's Worcester Academy.
"I'm proud to join the ownership group of the Boston Legacy. This city helped raise me, and the support I felt here shaped so much of who I am," the three-time WNBA All-Star said in a club statement. "And yes... Boston repping Boston just felt right!"
With her investment, Boston joins a growing roster of current and former WNBA stars buying into the NWSL, including Angel City investor Candace Parker, Bay FC advisor Sabrina Ionescu, and Gotham FC minority owner Sue Bird.
Along with their famous new investor, the Legacy also revealed plans on Monday to construct a privately funded, $27 million purpose-built team performance center in nearby Brockton, Massachusetts.
Slated to open prior to the 2026 preseason, the center boasts a fully outfitted 30,000 square-foot training building, a bubble dome for year-round practice, and six fields of various surfaces — some of which will be available to youth teams in the community.
"Competing at the highest level demands an environment that elevates every aspect of performance — and this new facility is a major step forward in how we support our players every single day," said Legacy controlling owner Jennifer Epstein.
A couple of those incoming players were announced earlier this month, as the Legacy welcomed Bundesliga free agent and midfielder Annie Karich as the team's first signee before inking French Première Ligue forward Aïssata Traoré — the first-ever NWSL player from Mali — late last week.
Liverpool FC attacker Olivia Smith is on track to become the new highest-value player in women's soccer, as the 20-year-old Canadian reportedly nears a record-breaking deal to transfer to reigning Champions League winners Arsenal.
Smith will be making the Arsenal move for a reported transfer fee of £1 million ($1.4 million), breaking the $1.1 million record set by USWNT center back Naomi Girma's transfer to Chelsea earlier this year.
The young forward first landed in Liverpool in July 2024, joining the WSL following a breakout first pro season with Portugal's Sporting CP, where she led the team with 13 goals and earned the league's 2023/24 Player of the Year title.
With seven goals in 20 appearances in her 2024/25 debut WSL campaign, Smith's scoring accounted for almost one-third of Liverpool's 22 total goals on the season.
Arsenal's willingness to ante up to roster Smith is indicative of the women's game's rising transfer fees.
Prior to Girma's big move, the NWSL's Bay FC owned the transfer fee record, having shelled out a reported $860,000 to sign Zambia forward Rachael Kundananji from Spain's Madrid CFF in February 2024.
Smith's transfer indicates a new willingness to spend at the highest levels of women's soccer — as well as Arsenal's ambition to remain at the top of the sport.
The NWSL released the results of an independent investigation into Albertin Montoya on Tuesday, addressing accusations lodged earlier this year that the Bay FC head coach fostered a toxic work environment.
Launched in March, the NWSL investigation concluded that Montoya did not violate the league's anti-harassment, -discrimination, and -bullying policy, while also finding that "there were shortcomings in Coach Montoya's communication style."
"The investigators made a series of recommendations to both Bay FC and the NWSL to facilitate more effective communication and enhance support structures, which the NWSL, Bay FC, and Coach Montoya have taken, and are continuing to take, to address such concerns," read the press release.
"We are grateful the League has identified opportunities for additional communication improvements which we are, and have been, implementing," said Bay FC in a separate statement. "We strive to be a player-centric club and will continue to work hard to make sure we have a supportive environment for our players and staff."
This past offseason, the club added two full-time player care and development staff to both address concerns and institute better systems of communication and support between players and coaching staff.
Additional check-ins between athletes and staff members have increased as a result.
Montoya now has weekly executive coaching sessions, plus regular meetings with the team captains as well as consistent updates from the club's mental performance coach.
"Thank you to the league and everyone involved in this process," Montoya told reporters on Tuesday, saying that he "learned from it."
"The fact that certain individuals felt a certain way and I made them feel uncomfortable has been hard on me because that's the last thing I ever tried to do," Montoya added.
The NWSL is already making a splash at this year's Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), with three of the league's top scorers stealing the spotlight following the 2025 tournament's July 5th kick-off.
Zambia forwards Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride) and Racheal Kundananji (Bay FC) both found the back of the net in their national team's group-stage debut against host country Morocco, helping the Copper Queens earn an opening point in the 2-2 Saturday draw.
Banda struck first, notching the tournament's first goal with one of her signature long-range strikes in the first minute of the match, before Kundananji answered Morocco's 12th-minute penalty equalizer with a Banda-assisted 27th minute goal of her own.
Notably, the NWSL is powering Zambia's entire front line, as Banda's Pride teammates, Grace Chanda and Prisca Chilufya, joined the scorers in leading the Copper Queens' Saturday attack.
Then on Sunday, Kundananji's Bay FC teammate Asisat Oshoala wrote her name on the 2025 WAFCON scoresheet, registering Nigeria's first tournament goal by heading the ball past Tunisia goalkeeper Salima Jobrani in the fourth minute of the match.
With Houston Dash defender Michelle Alozie helping hold down their back line, the Super Falcons opened their WAFCON account with a 3-0 win.
How to watch NWSL stars at 2025 WAFCON
WAFCON action revs back up when the second matches of group play kick off on Wednesday, as the 12 2025 tournament teams all chase defending champions South Africa.
Zambia will hunt their first tournament victory against Senegal at 12 PM ET on Wednesday, before Nigeria looks to maintain their winning ways against Botswana at 3 PM ET on Thursday.
All 2025 WAFCON matches will air live on beIN Sports.
The 2025 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) kicks off late next week, as NWSL stars depart their clubs to join their national teams in the fight for continental glory.
Running from July 5th through the 26th, 12 teams from across Africa will feature at this year's tournament in Morocco, with defending champions South Africa looking to repeat.
One of the teams hoping to upend the Banyana Banyana's back-to-back prospects are Zambia's Copper Queens, captained by Orlando Pride striker and perennial MVP candidate Barbra Banda. The current NWSL leader in both shots and shots on target has eight goals in her club season so far, good for a second-place tie in the league's Golden Boot race.
Joining Banda on a Zambia side rich with attacking talent are Bay FC striker Rachael Kundananji and a pair of Banda's Pride teammates, midfielders Grace Chanda and Prisca Chilufya.
Other NWSL standouts making the trip include Ghana forwards Stella Nyamekye (Gotham FC) and Princess Marfo (Bay FC), as well as Nigeria striker Asisat Oshoala (Bay FC) and defender Michelle Alozie (Houston Dash).
Notably, the nine-time WAFCON champs opted to omit Washington Spirit forward Gift Monday from the Super Falcons' roster — a particularly surprising move considering Nigeria chose Oshoala, who has yet to record a goal or assist in 2025 NWSL play, and uncapped UConn junior forward Chioma Okafor over Monday and her red-hot form.
Calling it "a tough pill to swallow," Monday wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday that she harbors "no grudges, no resentment."
"I remain fully committed to cheering my country from home," Monday said, adding "To the incredible women who made the squad, go out there and make history."
"You carry the hopes of millions — including mine."
The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.
With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.
Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:
- No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.
- No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.
- No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.
The NWSL Championship is on its way back West, with the league announcing on Friday morning that the 2025 title match will kick off from PayPal Park in San Jose, California.
Hosted at the home pitch of 2024 expansion team Bay FC, the game will take place on Saturday, November 22nd.
In addition to the championship match, the 2025 NWSL season's final weekend will include a variety of supporting events like Fan Fest and the annual Skills Challenge competition.
"We're thrilled to bring the NWSL Championship back to the West Coast and to a region with as rich a history in women's soccer as the Bay Area," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a league statement.
Citing a long list of former USWNT stars with local ties, including Julie Foudy, Kelley O'Hara, and Alex Morgan, Bay FC co-founder Brandi Chastain — a US legend herself — called the Bay Area "the place women's soccer calls home."
"Our community's fabric is woven with the greatest the game has to offer," explained Chastain.
"This community's passion for the game, combined with the excitement surrounding one of our newest teams in Bay FC, makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the league's top talent and crown our next champion," said Berman.
How to attend and watch the 2025 NWSL Championship
Like last year, the 2025 NWSL Championship will air in primetime, with CBS set to broadcast the match live at 8 PM ET on November 22nd.
Tickets to the game will be available for purchase beginning in August, though interested fans can sign up for presale access online now.