Becky Sauerbrunn is returning to Portland.

The free agent re-signed with the Thorns on a one-year deal. In a statement, Sauerbrunn said she is “thrilled” to be staying in Portland.

“I’m thrilled to be continuing my career with the Thorns as we enter a new era for the club,” Sauerbrunn said. “And as we welcome new ownership and investment, I’m thankful for the opportunity to play for the city and supporters that have always made being a Thorn such an unrivaled experience.”

Her return comes after Christine Sinclair signed a one-year deal to remain with the club also through 2024. And it also comes after the Thorns were sold to RAJ Sports for $63 million, a company that is led by the Bhathal family, which also holds ownership stake in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

Sauerbrunn is an 11-year NWSL veteran who has established herself as one of the top defenders in the league. Four times she’s won Defender of the Year – a league best – with her most recent award coming in 2019. She’s also been named to the NWSL Best XI and Second XI a league-best eight times.

A three-time NWSL champion, she’s helped Portland to the 2020 NWSL community shield, the 2021 NWSL challenge cup, 2022 NWSL shield and 2022 NWSL championship. She’s one of just a few players in league history to have won every possible title.

She’s also a key member of the USWNT, having captained the team and helped them to the 2015 and 2019 World Cup titles, as well as one Olympic gold and one Olympic silver medal.

“We are delighted to be able to bring Becky back to Portland for this upcoming season, her leadership, on and off the field, her professionalism, and quality on the pitch will be paramount to what we are hoping to achieve this year as a team and in this new era as a club,” general manager Karina LeBlanc said in a statement.

Christine Sinclair has re-signed with the Portland Thorns, the club announced on Monday.

Sinclair, the world’s all-time leading international goalscorer, signed for just one more year. This comes after she retired from playing for the Canada women’s national team.

She’s one of just three active players in the NWSL to have played for the same team since the league launched in 2013.

“Are you ready for one more year, Portland?” Sinclair announced on social media, posing with the NWSL championship trophies she won in 2013, 2017 and 2022 with Portland.

Sinclair leads the Thorns with 62 goals – the third most in league history – and 176 appearances. She is owner of Portland’s first-ever goal, scored in a match against FC Kansas City on April 13, 2023.

“Sinc has been with this club from the beginning, she is the foundation with which Portland Thorns is built on, and as much as she is a part of the DNA of the Thorns, the Thorns are part of her DNA,” Portland general manager Karina LeBlanc said in a statement.

Jessie Fleming is headed to Portland, with the Canadian national set to join the Thorns after departing Chelsea FC.

The Telegraph’s Tom Garry first reported the news, writing that Fleming said farewell to her Chelsea teammates on Monday. Garry also reported that Fleming is “adored by everyone” at the club and is parting on “great terms.”

Fleming’s transfer fee is reportedly around £250,000, or about $316,000 USD. It’s a record number for the NWSL and makes her the most expensive signing ever made by an American women’s team.

Fleming is a winner, having helped Chelsea to three Women’s Super League titles, three women’s FA Cups and a League Cup. She also won Olympic gold with Canada in Tokyo in 2021, scoring in the final.

With the transfer fee, Garry reports that the WSL leaders are likely going to use it toward signing a striker. Their sights are set on Colombian forward Mayra Ramírez from Levante, which has already been reported in Spain.

Fleming joins Canadian national teammates Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie in Portland.

The Portland Thorns sale has officially gone through, with the Bhathal family acquiring the NWSL team from Merritt Paulson for a record $63 million, according to multiple outlets.

The Thorns announced the sale to RAJ Sports, led by siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who also own the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

According to The Athletic, Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as the team’s controlling owner and represent the Thorns on the NWSL board of governors. Alex Bhathal, her brother and business partner, will serve as alternate governor.

The group has committed to keeping the team in Portland, and will remain at Providence Park through 2035 as per their lease agreement.

“As fans ourselves, and as seasoned sports and real estate operators, we believe in the future of Portland and the NWSL, and in the tremendous opportunity that surrounds this iconic team,” Bhathal Merage said Wednesday. “We look forward to working with the Timbers throughout this transition and beyond to ensure the continued success of the Thorns at Providence Park.”

Additionally, the team will continue training at the Portland stadium as they await a new women’s practice facility, which the family has committed to building. According to The Athletic, their goal is to have “at least two” training fields, a training and performance center and office space.

Merritt Paulson put the Thorns up for sale in late 2022 amid allegations of abuse and misconduct both within the Thorns and the NWSL. A $1 million fine issued by the league to the Thorns in January 2023 has been paid as part of the purchase transaction.

Earlier this year, the Chicago Red Stars sold to a group led by Laura Ricketts for $35.5 million, while Michele Kang previously paid $35 million for the Washington Spirit, to help put the Thorns’ price in perspective.

Tierna Davidson is in advanced talks to sign with Gotham FC in NWSL free agency, The Equalizer’s Jenna Tonelli reported Tuesday.

Davidson, 25, is a star defender who has played for the Chicago Red Stars since 2019, when she was selected by the club with the No. 1 overall pick in the NWSL college draft.

A member of the 2019 World Cup-winning U.S. women’s national team, Davidson has made 51 international appearances. She also has made 61 appearances for Chicago since 2019.

Davidson becomes just the latest USWNT player to be linked to Gotham FC in free agency. Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett also reportedly are in advanced discussions to join the reigning NWSL champions, and Crystal Dunn has been linked to the club as well.

The addition of Davidson would make sense for Gotham FC given the retirement of 2023 NWSL Defender of the Year nominee and captain Ali Krieger.

Eighteen-year-old Olivia Moultrie impressed in her debut for the U.S. women’s national team in 3-0 win against China on Dec. 2.

Moultrie came on as a substitute in the 71st minute for Rose Lavelle, becoming the first player born in 2005 to earn a cap. She played the rest of the game in a midfield role behind young forwards Jaedyn Shaw, 19, and Mia Fishel, 22.

“Very, very pleased with Liv,” USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore said after the match. “I know I talked to her after the game, she was ecstatic, as you would imagine that she would be, but I think there’ll be greater moments for her to come.”

Moultrie started training with the Portland Thorns at 13 years old, and she officially signed with the NWSL club in 2021 at 15 years old following a legal battle over her right to play. Two years later, she registered one shot on target in her debut for the senior national team.

Kilgore praised Moultrie’s playmaking ability, going so far as to say that she wishes the squad would’ve gotten the ball to her more.

“I think she went in and occupied spaces really well,” Kilgore said. “I felt like we could have found her more and when we did find her I thought she was very good in combination and looking to play forward, tried some things, we asked her to be brave. She was brave. And I thought she was great at looking to regain the ball right away when other people lost the ball.”

And bravery is key when making an appearance for a national team at 18 years old. But as Kilgore said, Moultrie was brave, and she likely has a successful future ahead of her with the USWNT.

“One of the things I was able to get to her right before she went in, she’s obviously already been briefed tactically what we’re looking for, but just reminding her that I would not play her if she wasn’t ready,” Kilgore said. “She’s earned this and she did an incredible job going in and playing on both sides of the ball.”

Olivia Moultrie and Jenna Nighswonger made their debuts for the U.S. women’s national team in Saturday’s 3-0 win against China.

Moultrie, 18, and Nighswonger, 23, represent a growing youth movement for the USWNT. The roster for the December training camp underlined the changing of the guard, with several veteran stars receiving rest to provide the coaching staff with more chances to evaluate the next generation.

The NWSL Rookie of the Year, Nighswonger entered in the 62nd minute for Emily Fox. She received her first call-up ahead of the December friendlies after helping Gotham FC to the NWSL title.

“I keep repeating this word over and over again, but I’m just so grateful for everything this year, and I just feel so lucky to be surrounded by such great teammates that have helped me get here,” she said after the match.

Moultrie entered in the 71st minute for Rose Lavelle. The Portland Thorns midfielder becomes the second 18-year-old to debut for the USWNT in 2023, which marks the first time since 2005 that two players aged 18 or younger have made their USWNT debuts in the same year.

“I talked to her after the game. She was ecstatic, as you would imagine that she would be, but I think there’ll be no greater moments for her to come,” interim head coach Twila Kilgore said after the win.

The trend toward younger players also came through in the goals scored by the USWNT, with Trinity Rodman, 21, scoring one goal and assisting on two more. Sophia Smith, 23, also scored a goal, and Jaedyn Shaw, 19, assisted on Rodman’s goal.

A number of women’s sports stars have made this year’s Forbes “30 Under 30” list, including Sophia Smith and Angel Reese.

Forbes features 30 people who are changing the game in sports, including Smith, who helped lead the U.S. women’s national team in the 2023 World Cup. Despite a disappointing finish at the tournament, the 23-year-old forward represents the future of the national team, and she also won the NWSL Golden Boot with 11 goals for the Portland Thorns.

Reese led the LSU basketball team to its first national title in April 2023. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Final Four, the 21-year-old’s national profile skyrocketed, and she has endorsement deals with Reebok, Coach and more. While Reese is off to a rocky start to the new season, including an unexplained four-game absence, she remains among the biggest stars in the college game.

Other honorees from the world of women’s sports include:

  • Napheesa Collier, 27, Minnesota Lynx forward
  • Jessica Pegula, 29, tennis player
  • Kate Douglass, 22, Team USA swimmer
  • Sha’Carri Richardson, Team USA sprinter
  • Olivia Dunne, 21, LSU gymnast
  • Diana Flores, 26, flag football quarterback
  • Maddie Musselman, 25, Team USA water polo player

Several more names included on the list come from the business side of women’s sports, including Robyn Brown, who is the senior manager of brand and content strategy for the Phoenix Mercury, and Natalie White, who founded women’s basketball shoe brand Moolah Kicks.

Tobin Heath is opening up about the 2020 NWSL expansion draft and the heartbreak that came with it.

At the time, Heath was playing with Manchester United in the Women’s Super League, with the Portland Thorns retaining her NWSL rights. Heath, who had been with the club since their inaugural season in 2013, was selected by Racing Louisville in the expansion draft after going unprotected by Portland.

In the latest episode of “The RE-CAP Show,” Heath called her selection by Louisville “the biggest heartbreak of my life.”

“For me, playing in Portland was one of the greatest honors of my life. It gave me a childhood dream,” she said. “It was a big surprise to me to learn I was picked up in the expansion process. And I will say, I envisioned myself playing in Portland for the rest of my career.

“I envisioned myself living in Portland for the rest of my life and putting all of my football and everything that community gave me back into the club.”

While she was playing with Manchester United during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was told “by all parties” in the NWSL that she didn’t have to worry about the expansion draft. But she knew as soon as she got the phone call that she had been picked up.

“Immediately, I was kind of in denial,” she said, noting that she told her agent to tell Racing Louisville that “there’s no way I will ever show up.” She held true to that, continuing to play overseas before her rights were eventually traded to OL Reign. She played five games for the Seattle-based club in 2022 before being sidelined by injury.

“In one way, it had nothing to do with that particular club, but it had everything to do with the club I was currently on,” she said. “I have never cried harder in my life. I couldn’t console myself.”

Both Heath and co-host Christen Press also talked more generally about the expansion draft and the effect that it can have on players.

“Sometimes players are really excited about it. Sometimes players want to move,” Heath said. “So then there’s the very opposite of that, where maybe there’s a player that has signed a long-term contract with a club, has invested time there, has put down roots there, and they are left unprotected and therefore could be picked up.

“And I think there’s a little bit of chicken and egg that happens, where clubs play some games seeing which players they can leave unprotected and still have the feeling that they won’t get picked.”

Press talked about the issue with the NWSL basing its structure, including the expansion draft, off American sports leagues such as the NBA and NHL, rather than mirroring the European soccer system.

“My issue with our league being based off those leagues is multifaceted, but one big problem, I think, when it comes to reallocating or the way that players are moved around and traded around, it doesn’t work for this league because the players aren’t getting paid enough,” she said. “All of the moving pieces, which in this case are human beings, really matter.”

The 2023 NWSL Championship pits OL Reign against Gotham FC. The league is guaranteed to crown a new champion, as neither franchise has ever won the title before.

In honor of this year’s championship match, Just Women’s Sports takes a look back at the nine previous winners.

2022: Portland Thorns FC

The Thorns won their league-leading third championship, fending off the Kansas City Current in the title game.

After finishing second in the league standings with a 10-9-3 record, Portland received a first-round bye as a result, then beat the expansion San Diego Wave in the semifinals. The 2-1 victory included a goal from Rocky Rodriguez and a stoppage-time winner by Crystal Dunn, who had only recently returned from maternity leave.

The 2-0 win over Kansas City in the final included a memorable goal (and celebration) from Sophia Smith as well as an own goal in the 56th minute. Smith – who became the youngest player to win league MVP that year – also was named Finals MVP.

2021: Washington Spirit

The Washington Spirit won their first title after finishing the regular season in third place with an 11-6-7 record. Ashley Hatch won the league’s Golden Boot that year with 10 total goals.

Hatch provided the stoppage-time winner for Washington in its first-round match against the North Carolina Courage. In the semifinals, goals from Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez sent OL Reign packing in a 2-1 win. The Spirit faced the Chicago Red Stars in the championship, with Kelley O’Hara providing the stoppage-time winner.

Note: The NWSL did not hold a regular season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, teams competed in the first iteration of the Challenge Cup tournament, which was won by the Houston Dash.

2019: North Carolina Courage

The Courage won the second of their back-to-back titles after also winning the Shield in both seasons. They finished the regular season with 49 points and a 15-4-5 record while also gathering an astounding +31 goal differential – more than double that of second-place Chicago. Lynn Williams was once again the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals.

The Courage beat the Reign, 4-1, in the semifinals thanks to goals from Heather O’Reilly, Debinha and Crystal Dunn, as well as an own goal from the opposing team. And then they topped the Red Stars, 4-0, in the championship game, with Debinha, Dunn, Jessica McDonald and Sam Mewis all getting in on the scoring.

2018: North Carolina Courage

North Carolina won the title and the Shield after finishing the regular season with a 17-6-1 record, 15 points ahead of the second-place Thorns. Goals from Jessica McDonald and Sam Mewis in the semifinal round propelled the team to a 2-0 win over Chicago.

The Courage went on to beat Portland, 3-0, in the final off a McDonald brace and a goal from Debinha. Lynn Williams finished as the team’s leading scorer with 14 goals, while McDonald ranked first in the league in assists.

2017: Portland Thorns FC

Portland’s second NWSL title came four years after its first. The team was led in goals by Christine Sinclair, who had eight on the season. The Thorns finished second in the league in the regular season with a 14-5-5 record, two points behind the North Carolina Courage.

A 4-1 win over the Orlando Pride in the semifinals set up a clash with the Courage in the championship, which Portland won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Lindsey Horan in the 50th minute.

2016: Western New York Flash

The Western New York Flash won the title in 2016 after finishing the regular season fourth in the NWSL standings and barely sneaking into the playoffs. They beat out the Reign for the final playoff spot by two points, finishing with a 9-5-6 record – winning just one more game than Seattle. Lynn Williams was the leading scorer for the team and the league with 11 goals.

The playoffs that season featured extra time in every single game played, with New York beating Portland in the semifinals, 4-3, thanks to a stoppage-time winning brace from Williams.

The Flash would go on to face the Washington Spirit in the final, which finished in a 2-2 tie after regulation and extra time off goals from Williams and Sam Mewis and Williams for New York and a Crystal Dunn brace for Washington. The Flash took home the title with a 3-2 win in the penalty shootout.

2015: FC Kansas City

For the second year in a row, the Reign won the Shield and FC Kansas City won the NWSL title, with the Seattle club finishing as the runner-up. Kansas City finished third in the regular season with a 9-5-6 record, led by Crystal Dunn who had 15 goals.

They beat Chicago in the semifinal, with a brace from Rocky Rodriguez propelling them to a 3-0 win. Rodriguez would play hero again in the championship game, scoring the game’s lone goal in a 1-0 win for Kansas City. This marked the Reign’s last appearance in the NWSL championship until 2023.

2014: FC Kansas City

FC Kansas City won the first of their two NWSL titles in 2014, finishing the season second in league standings with 41 points and a 12-5-7 record. The Reign were far and away the best team of the regular season with 54 points and a +30 goal differential.

Kansas City beat Portland, 2-0, in the semifinal round, setting up a championship showdown between the two best teams of the regular season. Rocky Rodriguez netted a brace to give Kansas City the 2-1 win.

2013: Portland Thorns FC

Portland’s winning history in the NWSL dates back to the first-ever league championship, with star players including Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath gracing the field for the club.

The Thorns beat FC Kansas City in the semifinal round and then Shield winners Western New York Flash, 2-0, in the championship match to take home the title off goals from Heath and Sinclair.