The National Women's Soccer League was founded a decade ago. Few could have predicted where the league would be at the end of the 2022. Standards have improved on and off the field thanks to expansion, team valuations have increased 10-fold, and record numbers have been set for attendance, broadcast and sponsorship.
The highs of this year were accompanied by unimaginable lows. Sally Yates, the former U.S. attorney general, found abuse in the league to be "systemic" after a year-long investigation.
The inflection point for a league coming to grips with its demons will be remembered for all the right reasons. The highlights of another year of the NWSL, a league no longer being asked whether it will survive, but one that is under a more intense microscope, can be found here.
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In October, the dichotomy of the NWSL was on full display.
Sally Yates' investigation into the league became public one day after the regular season ended. The actions of three former coaches in the league were confirmed. It showed how many people in positions of power failed to protect players or helped those who did.
The season where accountability began will be remembered as 2022.
A local group claims to have raised close to $9 million in pledges to make the Thorns supporter-owned teams.
It's difficult to see how either of them can make it to opening day of the NWSL in three years, since they've been with the organization for a long time.
The Chicago media market has always been like a mom-and-pop organization. The Thorns led the league in attendance every year prior to 2022, and the fans created a culture unlike any other. A replacement for Paulson would have high expectations but a strong foundation.
The Washington Spirit's takeover of the team from Steve Baldwin was part of a change in the NWSL. Commissioner Jessica Berman took over in April and promised more accountability with players.
The Yates report will be seen as a major step towards a new era in ownership and power. It should be.
The NWSL is one of the most competitive leagues in the world. In most places around the world, the NWSL Shield is the regular-season award that represents the league title. There were three teams that had a chance at it.
The Thorns won the NWSL Championship on Saturday despite the Kansas City Current missing out on the Shield. Kansas City finished last in the NWSL in 2021.
San Diego Wave FC and Angel City FC brought in more talent and made the league more competitive than it would have been without them.
The Wave became the most successful expansion team in NWSL history, but they were bounced from the playoffs by the Thorns, who went on to win the title. Angel City didn't make the playoffs, but it was better than most expansion teams.
The NWSL opened for business in California in the year 2022.
The first time a team other than Portland set a mark in attendance was when Angel City led the league in attendance. A peak single-game gate revenue of over $1 million was achieved by Angel City after 16,000 season tickets were sold.
In September, the San Diego Wave set a new single-game attendance record with over 30,000 fans in attendance. The attendance record was set by the Wave.
Several legacy NWSL teams are still a long way from that reality, despite the fact that these are numbers the NWSL could only dream about previously.
There was a rush of groups interested in one expansion spot for the 2024 season after Angel City and San Diego showed other investors why women's soccer can be successful. The investor group will pay at least $20 million to join the league. The return of a franchise based in Utah will pay $2 million, as was reported in June. The value of current franchises is ten times what they were a few years ago.
Berman said last week that league sponsorship revenue is up over the course of the year. According to Berman, attendance and sponsorship are related. The average audience for Saturday's championship was 915,000, which will help the league's case.
On and off the field the Thorns were different this year.
The Thorns were without U.S. internationals Lindsey and Crystal for most of the season due to maternity leave and Rhian was in her first year as head coach.
The Thorns' league-best attack was led by Sophia Smith's 14 regular-season goals. It was the first time in the Thorns' 10-year history that Christine Sinclair didn't start a game.
This victory felt different because of the off-the-field context. The Thorns were a focal point of the Yates report, and throughout the playoffs players faced questions about how the leaders of their organization failed them. She wished that her players didn't have to talk about the trauma because they wanted to play. Smith told the fans to keep showing up because they were one of the positives in Portland.
He didn't attend any of the Thorns playoff games or the Thorns rally at Providence Park to celebrate their NWSL title. The title was for the players.
It will take a long time for Portland to be ready for the next season. The Thorns and Timbers are still owned and operated by Paulson, who stepped down as CEO. In his statement announcing that he will step down as CEO, he said that it would take time.
Smith was named the Most Valuable Player for both the season and the title game. She admitted that her casual shrug to celebrate her 4th-minute goal in Saturday's NWSL Championship was a subtle response to those who didn't think she deserved the Most Valuable Player award.
The season's Golden Boot winner, Wave forward Alex Morgan, was one of the main candidates for the season's Most Valuable Player. The Wave had 32 goals in the regular season. He scored 11 goals and had 6 assists. The front three for the U.S. women's national team are Smith, Morgan and Pugh. That is positive news for the U.S.
Smith's season may be remembered as the one that started it all. She is the youngest player to ever win the league's Most Valuable Player award. Morgan finally put together the complete, dominant club season that had been missing, to complement her international career. She finished second in the voting for the Most Valuable Player award.
Many of the NWSL's longstanding problems can be traced to power issues. The impact of the collective bargaining agreement will be felt for a long time.
The agreement is the basis for the next deal. The minimum salary is going to be raised from $22,000 to $35,000 and the league is going to start free agency for players who have at least six years of experience in the league.
There was a quick test of the CBA. There was a dispute between the union and the league regarding the free agency eligibility of 22 players. The league lost the dispute, but Berman was happy with the process.
Berman is proud of the way the parties used the procedure. This was an honest and respectful disagreement and we used the dispute resolution mechanism in our collective bargaining agreement. All parties can make their case to a neutral third party thanks to the labor agreement.
The benefits of theCBA are more than obvious. There is a no-questions-asked policy for mental health leaves, and players are entitled to 42 days of vacation, including a minimum of 32 days in the off-season. Travel and accommodations, as well as team staffing, seem basic but have never been enforced.
In the past, it was thought that the NWSL was not for first-year professionals. The rookies shattered that theory.
The first rookies in league history to win two awards at the end of the season was Naomi Girma. Her play earned her her first caps with the U.S. national team, and she now looks like a center-back who must start for the two-time defending World Cup champion.
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