Emma Hayes is back in the United States after leading the U.S. women’s national team to an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games. The trip is very much about business ahead of a trio of October friendlies against Iceland and Argentina.

After a whirlwind introduction that included a sprint through the Olympics, Hayes finally has the luxury of time and can dig into some of the larger projects that excited her about the job. The USWNT boss also faces big questions, three years out from the next Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Maybe not as big as choosing to leave Alex Morgan off the 18-player Olympic roster, defensible as that choice was in the moment, but crucial nonetheless and aimed at the future.

On Sunday, Hayes traveled back to the home of her former employer, the Chicago Red Stars, to watch the team take on the North Carolina Courage. During a half-time interview with CBS Sports, Hayes said she and the rest of the program were reflecting on recent successes beyond just the Olympics. But there is little rest for a head coach who took one of the most high-profile jobs in soccer less than five months ago.

Hayes’ build starts with this trip and continues…

The full list of 2025 free agents in the National Women’s Soccer League is out and it features plenty of heavy hitters and fan favorites, including Gotham FC forward Midge Purce and Houston Dash midfielder Sophie Schmidt.

While it’s exciting to see big names enter free agency, it doesn’t necessarily mean similarly big movement — especially for players who have landed at clubs close to home or near the end of their careers.

While it might encourage clubs to re-negotiate better contracts with players to keep them in-market, in other cases there may also be leverage on the club side knowing that a player wants to stay. Alyssa Naeher, Marta or Christine Sinclair, so closely identified with their current clubs and probably carrying hefty base salaries were they to move, might not actually be priority signings for other clubs, especially managing their salary caps at this point in the season.

The NWSL Players Association shared an initial list of free agents on August 26 — in part to celebrate Women’s Equality Day — but it did not include any players who had contract options (enforceable or not) for the 2025 season. Some potential free agents have already agreed to new deals with their teams, such as Paige Nielsen with the Houston Dash.

The list released on Friday now…

Over 10 months and more than 20 bargaining sessions, the National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association have hammered out a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Bargaining committees from each group met in person in Philadelphia from July 8 through July 11 to finalize the deal.

It was supposed to be time off for players as the league took a break before the Olympics. But five athletes forewent vacation to join the PA’s bargaining committee in person: Brianna Pinto (North Carolina Courage), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Dani Weatherholt (Courage), Haley Hopkins (Courage), and Nicole Barnhart (Spirit). Including those five, 43 players served on the bargaining committee, with those unable to make it to Philadelphia joining virtually. NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke, NWSLPA president Tori Huster, two labor counsels, Deborah Willig and Jessica Caggiano, and an economist, Dr. Beth Paulin from La Salle University rounded out the team.

“We had dozens more (players) on the Zoom dipping in and out at all hours of the day and night,” Burke told The Athletic. “We were working till 2 a.m. I think our bodies ascended to another plane at one point… caffeine was having no effect on me.”

Those caffeine-fueled marathon days were just the tip of the…

For the past couple of months, the Chicago Red Stars have been scrambling to find a replacement venue for their September 21 game, which was originally to be played at SeatGeek Stadium, their home venue in Bridgeview.

Chicago music festival Riot Fest announced in June that they would be using SeatGeek’s parking lots that weekend for their event, a move that would have disrupted the Red Stars’ ability to use the stadium, with tens of thousands of people expected to attend the concert.

But in a somewhat anticlimactic but welcome development, the conflict has disappeared on its own: Riot Fest will instead be moving back to the city of Chicago proper, leaving SeatGeek unimpeded for its originally scheduled event, a home game against the San Diego Wave.

Red Stars president Karen Leetzow was obviously pleased with the development, telling The Athletic that Riot Fest organizers had confirmed the move to her in writing on Monday, just as the club was preparing to announce its new emergency alternative venue.

That alternative venue? CPKC Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Current. Leetzow said KC Current president Raven Jemison had called her after hearing the initial report of Riot Fest moving to Bridgeview and offered CPKC as a backup, with KC a 90-minute flight from Chicago.

“We…

The Kansas City Current announced on Wednesday that general manager Camille Levin Ashton has resigned from the club and that the team’s director of soccer operations, Caitlin Carducci, will step in as interim GM until a hiring process can be completed.

“I am thankful for my time in Kansas City,” said Ashton. “It was important to me to dedicate my time and efforts to ensure a successful 2024 season by building the championship-caliber roster that’s currently at near the top of the table. I am proud of what we have accomplished here. I look forward to the next step in my personal and professional journey.” 

What moves did Ashton make?

Ashton was a key part in the Current picking up the 2023 offseason’s major free agent, Debinha, as well as making numerous key signings ahead of the team’s very successful 2024 start including international players Temwa Chawinga and Bia. The Current are still undefeated through 10 games played this season, and are in second place behind the Orlando Pride.

Ashton’s time with the Current has not always been smooth sailing, however, as the team’s public reputation has suffered thanks to comments from the likes of Lynn Williams, Alex Loera and Cece Kizer around their trades to other teams. The mother of 2023 draft pick Mykiaa Minniss…

The NWSL will spend its break during the 2024 Olympics playing a tournament with teams from Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil, the leagues announced today.

The NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup will feature all 14 NWSL clubs and six Liga MX Femenil teams with the highest points earned in the 2023 Apertura and Clausura tournaments.

It will feature a group stage commencing on July 19 with a semifinal round ending the week of Aug. 4. The championship match will take place on the weekend of Oct. 25.

The tournament will feature five groups, with the top four teams in terms of points advancing to the semifinals.

A quick look at the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup tournament groups and format. pic.twitter.com/TztnU0udEO

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 20, 2024

How does this impact the NWSL schedule?

Analysis by Meg Linehan

We always knew the NWSL was planning a summer tournament to overlap with this summer’s Olympic Games, and while the league deserves credit for tapping crossover appeal with Liga MX Femenil, the Summer Cup definitely feels like the 1.0 version of a standalone summer tournament.

To be fair, this has been in the works before CONCACAF announced its new qualifiers for the first FIFA Club World Cup, but three NWSL teams are about to have to pull double…

Alex Pfeiffer became the youngest goalscorer in NWSL history in a thriller Saturday, finishing the KC Current’s fifth goal in the team’s inaugural match at its new stadium., a dramatic 5-4 win over the Portland Thorns.

Pfeiffer came on as a second-half substitute and pounced on a chested-down layoff at the top of the box in the 68th minute to make the score 5-1 Kansas City.

At 16 years, 3 months and 20 days old, Pfeiffer beats the previous record for youngest goalscorer set by the Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie in 2022 by about five months.

Another bit of history today

Alex Pfeiffer becomes the youngest goalscorer in league history at 16 years, 4 months! pic.twitter.com/XgjQmumn7t

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 16, 2024

“It’s huge for any player in her generation,” Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the game. “She’s proved that it’s possible, we proved that all together that it’s possible.”

Portland made things very interesting in the closing stages, scoring three unanswered to make things 5-4, but KC was able to hold on.

Who is Alex Pfeiffer?

A native of St. Louis, Mo., Pfeiffer became the fourth-youngest player to sign in the NWSL when she joined the Current last year, inking her deal at 15 years and 338 days old.

She came to…

By Jeff Rueter, Meg Linehan, Melanie Anzidei and Steph Yang

Welcome to the 2024 season of the National Women’s Soccer League. This season, which kicks off with four matches on Saturday, is different from its predecessors in a few ways — primarily with the addition of two expansion teams, and the league’s biggest broadcast deal to date. The Olympics are also happening, which has prompted the league to take a midseason break and host an international club tournament while the U.S. women’s national team competes in Paris.

How you can watch the NWSL is changing in a major way this season, too. So we’ve put together this preview with everything you’ll need ahead of the regular season kickoff (and Friday night’s Challenge Cup match) from how to watch to major storylines, plus the USWNT and international connections across the 14 teams.

To keep following The Athletic’s NWSL coverage, don’t forget to follow the league and your team(s) of choice by managing your feed. And to make sure you don’t miss any of our coverage, subscribe to our women’s soccer newsletter Full Time. It’s our biggest stories paired with Full Time exclusive insights delivered straight to your inbox every week. With the season starting, we’ll be sending out each edition on Monday to make…

The San Diego Wave will soon be under new ownership, and at a record-breaking price.

Principal owner Ron Burkle has agreed to sell the club to the Levine Leichtman family for an eventual total of $120 million – easily a record outlay for an NWSL club, at nearly double the previous record of $63 million paid by the Bhathal family for the Portland Thorns in a deal finalized earlier in 2024.

Burkle will remain as the principal owner through the end of the 2024 season as part of the deal, which will be completed over the course of two transactions, according to a source briefed on the sale who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing deal.

The source added that the sale was voted on by the NWSL board earlier this week.

The new ownership group is comprised of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, who jointly manage the investment firm Levin Leicthman Capital Partners.

Sportico was first to report news of the Wave’s sale.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Levine Leichtman family to the ownership group of the San Diego Wave,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement to The Athletic. “As longtime supporters of the women’s game, Arthur and Lauren know well the impact that our league can have in our society, and as savvy investors, understand the…

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In 2024, there isn’t a looming narrative hanging over the NWSL. The league is no longer in the early stages of recovering from a widespread reckoning surrounding player welfare. It’s not a World Cup year either. Yes, the Olympics are coming and the U.S. women’s national team is going through a massive transition with incoming head coach Emma Hayes arriving later this spring, but the NWSL has a bit more clean air compared to 2023.

With that clean air, the league has grown in ways public-facing and behind-the-scenes. In the four months since Gotham FC won its first NWSL Championship at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, the offseason has dominated the conversation with an expansion draft for the two incoming teams, Bay FC and Utah Royals FC, the reigning champion Gotham loading up its roster through aggressive free agency moves and teams across the league going big on international signings, bringing talent like Barbra Banda, Asisat Oshoala and Jessie Fleming to the United States.

Existential challenges also still exist, with the main one being the clash between the international schedule and the NWSL’s footprint as more and more competitions get added each year. CONCACAF alone…