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…

Esme Morgan has just been to Trader Joe’s looking for oil, salt and pepper.

“I had to do my grocery shop,” the Sheffield-born defender tells The Athletic, air quoting as she says the final two words. “I’m being quite stubborn and trying to keep most of my words. I’ve not had to say the ‘s-word’ so far.”

It’s still football, not soccer. An s-word that has caused confusion, though, is squash. Morgan pulled up pictures of Robinsons blackcurrant squash, a well-known concentrated fruit drink in the UK, but her new Washington Spirit team-mates stared back blankly, explaining there was no equivalent. A quick online order solved that issue.

Morgan’s thirst has been accentuated by the humidity in Washington D.C., a stark contrast to the Mancunian drizzle she had left behind. The muggy weather made her mile time trial — a test as part of her integration into training — that bit harder, but she is enjoying stepping out in just a T-shirt and shorts.

These are just some differences the 23-year-old is adapting to since leaving Manchester City, where she spent nine years before signing for National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side Washington Spirit on a three-year deal this summer, turning July into a whirlwind for Morgan.

Having qualified for the 2025 European…

Michele Kang walks purposefully to the press conference table at the Landmark Hotel. Her diamond earrings and bracelets shimmer beneath the chandelier, like a portal about to transport London City Lionesses, the lowest-ranked of Korean-American businesswoman Kang’s three women’s football teams, into this brave new world. The vehicle to get there? Former Paris Saint-Germain coach Jocelyn Precheur, who last summer took PSG to the semi-finals of the Champions League, and forward Kosovare Asllani, a double Olympic silver medallist, Women’s Super League (WSL) winner with Manchester City and now City Lionesses’ marquee signing.

It has been a busy week or so for Kang, with one of her other clubs, the NWSL side Washington Spirit, having unveiled quadruple-winning Barcelona manager Jonatan Giraldez as their manager a day earlier (Kang missed his press conference to be in London).

GO DEEPER

How the Spirit landed the coach of one of the most successful teams in the world

In the fittingly-named Empire room, Kang reels off London City’s latest news as though delivering a bulletin. There is Asllani’s arrival, then Precheur’s on a three-year deal, then the news Kang has purchased the Lionesses’ 28-acre training ground and enlisted the architectural team behind the Tottenham…

Former FC Barcelona Femeni coach Jonatan Giráldez has won everything there is to win in Europe. He had one of the most talented rosters in the world too, including 2023 World Cup and Ballon d’Or winners.

So why would the 32-year-old coach leave that behind to come to the Washington Spirit?

For one, he wanted to suffer.

“For me, when you are part of an important process, in terms of building something, and when you suffer to win, that is the best moment to grow,” Giráldez said. “When you win every week, when you know it’s easy victories, that is like, ‘OK, you are suffering, but it’s not so special.’ The kind of feelings when I have to manage the situation, the important moments, when you are playing finals, a Champions League, or important games — I want to have this kind of feeling every week.”

In 2023, after winning a treble that included a Champions League title, Giráldez received an offer from the Spirit in December to be their next head coach. The team had fired previous head coach Mark Parsons after he failed to get the team into the playoffs.

Giráldez had just become a father and was looking for a new challenge. He had a renewal offer from Barcelona, who wanted him through 2026, but going to the NWSL was what he saw as that much-needed challenge….

The Washington Spirit is signing Colombian midfielder Leicy Santos to the team on a three-year deal, according to sources briefed on the transfer.

Santos currently plays for Atlético Madrid in Liga F. The 27-year-old has scored six goals and added three assists through 15 league appearances so far this season for her club. She will join the Spirit upon the conclusion of the current Liga F season in June.

A spokesperson for the Spirit declined to comment on Thursday.

Santos made her mark last summer at the 2023 Women’s World Cup with a stunning goal against tournament runner-up England in their quarterfinal match. England eventually went on to win 2-1 and advance to the semifinals.

Santos missed out on the recent CONCACAF W Gold Cup with Colombia due to an injury but returned to the pitch with Atlético Madrid this month during the team’s Copa de la Reina match against Real Sociedad.

Santos is yet another major international signing to arrive in the NWSL, following a very busy offseason of moves across the league. She’s also not the first player to join from Liga F. Bay FC’s signed forwards Asisat Oshoala from Barcelona and Racheal Kundananji from Madrid CFF before the start of the season. The Spirit faces Bay FC at Audi Field on Saturday.

The Spirit opened its season on…

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…