NWSL adding 14th team with Bay Area expansion in 2024
The National Women’s Soccer League has awarded growth rights to a gaggle from the Bay Area, the league introduced Tuesday.
The league’s 14th franchise will start play in 2024 alongside and joins one other new growth crew, the Utah Royals, who had been added on March 11.
“The number of bids and the increase in the league’s expansion fees are indicative of both the demand that exists for women’s soccer in the professional sports landscape and the validated growth trajectory of our league,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman stated in a press release. “We stated firstly of the growth course of in July 2022 that we might be intentional in looking for out sturdy markets and possession teams that not solely had the structural integrity for our league to thrive, but additionally demonstrated a real dedication to investing in and creating first-rate organizations on and off the pitch.”
Investment agency Sixth Street would be the majority proprietor of the brand new membership, in partnership with 4 former U.S. Women’s National Team gamers. Those 4 gamers — Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner — initiated the plans to bid for an growth crew within the Bay Area and can serve on the board of the brand new franchise.
“We appreciate each and every one of the thousands of people who have supported us through this process and helped us reach this important day, and to Sixth Street for stepping up to take this club to the next level,” stated Wagner in a press release. “As lifelong residents of the Bay Area, we know how important women’s soccer is to our region, and we are going to work hard every day to ensure that this is a club that every player, supporter and partner will be proud of. We can’t wait to get started.”
The NWSL launched in 2012 with eight groups and has been shortly increasing lately. In 2021, Racing Louisville FC and the Kansas City Current entered the league, adopted by Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave FC in 2022.
The league says it “remains engaged” in attainable growth talks so as to add two extra groups, bringing the full to 16, however no timeline for these bulletins is deliberate.
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