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As the NWSL regular season winds down, Racing Louisville and its fans sit in limbo waiting to find out about the team’s future amid a possible relocation to Cincinnati.
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is ready to find a solution for the five-year-old club.
“In order to keep up with the demands and expectations of our league, there is an expectation that is not in any way rationally related to the expectations that existed five years ago,” Berman said at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit Tuesday.
“So it’s our job, it’s my job, to work with them to find solutions that can make sure that we respect our incumbent owners and solve for making sure that the club and the team are set up for success moving forward.”
Following an ESPN report earlier this year that the team was exploring selling ownership stakes, the chair of Racing Louisville’s ownership group, John Neace, told local business and political leaders in August that the club “will be forced to do something” if its poor attendance does not improve.
Last month, ESPN reported that the owners of MLS side FC Cincinnati engaged in talks to relocate Racing Louisville.
Racing Louisville’s ownership group, Soccer Holdings, also owns the men’s second-division team Louisville City FC. The two teams share training facilities and 15,000-person Lynn Family Stadium downtown. Racing Louisville has made the playoffs only once since joining the NWSL in 2021.
Soccer Holdings paid roughly $1 million to $2 million as an expansion fee. A half-decade later, the NWSL’s newest owners, the billionaire Haslam family in Columbus, paid a $205 million expansion fee.
“When they invested in this league, I think it’s not an overstatement to say that it was a completely different value proposition and investment thesis and expectations for capital,” Berman said.
Berman noted Louisville’s facilities, saying she was “amazed” on her first site visit after becoming commissioner in 2022. “At that time, Louisville was actually the leader in our league for infrastructure, and that just shows you how quickly this league has changed.”
Possible Team in Cincinnati
The NWSL expanded to 16 teams this season with Boston and Denver, and will grow to 18 teams in 2028 with the addition of Atlanta and Columbus.
Expansion isn’t slowing down anytime soon, with Berman saying the league is in “active conversations” with markets who want to become the 19th and 20th teams.
The NWSL recently passed over Cincinnati as an expansion market. Caitlin Clark was involved in the bid, but a representative for the WNBA star did not confirm if she would be involved with a potential relocation team.
“Cincinnati would be an example of an MLS owner who has proven that they can operate a best-in-class organization in another league,” Berman said, “and [the NWSL is] certainly excited to continue to discuss with them and others like them who are either shared resource or independent who we feel like could add value to our league both from a business perspective, a sporting perspective, and an ownership perspective.”
