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A banner year for the National Women’s Soccer League could end with involvement from the biggest star in women’s basketball.
WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark has joined an ownership group seeking to bring an expansion NWSL expansion club to Cincinnati, marking another potentially impactful crossover between two major entities in women’s sports.
“Her accomplishments and contributions to women’s sports are incredible and historic. It’s changed the game for everyone,” said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman on Friday. “Having her interest in the NWSL is an honor, and we couldn’t be more excited about her having shared her own personal story about being a young soccer player, loving the game, and her messaging about being a multi-sport athlete.”
Berman made her comments about Clark as the league is set to play its championship game Saturday at the Kansas City Current’s CKPC Stadium between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit, capping another season of significant growth for the league.
After a breakthrough 2023 campaign, this season built substantially on that and included the beginning of four-year national media deals with a quartet of major networks, record attendance of more than two million, four team sales at steadily growing valuations, and major new sponsorship deals with heavy hitters such as Google and Amazon.
“The growth we’ve experienced over the last two years is incredible, and important for all of us to be reminded that this league is [still] really young, and our growth is in front of us,” Berman said. “Although it’s our 12th birthday, it’s only the third season that the league has been independent.”
Expansion Strategies
Cincinnati is competing with two other expansion finalists publicly acknowledged Friday for the first time: Cleveland and Denver, with Berman promising more news on that front “in the coming weeks.” But the southwest Ohio locale already has a modern, soccer-specific facility, the three-year-old TQL Stadium, and an established record of strongly supporting pro soccer.
“Her passion for the sport, commitment to elevating women’s sports in and around the greater Cincinnati region, and influence as an athlete and role model for women and girls around the world make her a vital part of our compelling bid to become the 16th team in the NWSL,” the Cincinnati bid group said of Clark in a statement.
The NWSL expansion consideration is part of a broader effort by the league to more closely resemble established men’s properties.
“We know that a 14-team league is not where we will end up,” Berman said. “All of the men’s leagues are 30-plus teams for a reason, and in order to build the kind of national exposure and visibility we think this league deserves, and our fans deserve, we need to be in more markets.”
WNBA Learnings
The NWSL, meanwhile, has paid close attention to the WNBA’s meteoric growth in 2024, and regardless of whether Clark becomes a part-owner of a team, there are key lessons for women’s soccer—and vice versa.
“The takeaways from the WNBA success are clear,” Berman said. “You have to create stars. You have to help fans relate to these incredible athletes. … This also didn’t come out of nowhere. Caitlin Clark has been emerging for three straight seasons. Of course, she transcended this year and reached the average American. But these things don’t happen overnight, and it takes time to create the kinds of authentic stars and stories that resonate the way that she has.”
