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By Karyn Lush in NWSL —

Kansas City Current electrify NWSL's opening weekend

The Kansas City Current celebrated the opening of their brand new, $118 million dollar stadium with a 5-4 victory over Portland Thorns FC.

Kansas City Current electrify NWSL's opening weekend
16-year-old Alex Pfeiffer scored her first NWSL goal to help the Kansas City Current defeat Portland Thorns FC, 5-4, in the inaugural match at CPKC Stadium Saturday afternoon. (Kansas City Current)

In this issue: The Kansas City Current celebrated the opening of their brand new, $118 million dollar stadium with a victory ... Three NWSL clubs play their home openers in front of sellout crowds ... San Diego Wave FC and Seattle Reign FC will soon have new owners while Angel City FC is seeking a new controlling owner ... And the USWNT and Team USA Women's Basketball will learn their Olympic opponents this week.

Hosting the first match of the NWSL’s 2024 season in the brand new CPKC Stadium in front of a sellout crowd, the Kansas City Current put on a show defeating Portland Thorns FC, 5-4, Saturday afternoon in a match that also aired on ABC.

Cheered on by Current owners Brittany and Patrick Mahomes (the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and three-time Super Bowl MVP), Kansas City exploded for five goals in the match’s first 68 minutes - the last by 16-year-old attacker Alex Pfeiffer who became the youngest player to score a goal in NWSL history.

Staked to a 5-1 lead, the Current held on as the Thorns scored three times in the last 20 minutes to give former U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlakto Andonovski the win in his return to the NWSL and to Kansas City.

In other opening weekend matches:

  • In the NWSL Challenge Cup, San Diego Wave FC, who won the 2023 NWSL Shield by finishing first in the league’s regular season standings, beat 2023 NWSL Champion NJ/NY Gotham FC, 1-0, on an Alex Morgan header in the 88th minute.  (This match is not a part of the 2024 regular season schedule and does not count in the standings.)
  • The North Carolina Courage, who finished in 3rd place in the 2023 standings, got off to a strong start in a 5-1 win over the Houston Dash as free agent signee Bianca St. Georges scored a pair of goals in her debut for her new club.
  • The NWSL’s expansion sides played their first matches with Bay FC downing Angel City FC, 1-0, and Utah Royals FC falling, 2-0, to the Chicago Red Stars.
  • After losing Megan Rapinoe to retirement and Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett to free agency, Seattle Reign FC downed the Washington Spirit, 1-0, on a Bethany Balcer penalty kick in the 3rd minute.
  • Summer Yates found the equalizer in the 86th minute to help the Orlando Pride - who were playing with 10 players following Kylie Strom's second yellow card in the 62nd minute - tie Racing Louisville FC, 2-2.

CPKC Stadium opening highlights strong Week 1 NWSL attendance

The Kansas City Current opened their new $118 million stadium, the first in the U.S. built specifically for a women’s professional soccer team, on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 11,500 fans.  (Check out the electric atmosphere inside of CPKC Stadium.)

The sellout of CPKC Stadium was one of three during the NWSL’s opening weekend with Angel City FC hosting 22,000 fans and expansion side Utah Royals FC debuting in front of 20,370 home fans.

The NWSL averaged 13,352 fans with stadium capacity across the league at 80% for six opening weekend matches. (The weekend’s seventh match - Seattle Reign FC’s 1-0 victory over Washington Spirit - is not included as attendance numbers at Seattle’s Lumen Field were not reported.)

NWSL clubs changing hands in record deals

A pair of NWSL clubs will soon have new owners as the cash keeps flowing:

  • San Diego Wave FC will have new owners in the Levine Leichtman Family at the end of the 2024 season as reported on Thursday by Sportico.  Ron Burkle - who paid a $2 million expansion fee for the Wave prior to the 2022 season - is selling the club for $113 million, a NWSL record.  In a two-part transaction, the Levine Leichtman family are acquiring a minority 35% stake now (for $35 million) and will buy the remaining 65% of the club for $78 million following the season.  While San Diego Wave FC has not announced the sale, Sportico reports that it has already been approved by the league.  Sportico valued the club at $90 million at the completion of the 2023 season.
  • Seattle Reign FC announced late Sunday that their acquisition by a group including MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC and global investment firm Carlyle is expected to be completed in early 2024. The sale, which will include 100% of the shares in the club, is for $58 million and is still subject to approval by both the NWSL and MLS Board of Governors.  OL Groupe, who purchased the Reign for $3.5 million in 2019, is selling the club to remove a conflict of interest as they formed a new company in Spring 2023 with NWSL Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang.  At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Sportico valued the Reign at $49 million.

And news broke on Friday that Angel City FC, the NWSL’s highest valued club at $180 million, is seeking a new controlling owner.  As reported by the LA Times (subscription required) the situation is messy:

  • Angel City FC has a unique ownership group where four co-owners share control of the club:
    • Venture capitalist Kara Nortman
    • Entertainment executive and Angel City FC President Julie Urhman
    • Actress Natalie Portman
    • Tech entrepreneur & Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian
  • Ohanian is Angel City FC’s largest shareholder but does not have a majority stake or board control, which is unusual in professional sports where the majority investor usually has the final say in decisions.  While he has stated he is not selling his shares in Angel City, Ohanian reportedly pushed for the ownership change due to his unhappiness with the club’s spending.
  • Media entrepreneur Sarah Harden, a minority investor who was the only owner to speak on record, positioned the search for a new controlling owner as an effort to raise more funding to help Angel City FC build its own stadium and training facility.
  • Including all minority investors, the club has over 100 owners which could make this potential transaction complicated.

A Big Welcome to:

  • Bay FC forward Asisat Oshoala and goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx, who both made their NWSL debuts in their expansion club’s 1-0 victory over Angel City FC on Sunday.  Oshoala, a Nigerian international, scored Bay FC’s first ever goal in the 17th minute while Proulx earned Bay FC’s first ever shutout and tied a league record for saves made in a NWSL debut with eight.
  • The Levine Leichtman family, who will assume majority ownership of San Diego Wave FC at season’s end.  The Levin Leichtman family are supporters of UCLA women’s soccer, where San Diego Wave FC team president Jill Ellis coached from 1999 to 2010.
  • Seattle Sounders FC, who will soon assume ownership of Seattle Reign FC.  The Sounders are valued at $795 million (7th out of 29 MLS clubs) and have been third in the MLS in average attendance the past two years averaging 32,161 fans per match in 2023.
  • And a Big Welcome Back to the Chicago Red Stars Mal Swanson and Portland Thorns FC’s Janine Beckie.  
    • As Swanson posted on Instagram, she was out for 343 days following a torn patellar tendon in her left knee which got infected and required three surgeries.  Swanson logged 80 minutes in the Red Stars 2-0 win over Utah Royals FC.  
    • Beckie, a member of the Canadian National Team, likewise posted to Instagram about her excitement in returning to the field for the first time in 366 days following an ACL tear.  Beckie came off the bench to score twice for the Thorns in their 5-4 loss to the Kansas City Current.

Good Riddance to:

  • Ron Burkle, who will complete the sale of San Diego Wave FC at the end of the 2024 season and will no longer be affiliated with the NWSL.  While not accused of wrongdoing, Burkle was listed as one of 92 potential witnesses to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s sexual trafficking conduct in court documents unsealed in January 2024.  Burkle’s aides also called his airplane Air F*** One.  Eyebrow raising to say the least.  No one in sport needs these type of associations.

The Week Ahead: Key Highlights in the NWSL & Beyond

NWSL

  • San Diego Wave FC (0-0-0), fresh off of their Challenge Cup victory, return to Snapdragon Stadium for their home opener and first match of the NWSL regular season against the Kansas City Current (1-0-0). Saturday, March 23 @ 10pm ET / 7pm PT on ION.
  • Crystal Dunn, one of NJ/NY Gotham FC’s (0-0-0) several off-season USWNT free agent signees, returns to Portland for the first time to face the Thorns (0-1-0).  Sunday, March 24 @ 7pm ET / 4pm PT on ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.

USWNT

  • The U.S. Women’s National Team will learn their 2024 Olympics group play opponents at the final draw in Paris on Wednesday, March 20.  The Women’s Olympic Tournament will feature 12 nations playing in three groups.  The U.S. will be drawn as the top seed into either Group B or Group C and already knows one of its three opponents as Germany must be drawn into its group with Europe’s France (Group A) and Spain being the other top seeds.  The Women’s Olympic Football Tournament kicks off on Thursday, July 25 with the final on Saturday, Aug. 10.

USA Women's Basketball

  • Team USA will likewise learn their 2024 Olympics group play opponents at the final draw in Mies, Switzerland on Tuesday, March 19.  The U.S. Women are seeking their 8th consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris.  The Women’s Olympic Basketball Tournament features 12 countries and begins on Sunday, July 29 with the final on Sunday, Aug. 11.

NCAA Basketball

PWHL

  • Riding a four-game win streak, Minnesota (33 pts, tied for first) hosts Montreal (30 pts, 3rd place) who has dropped a season-high three straight games. Sunday, March 24 @ 2pm ET / 11 am PT on SN, SN+, Bally Sports North, ICI TOU.TV

NWSL Club Moves

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