NWSL: Despite Donald Trump, league soaring
The presidential call recently went out to suspended U.S. pro sports leagues. The NWSL, the world’s best women’s soccer league, missed an invitation. Despite this, under Lisa Baird’s leadership, the league is soaring.
President Donald Trump held a virtual visit by phone on April 4 with professional U.S. sports leagues to discuss the post-coronavirus restart. A virtual chair, however, was left empty, one that should have been occupied by the world’s top women’s soccer league, the National Women’s Soccer League.
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All the expected commissioners joined the call, including the NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and NBA. WWE, Breeders’ Cup, and IndyCar were there. The LPGA and WNBA answered the invite also. Supporters and observers speculated that the miss was a Trump administration shot at players feuding with the president, but no official explanation came.
Amid speculation that these sporadic disputes would escalate into a league-wide mudslinging war, NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird took the high road. Baird announced to media that as a leader in women’s professional sports, the NWSL would answer the call to join further such discussions with the White House. She left it there.
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The NWSL commissioner showed great rationality in her concise statement. And she expressed profound humility in recognizing the NWSL’s stature in women’s professional ranks around the world.
The Portland Thorns averaged over 20,000 attendance in 2019. That beats NHL teams and some MLB and NBA franchises. Other NWSL teams aren’t yet matching the Thorns’ attendance figures, but every season the numbers of supporters grow. Numbers rose 22% in 2019 over the previous season. That’s a league total of 792,409 and an average of 7,337.
Last season was, of course, helped massively by the U.S Women’s National Team World Cup win. NWSL attendance rocketed 58% once the tournament ended in July. Most of the league’s clubs set new attendance records.
The most dramatic improvement to support came to the Chicago Red Stars. They averaged 4,288 in 2019. Then, as their USWNT and other international players returned, the attendance reached almost 8,000. Moreover, Chicago enjoyed a record attendance on July 21 of 17,388 that exceeded numbers from when they competed in Women’s Professional Soccer, the league preceding the NWSL.
Amid steamrolling success, this league keeps inking landmark deals even during the suspension of play during the COVID-19 pandemic. CBS Sports will broadcast 87 league games on CBS, CBS Sports Network and CBS All Access. This is the first time a U.S. broadcast network will air live, national coverage of women’s professional soccer. Also, Twitch will stream 24 free, regular-season matches. This smart, multi-platform deal expands the NWSL presence in North American households.
Baird also announced the league’s intention to kick their season off in June. During the suspension, she confirmed the policy that players continue to get paid and no staff had been laid off.
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Under her leadership, in front of the world’s most outstanding women’s sports organization, NWSL continues to demonstrate that this league has both the players and administration to take women’s sports to heights never before reached.