This week, two long-time NWSL players, who both played in the NWSL’s inaugural season, Angel City defender Merritt Mathias and Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott, announced their retirements.
Meanwhile, three players —Portland Thorns forward Alexa Spaanstra, Seattle Reign center-back Shae Holmes, and Orlando Pride forward Summer Yates — are set to stay in the NWSL through the 2026 season.
Also, Racing Louisville back-up goalkeeper Olivia Sekany has been loaned to the Brisbane Roar of the A-League until early March 2025.
In team news, the sale of the San Diego Wave from Ron Burkle to the family of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine has been completed.
Regarding expansion, an article from Sports Business Journal has added Nashville and Philadelphia to the list of known bids in the hunt for the second 2026 expansion franchise.
Finally, the Red Stars are not the only professional soccer team in Chicago looking to build a new soccer-specific stadium.
Angel City: NWSL original Merritt Mathias will retire at the end of the season
On Tuesday, Merritt Mathias announced the 2024 NWSL season will be her last. According to the October 15th press release, Mathias is just one of 11 active players who have played every NWSL season from 2013 to present.
Mathias was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, and played collegiately, first at UNC for two seasons, and then at Texas A&M for her final two years. During her youth and collegiate years, she played as a forward, but converted to outside back in her professional career.
During her 12 seasons in the NWSL, Mathias won three Shields and three Championships. She began her career with FC Kansas City (2013 to 2014) and was subsequently traded three times: First, to the Seattle Reign (2015 to 2017), then to the North Carolina Courage (2018 to 2022), and finally to Angel City FC (2023 to 2024).
NWSL Team Honors:
- Champions: FC Kansas City (2014), North Carolina Courage (2018, 2019)
- Shield: Seattle Reign (2015), North Carolina Courage (2018, 2019)
Mathias has one senior USWNT cap: A substitute appearance in a 2018 friendly against China PR. She attended over a dozen youth WNT camps at the U-17 level and younger, but was born a year too early (1990) for the first U-17 WWC cycle. Mathias also had a few U-23 call-ups.
[Updated] Kansas City Current: Desiree Scott to retire after the 2024 season
Updates (14-Jan-2025):
- In her October 2024 announcement video (Instagram), Scott stated “I officially announce my retirement from the NWSL…” This was not necessarily a statement of intention to completely “retire[] from professional soccer”, which was the language used in the Current’s press release (linked below in the original write-up). However, later statements in the video did make it sound like she intended to end her playing career.
- On January 14, 2025, Ottawa Rapid FC of Canada’s new Northern Super League announced the signing of Scott (press release). The length of the contract was not specified.
Original Version:
On Thursday, Canadian midfielder Desiree Scott confirmed that she will retire from professional soccer after the NWSL season. (October 17th press release)
Scott began her NWSL career in 2013 with FC Kansas City, but moved to Notts County of the English WSL for two years before returning to FC Kansas City. After FCKC folded in 2017, she was allocated to the original Utah Royals, and after that franchise folded, her rights were transferred to the new Kansas City NWSL franchise, which later adopted its current name.
Scott, who has 195 senior caps for Canada, played her last international matches in January 2024. With Canada, she won the Olympic gold medal in 2021 and bronze medals in the prior two Summer Olympics. (Canada Soccer profile)
Scott played collegiate soccer in Canada for her hometown school, the University of Manitoba, and was named the university’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2009-10.
Portland Thorns: Alexa Spaanstra signs on for two more seasons
Also on Tuesday, the Portland Thorns announced that recently acquired forward Alexa Spaanstra has extended through the 2026 NWSL season. (October 15th press release)
That same day, Spaanstra scored her first goal for the Thorns in their 6-nil victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps, which secured the Thorns a semifinal spot in the Concacaf W Champions Cup. (match recap)
Spaanstra, who has a 2000 birth year, was a regular youth WNT call-up for the USA and participated in two youth World Cups: The 2016 U-17 WWC and the 2018 U-20 WWC.
Seattle Reign: Shae Holmes re-signed through 2026 season
On Wednesday, the Reign announced that center-back Shae Holmes has been signed for two more years. (October 16th press release)
Holmes was drafted by the Reign in 2023 out of the University of Washington (player profile). During the 2024 NWSL season, Holmes has started 12 of 19 matches.
Holmes, who attended over 15 USA youth WNT camps, first played for her current head coach, Laura Harvey, while a U-20 USWYNT player during the 2020 cycle, which was cut short due to COVID. Holmes was a member of the USA’s Concacaf qualifying team in 2020, along with Alexa Spaanstra and fellow UW Husky Summer Yates, who both also announced contract extensions this week.
Orlando Pride: Summer Yates adds another year via mutual option
Just three months after signing a new contract (July press release), the Orlando Pride and forward Summer Yates have agreed to exercise its mutual option for the 2026 NWSL season. (October 17th press release)
Yates was drafted by the Pride in 2023 and only saw limited minutes in her rookie season. In her second year, Yates has started 16 of 23 matches, notching five goals, including game-winners against the San Diego Wave, Washington Spirit, and Houston Dash. (NWSL game log)
Racing Louisville: Olivia Sekany extends through 2025 and loaned to Brisbane Roar
Late on Tuesday, Racing Louisville announced that back-up goalkeeper Olivia Sekany has been loaned to Australian club Brisbane Roar through March 10, 2025. Racing also signed Sekany for additional season. (Racing press release, Roar press release)
The 6’0″ Sekany has yet to appear for Racing. In 2023, she made the gameday roster for 20 regular season matches and three Challenge Cup matches. For 2024, she has been named to five gameday rosters. (NWSL game-log)
Sekany played NCAA soccer for the Washington Huskies (profile), where she set a career record of “lowest goals-against average (0.62) in program history”, besting the mark previously set by Hope Solo. Before the University of Washington, Sekany played two seasons for California (profile).
San Diego Wave: Sale to Levine Leichtman family completed
On Thursday (October 17th press release), the Wave officially confirmed the club’s sale from its original owner, Ron Burkle, to the family of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine, through their family office (Investopedia definition). Lauren Leichtman will be the NWSL Governor for the Wave, with her son, Zachary Leichtman-Levine, named as the NWSL Alternate Governor.
The sale of the Wave was originally announced in mid-March, but there was no further confirmation until this week. According to the original Sportico article, the deal involved two stages: For the first part, Burkle sold 35% of the Wave for $35 million. The second part, which was suppose to be completed “after the 2024 season”, involved Burkle selling the remaining 65% for $78 million.
According to the press release, the Wave are not exclusively owned by the family, as other investors have been added:
The Levine Leichtman Family Office has also added numerous strategic partners to the ownership group of the San Diego Wave FC. “We are excited to welcome a talented group of investors to join us in this journey with the Wave,” said Lauren Leichtman. “These new partners, many of whom are established business and philanthropic leaders in San Diego…
Earlier this month, the San Diego Wave organization was sued by five former employees, alleging multiple forms of workplace discrimination and other employment law causes of actions.
Expansion Update: Site visits, Philadelphia and Nashville are also candidates
On Wednesday, Sports Business Journal published an article (may be paywalled) stating that two additional cities, Nashville and Philadelphia, are among the bids for the league’s other 2026 franchise, joining Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver. Additionally, the article confirmed that “NWSL brass” is make site visits of the potential bids. Last week, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman was photographed in Cleveland during an apparent site visit.
The Philadelphia bid is fronted by Connor Barwin, who is the Head of Football Development and Strategy for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. The bid group includes “local female business leaders, celebrities and U.S. women’s national team players with connections to the region”. Their plan apparently includes a new stadium for the team.
The Nashville bid includes a “group of local Nasheville celebrities” but the lead owner is from Chicago: Dhiren Jhaveri, CEO of financial services firm Kuvare Holdings, who would be the controlling owner. Lisa DeBartolo, whose father owned the 49ers of the NFL was also named.
Chicago Red Stars: Chicago Fire owner says team would privately finance a new stadium
The Chicago Red Stars may have some direct competition as they pursue a new stadium. Or, they could have a potential partner…
On Thursday, the owner of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire, Joe Mansueto, revealed that the Fire are looking to build a soccer-specific stadium in Chicago, but are planning to use private financing, rather than seeking any public monies from the city and/or state, according to an article in The Athletic.
As of last February, the Chicago Red Stars have begun the process of “selecting a potential stadium site within the city” and were pushing for public funding. (Chicago Tribune) Though, that was in the context of the Chicago Bears (NFL) and Chicago White Sox (MLB) lobbying for billions in public funding for new stadiums.
The Fire have looked at three sites: A lakefront site in Bronzeville (Google Maps), which is about 1.5 miles south of Soldiers Field; “The 78” development in the South Loop (Google Maps), which less than a mile west of Soldiers Field and is also the location of the White Sox’s proposed stadium; and the Lincoln Yards development (Google Maps).
The article ends with this refreshingly honest and correct assessment regarding the economics of sports stadiums:
“My personal view is that stadiums are not a great investment,” Mansueto said. “They’re big, costly to maintain, sit empty most of the time. And so to the extent that they create value, most of that accrues to the sports team, not the municipality. So to me, it’s fair that the sports team should own it. Moreover, here in Illinois, in the City of Chicago, our finances are strained. Teachers want more money, law enforcement needs money, pension obligations. Our city and state don’t have the funds, to be candid, and so to me, we would privately finance it.”
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