On Black Friday, Sportico reported that billionaire investor Marc Lasry’s planned acquisition of a 60% controlling stake in the North Carolina Courage will not be going forward.
The owners of the Orlando Pride and its Major League Soccer counterpart, Orlando City SC, are pursuing an expansion of Orlando City’s training facility and headquarters, which would apparently convert it into a fully combined facility for both clubs.
A few days before Thanksgiving, the 2026 Boston franchise launched a listening campaign that includes an online form which asks for “feedback on the team name”, “BOS Nation FC”.
Regarding the other 2026 expansion team, that is apparently down to bid from Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Denver, per a statement from NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman.
North Carolina Courage: Marc Lasry “no longer pursuing” acquisition of a controlling interest
On Friday, November 29th, Sportico reported that billionaire Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital Group announced that it “will not be moving forward” with a purchase of 60% ownership stake in the Courage, which was first publicly disclosed back in September.
The stated reason for the deal falling through was league rules concerning private equity fund as a controlling owner. While the NWSL does allow private equity funds to be a controlling owner, there are “guardrails”, such as ensuring “a single decision maker”.
According to the Sportico article, Lasry also explored “buying [the 60% stake] personally”.
Orlando Pride: Orlando SC proposal includes joint training facility with Pride
The Wilf family, who own the Orlando Pride and its MLS counterpart, Orlando City SC, has begun the process of negotiating with Osceola County for the purpose of redeveloping parts of Osceola Heritage Park (website) in Kissimmee, which is the current location of Orlando City’s headquarters and training facility.
The Wilf family’s plan, which is named “Project Next”, includes “expanded headquarters and training facility for both teams”. (GrowthSpotter article, which includes a map of the proposed facilities) As of Thursday, December 5th, the Orlando City and Orlando Pride organizations have not published any press releases regarding the potential expansion and redevelopment.
Currently, the Orlando Pride train at Sylvan Lake Park (details) in Sanford, which was Orlando City’s former training facility and is about a 30 minute drive north of Orlando City Stadium. Osceola Heritage Park is located about 30 minutes south of the stadium.
Other aspects of Project Next include additional training fields, including some partial fields, as well as dormitory-style buildings that could be used for hosting youth club teams during tournaments. The project also proposes further renovations of Osceola County Stadium, which is a former minor league baseball stadium that is now used to host the home matches of Orlando City’s MLS NEXT team.
Additionally, Project Next includes plans for mixed-use development around the soccer facilities, including two hotels, apartment complexes, retail, and restaurants. Also, some sort of “emergency” health facility is planned.
Back in September, Osceola County announced that it was open to selling and/or leasing parts of Osceola Heritage Park. The Wilf family was the only party to submit a bid (GrowthSpotter, Nov. 5th).
On Monday, the Osceola Board of County Commissioners agreed to begin negotiations on a development agreement with the Wilf family (WESH).
NWSL Boston: The 2026 franchise may be reconsidering the “BOS Nation FC” name
On November 26th, the Boston expansion franchise launched a listening campaign (x.com post, blog post) that includes asking for “feedback on the team name” via an online survey (direct link).
The campaign also includes holding “listening sessions” with fans and asking for names of brand advisors.
From the blog post:
This has been quite a year for our team, and we want to take a moment to recognize the incredible support and passion you, our fans, have shown so far.
We want to assure you that we have heard your feedback and are actively listening. We share your high expectations, and together, we will build a storied club that reflects the essence of the beautiful game and the character of our dynamic city.
To that end, we have launched a deliberate process through which we will seek out, listen to, and reflect on input about our team name from fans, supporters, and a group of advisors assembled to reflect a diverse range of voices and perspectives. We are approaching this work with an open mind and will report back as soon as we have more to share.
2026 Expansion: Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Denver are finalists — Berman
In a press conference before the NWSL Championship, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman stated that the selection of the second expansion franchise for 2026 is down to bids from the cities of Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; and Denver, Colorado. The franchise is expected to be officially awarded “in the coming weeks”. (Reuters)
Berman’s statement effectively means that two other potential bids, from Nashville, Tennessee, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are out of the running.
Back in April, Berman told Jeff Kassouf that the franchise decision was “comfortably on track” to be made in “the beginning of Q4” of this year (ESPN), so the process is at least a month behind its expected schedule.
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