FIFA publishes annual report — Reign defeat Courage in Cary
The IX: Soccer Monday with Annie Peterson, March 24, 2025
Hello! Apologies, a bit of an abbreviated post here because I’m covering the NCAA Tournament(s). I’m currently with the men’s side in Seattle, but this week I go to Spokane for the women’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. If there’s just one thing I can tell y’all about being at the tournament: it’s a grind, especially in the early rounds. Occasionally you get hit by a ball on the sideline, too! Fun!
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So let’s dive right in:
Denver NWSL unveils stadium plans
Denver, which has a tight turnaround before its first game next year, may not have a coach, a name or a place to play, but the expansion team has unveiled plans for a purpose-built women’s downtown soccer stadium.
The stadium plans still have not been adopted by the city, but the complex will essentially be part of a park — with one end of the stadium opening onto green space where passers-by can get a glimpse of the games inside.
Here are some of the visuals, courtesy of the club.
The plan is to get the stadium finished by 2028, and to privately finance the building. There’s still some agreements to be struck with the city before it all comes together.
“Doing something iconic and authentic, doing it in a park, connecting neighborhoods, being close to downtown — those were all things that spoke to myself and the rest of the ownership group,” majority owner Robert Cohen, CEO of IMA Financial Group, told The IX. “If you want to do a stadium, this is the right way to do it.”
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Mental health break
Just before the start of the season, Angel City forward Sydney Leroux announced she was taking time off to focus on her mental health. Then, last week, Racing Louisville’s Bethany Balcer announced that she, too, was stepping away.
The line about focusing on the Beth outside of soccer really got me.
The NWSL’s collective bargaining agreement — reached with players — allows for six months of mental health leave. But for now, Balcer is an excused absence on Louisville’s roster.
FIFA Women’s Benchmarking Report
FIFA released its annual benchmarking report, which shows what previous reports showed — women’s soccer is often paid short shrift — but because of an expanded data set, it also provides insight about how big of a chasm there is globally between the haves and have nots.
If you’d like to read the report, it’s here.
FIFA expanded the scope of the report from 34 leagues to 86 leagues and some 669 teams. It analyzed data in six areas: sporting, governance, financial landscape, fan engagement, data and digital, and player-related matters.
It also separated the leagues into three tiers, based on various criteria including whether the leagues had senior level competitions, the number of players that were on a 2023 Women’s World Cup roster or a premier tournament like the Women’s Euros.
The report found that the average gross salary across all tiers was $10,900, but that number was skewed by 16 clubs in the top tier that paid players an average of more than $50,000. The average salary for top-tier teams was $24,030 globally.
It also showed women’s soccer — while growing in popularity — is not yet profitable, with top-tier leagues generating an average of $4.4 million in revenue but spending an average of $7.6 million. The lowest tier averaged $76,000 in revenue, with $182,000 in expenses.
The report comes as FIFA is planning two additional international women’s competitions: The Club World Cup (now set to launch in 2028) and the 2026 Women’s Champions Cup. It’s hoped that the new competitions will bring more attention on the women’s game in non-World Cup years, while also spurring more investment in leagues and teams, and support from federations.
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Links
SI with a story on the NWSL’s young stars
Michele Kang wants to keep Trinity Rodman stateside for now
The Spirit’s deal with CVS shows women’s sports aren’t just having a moment
Haley Rosen writes for Sportico to urge more infrastructure in women’s soccer
NPR looks at the protections in place in the NWSL for Mak Whitham
Good summary of what’s happening in Boston over White Stadium
New 7-on-7 league with rich purse to debut ahead of UEFA Champions League final
ESPN looks at the best under-21 players
USWNT forward Fishel returns after 13 months out
Susie Rantz has moved on from the AP! So grateful for all her hard work. We have a new NWSL person, please help me welcome Theo Lloyd-Hughes! He’ll be handling the NWSL Roundups for us this season. Here’s Saturday’s edition. He is super talented and knows his stuff. So happy he agreed to work with me.
Reign defeat Courage
The Seattle Reign defeated the North Carolina Courage 2-1 on Saturday in the NWSL season’s second week. It was the team’s first win in Cary since 2022. It was also significant because Jess Fishlock made her 200th appearance with the Reign and scored the the team’s first goal. Jordan Bugg got the other goal — her first in the NWSL — for Seattle.
Fishlock is one of the two remaining originals who has been with the same club for the entire existence of the NWSL. Reign defender Lu Barnes is the other. Fishlock is just the fourth player in NWSL history to reach 200 regular-season appearances.
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Here’s what Fishlock and Reign teammate Angharad James-Turner said after the game:
Fishlock: I think at the end [of the match] you saw kind of like the grit and determination that we have as a team. There were definitely moments in the game where we had kind of full momentum and full control, and that was really nice for us, and a progression from last week. But there’s also times when they have the momentum, and how do we manage that? And I felt like today was a really good start for us being on the road in the NWSL this season.
Question to James-Turner: Can you talk about the tactics the team was employing to deal with North Carolina’s speed and dangerous passing?
James-Turner: I think we all know it’s a hard place to come here [to play North Carolina]. And I think to play in the way we did speaks volumes for this group. We had Plan A, Plan B … and towards the end it was all them coming on to us. But I think we we dealt with it well. We changed formation slightly, and that’s the strength of the group that we’ve got here. We can adapt to what’s needed at the time. And I thought was a really good team performance from everyone today.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
