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We have a lineup change this week. Meg is off to the South of France, don’t worry she shared some parting words on the sale of the Seattle Reign. Meanwhile, Steph is taking some well-earned time off. I’m Emily Olsen here with Jeff Rueter — welcome to Full Time!
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Want more? The “Full Time with Meg Linehan” podcast, featuring co-host Tamerra Griffin, had a PACKED show last week, including an interview with two-time World Cup winner Tobin Heath and an expansion team discussion with Bay FC defender KiKi Pickett and Utah Royals head coach Amy Rodriguez. A new special episode will drop this Wednesday on Juneteenth.
NWSL Recap
Croix Bethune doesn’t need lucky dice
You’re going to hear “Croix Bethune” a lot. Get used to it.
The Washington Spirit rookie is absolutely dominating the league right now. While the early projections have her leading the Rookie of the Year race, I would also argue she’s making a case for MVP. That’s especially impressive when you consider the performances of other Golden Boot leaders Barbra Banda in Orlando, Temwa Chawinga in KC and Sophia Smith in Portland.
GO DEEPER
Croix Bethune on her USWNT call, record-breaking rookie year in NWSL and 'demon time'
- Bethune leads the league in assists (eight) and is second on the Spirit for goals with five, behind Ouleymata Sarr — someone Bethune has assisted multiple times.
- On Saturday, she became the first player in league history to score multiple result-changing goals after five or more minutes of stoppage time in the regular season.
- This week she did it against San Diego Wave in the final 30 seconds of the game while being defended by one of the best center backs in the league, Naomi Girma, who was also having a particularly good game.
“I knew one was gonna go in,” Bethune said postgame with signature confidence.
In the 97th minute, Bethune received a pass from defender Casey Krueger, chesting the ball down and striking it mid-volley to beat goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan near-post. The dice celebration is one of my favorites of the year. Interim head coach Adrián González is a close second.
CROIX BETHUNE IS HER 👑 pic.twitter.com/eYwiLB5UzR
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 16, 2024
Bethune is everywhere. It’s a good week to subscribe to the Full Time podcast if you haven’t already…
Play to the whistle
Bethune isn’t the only one keeping things interesting until the final minute. It’s the midway point of the season, with most NWSL teams having played 13 of their 26 scheduled matches. Five teams have separated from the pack in the table’s upper echelon, while only two — the Seattle Reign and Utah Royals — have yet to accrue a dozen points to stay in playoff contention.
As always with this league, whether you’re a front-runner or an underdog, a lead is never safe.
After winning the NWSL Shield in 2023, the San Diego Wave is now leading a far less desirable table. No team has dropped more points from leading positions than their 11. This inability to see out results is keeping them from a playoff position for now. It’s also a surprise to see the unbeaten KC Current in third on this list — though any time a lead turns to a draw, it tacks another pair of points onto this ledger.
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We’ll talk more about that in a minute, as Jeff watched the Current’s most recent 90-minute concession in Kansas City from the stands.
But first, the good…
It’s mostly positive from a KC perspective as the team has yet to suffer defeat. The Current has come back to win in three of the five games they’ve gone behind in. Simply, they’re one of the league’s most watchable teams not just for their on-field quality, but for the unpredictable nature of their games.
Fans of the other unbeaten side, Orlando Pride, shouldn’t be surprised to see their team absent from the latter table. Orlando has only trailed twice and came back to draw both contests. Talk about dominance.
An evening at CPKC Stadium
As I mentioned before, our resident midwesterner, Jeff, was in Kansas City as the Red Stars traveled for what turned out to be the game of the week on Friday night.
I’ll start with something super mundane. We know KC is leading the way with its team-specific stadium, but what was the parking situation like?
Jeff: Let me state this in plain: no event in the world can justify charging $55 for parking. Even the world’s best musicians would blush at that kind of markup. Nevertheless, I ponied up change to ensure that I got the full in-stadium experience on Friday.
I have to say, $55 is a steal compared to some of the prices I’ve seen around Audi Field – sometimes as high as $80. But I digress, let’s get to the game. It was another sellout for KC, their seventh of the season. Can you describe the vibes of the 11,500-person crowd?
Jeff: The atmosphere at CPKC Stadium was electric. Fans in all sections were attentive and participated in the “KC Baby” chant whenever provoked. Current fans were friendly and surprisingly eager to make room along the railing to ensure I got a good vantage point. The handful of fans I spoke with (note: I didn’t divulge my day job) seemed very caught up on not just the Current, but the NWSL as a whole. The game was a blast, a 2-2 final that saw the teams exchange leads. KC was the proactive side and Chicago played opportunistic spoiler. Not to mention the opening goal from Mal Swanson. It looks like the Red Stars learned from their loss at Wrigley Field last week. Find Swanson, she’ll find the goal.
THIS GOAL BY MAL SHOULD BE STUDIED 🤯 pic.twitter.com/D3Jzo3sZMl
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 15, 2024
The club announced another sellout, and I’d be surprised if the bodies-in-crowd total wasn’t greater than the venue’s listed capacity. Seemingly, the only thing left for KC to sort out is transportation.
Fair point. Pricing aside, how was getting to and from the stadium?
Jeff: The team offers two off-site shuttle options, but both are located within half a mile of one another in Kansas City, Missouri’s downtown. A bit of roadwork did no favors, and a fleet of traffic stewards could only do so much to make sense of the ensuing tangle of turns and narrow lanes. If they can find alternative ways to generate that parking revenue, this will be the standard-bearer for NWSL stadia for years to come.
Meg’s Corner: A new Reign
As you’re reading today’s newsletter, I’m actually in France. It’s not for the Olympics yet, though I will see the torch pass through while I’m here. I’m with a crew from The Athletic at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, where women’s sports have planted a flag as one of the major topics. I’m moderating some panels, including one with NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, and trying to soak in some sun along the beaches while I can. In the meantime, one of the stories I worked on ahead of my departure was the sale of the Seattle Reign FC finally becoming official.
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The Seattle Sounders ownership group and investment firm Carlyle partnered to take over the NWSL club. Adrian Hanauer, the majority owner of the Sounders, will serve as the Reign’s governor on the NWSL board, with Carlyle’s head of private credit, Alex Popov, named as the alternate governor.
The Reign has also appointed a new chief business officer, with Sounders chief operating officer Maya Mendoza-Exstrom stepping into the new role on the NWSL side.
“There’s a commonality between what our founders and ownership have hoped for both of these clubs,” Mendoza-Exstrom told me. “The Sounders owners are local. They believe in both of these clubs as community assets, and what it means to put down deep roots in the community. None of us are bigger than the brand.”
The Reign has been in a holding pattern since the sale was first announced by previous owners OL Groupe in April 2023, before Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang took over Olympique Lyonnais Féminin. The French group acquired the Reign in 2019, then under the leadership of Jean-Michel Aulas, for approximately $3.5 million.
OL Groupe confirmed the purchase price for 100% of the Reign’s shares by the Sounders and Carlyle was $58 million in March – a considerable increase seen across the league.
While this clears a long-standing hurdle, it’s a little too early to know how quickly any changes will affect the on-field product. The Reign have had a rough start to the 2024 season, currently in 13th place and managing only two wins so far, despite last year’s run to the championship against eventual winners Gotham FC.
But with Mendoza-Exstrom, who will lead the club’s business side, there’s a passion to make things right. “It means something different to put the shirt on, to have that badge over your heart and stewardship of something that you love. I don’t take that lightly. It’s an honor,” she said.
Correction
Last week, Meg’s Corner featured the Chicago Red Stars NWSL record attendance. In the original version, we said the record also outdrew the U.S. women’s national team the last time they were in the city. While that is true, we misstated that the last time the USWNT was in town was 2019 in Jill Ellis’ farewell game. The team was back at Soldier Field last year for Megan Rapinoe’s last game with the team. Still, the Red Stars outdrew both games.
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(Top photo: Amber Searls, USA TODAY Sports)