On the eve of the NWSL championship in Kansas City, commissioner Jessica Berman addressed a wide range of issues facing the league. She reflected on a historic 2024 season with record viewership after the first year of the league’s new media rights deal and hinted at some of what lies ahead for NWSL expansion.

She also announced a new partnership with the formula company Bobbie, intending to increase the spotlight on parents in the league.

“It’s important for us all to be reminded that this league is really young and our growth is in front of us,” Berman said, after quickly acknowledging the league’s belated birthday. “Although it’s our 12th-year birthday, it’s actually only been the third season that the league has been independent, so imagine the growth that’s in front of us, given how short our runway has been to date.”

In her remarks, Berman narrowed the list of potential expansion cities to three — Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver — and shared her thoughts on Caitlin Clark’s participation in the Cincinnati bid. While infrastructure remains a hot topic in the league, Berman remains adamant that top training facilities for teams will “become the norm.”

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Berman’s state of the league address.

NWSL expansion

On Friday, Berman confirmed three finalists in the expansion race to likely join Boston in 2026, following a surprise announcement Thursday night that WNBA star Caitlin Clark had joined the ownership group hoping to bring a team to Cincinnati.

“The process is ongoing, and we’re really enthusiastic about the final three prospects that we have in the process,” Berman said. “We’ll have news to share in the coming weeks as we move to close with one of those three markets.”

GO DEEPER

Caitlin Clark joins group looking to bring NWSL team to Cincinnati

The ownership group in Cincinnati has strong ties to Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati, suggesting that an NWSL club in the city would share facilities with the men’s team. The ownership group in Cleveland, meanwhile, has plans to build a new stadium for an NWSL team to share with an MLS Next club in the city’s downtown.

When asked about Denver, Berman kept its proposals under wraps.

“Not a lot of details to share here,” Berman said. “We’re just excited about being at the stage of the process where we are, particularly given all the interest leading up to this point.”

Berman also made clear that going beyond 16 teams is not off the table.

“As we think about the geographic footprint of our country, we know that a 14-team league is not where we will end up. All of the men’s leagues are 30-plus teams for a reason,” she said. “In order to build the kind of national exposure and visibility and media deals that we think this league deserves, and our fans deserve, we know we need to be in more markets.”

NWSL youth development

Amid NWSL expansion, and with the elimination of the NWSL college draft earlier this year, conversations have been ongoing about how teams can better develop players.

Unlike MLS, the NWSL has yet to establish an academy system to develop players or better identify talent, even as younger players become professionals following the league’s establishment of the Under-18 Entry Mechanism.

“I think what you’ll see in the NWSL beginning as soon as 2025 is a stake in the ground around the pathway to pro and an iterative process year over year where we’ll be really intentional about the place in the ecosystem where our investment will make the biggest impact,” Berman said. “It may or may not look exactly the same in every market, and it may or may not look exactly the way it has been done in the men’s game.”

On Tuesday, U.S. Soccer announced that Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang was donating $30 million to the federation for women’s soccer. The funds, distributed over the next five years, will go toward women’s youth national team camps, talent identification and scouting, and female coach and referee education and mentorship.

“One of the things that we think is really important as we’re building this league, and have the benefit of doing that in 2024, is that we can learn from the past and make sure, again, when we think about resources, that we’re investing our resources in the places that will have the biggest impact and make the biggest difference,” Berman said.

“I sit on the board of U.S. Soccer. They’re going to be doing a lot in the youth space. … We’re going to work really hard to ensure that we’re working in lockstep with U.S. Soccer, making sure to complement and not compete in any places.”

Last month, five former Wave employees filed a lawsuit against the club in the San Diego Superior Court, following allegations first raised in July by Brittany Alvarado, a former video and creative manager for the club. She accused San Diego and its president, Jill Ellis, of creating a hostile work environment. Ellis was not named as a defendant in the employees’ lawsuit.

During a limited media availability ahead of the Washington Spirit and NJ/NY Gotham’s semifinal match, Berman said that the club is under relatively new ownership and that she had “a high degree of confidence that the club is going to be healthy and strong.” Berman described Ellis as “an icon in our industry” whose career “speaks for itself” when asked about Ellis’ role in the litigation.

GO DEEPER

NWSL commissioner addresses San Diego Wave lawsuit, field conditions

Advertisement

Jill Ellis is not named as a defendant in the former employees’ lawsuit but was alleged to have created a hostile work environment by Brittany Alvarado. (Ira L. Black / Getty Images)

The commissioner was pressed again about the matter Friday.

“Across our ecosystem, our policies and our procedures are available to everyone, players, technical staff and employees, and through our processes, we investigate and take action on any complaints that are brought to our attention,” Berman said. “We remain committed to ensuring that those policies are enforced and education exists for everyone to make sure that they know that we are here to support them in all ways that they need.”

When asked if she stood by the prior investigation, and whether that cleared the team of any wrongdoing, Berman responded, “The investigations that we’ve done in the past, universally, to the extent there was any misconduct identified, it was actioned.”

Former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry has been in negotiations to acquire the North Carolina Courage. Per Sportico’s September report, Lasry has been seeking a 60 percent stake in the team. Lasry has also recently brought on board former USWNT and NWSL player Lauren Holiday as an advisor for the sports arm of his investment group, Avenue Sports Group.

Lasry is involved in a lawsuit against a former employee, alleging she attempted to blackmail him over harassment claims. That employee has filed her own suit against Lasry, alleging that he sexually harassed her and retaliated professionally against her.

When asked if there had been any movement in Lasry’s bid to acquire the Courage or what discussions the league is having about the allegations against Lasry, Berman said, “Any new ownership that comes into the league is vetted through our robust process and due diligence, and that would be no different for that circumstance. We don’t have any news to report about that transaction.”

Global growth of club women’s soccer

This season was filled with more competitive international games than ever before, thanks to the formation of tournaments like the Summer Cup between the NWSL and Liga MX Femenil, as well as the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, which is regional clubs’ sole pathway to the Club World Cup in 2026.

“We’re really excited for the beginnings of what we have done together, and we think the future is bright for us to be able to continue working together,” Berman said about the NWSL’s partnership with Liga MX. “We are the foundational drivers of the professional game in this region, and we collectively take that responsibility very seriously. We continue to work closely with them on the ways in which we can continue to build on the momentum that we began this year, which was a first of its kind in the women’s game.”

Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga carries the Summer Cup trophy after winning the final. (Aaron Meullion / Imagn Images)

Berman alluded to even more collaborations with another North American neighbor, saying the NWSL has had “regular conversations” with the Northern Super League, which is set to begin competition in the spring of 2025 in Canada.

“I’ll give a shoutout to (NSL co-founder) Diana Matheson, who’s a former NWSL player, who we support and are excited to see be successful,” Berman said. “It’s not easy to launch a league, so we will be here to make sure that we do everything we can to create the environment that she can create a league that will allow for our entire region to continue to rise as we think about the international game.

“We have been spending a lot of time with international leagues and really beginning to unpack and understand the ways in which we can collaborate, share best practices and work together and find interesting and innovative ways to engage with each other and grow the global fan base,” Berman said. “We think the introduction of the women’s Club World Cup is going to be a moment that is going to really lift the game internationally, and I think a lot of us are thinking about the ways in which we can lean into that space in the years to come.”

(Top photo: Kylie Graham / Imagn Images)

For the first time in NFL history, a Sunday afternoon game has been flexed to Thursday Night Football.

The Denver Broncos‘ road game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16 has been flexed from Sunday, Dec. 22 to Thursday, Dec. 19, the NFL announced Friday. The original TNF matchup was set to see the Cincinnati Bengals host the Cleveland Browns. That game was moved to an afternoon slot on Dec. 22.

The Broncos previously played on TNF in Week 7 when they went on the road and defeated the New Orleans Saints 33-10. Denver is also scheduled to play on Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.

NFL rules prevent a team from being given two TNF away games when the initial schedule is released in the spring, but in-season flexes are allowed. So after playing in New Orleans on a short week earlier this season, the Broncos will play in Los Angeles on a short week later this year.

It is perhaps less-than-ideal for Denver from a competitive perspective, but it’s a sign that the league views the Broncos as an entertaining team worthy of a national spotlight. That’s quite a change from recent seasons.

Thursday Night Football is available to stream on Prime Video.

Fear has reached its tipping point for a former case manager at one of Denver’s homeless shelters.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” she said. “And I’ve worked in low-income facilities.”

The former case manager shared her experience anonymously with CBS Colorado days after issuing her resignation letter on Nov. 11. She was working for nearly a year at the Tamarac Family Shelter (formerly an Embassy Suites) at 7525 E Hampden Avenue, which is a city shelter run by the Salvation Army.

Her letter of resignation details a lot of the issues and concerns she experienced throughout her time working there.

“When we first got there, the housekeeping was there, and we had housekeeping because of the contract with Embassy Suites wasn’t over,” she said.

However, she says management eventually let housekeeping go, and the facility started to get worse.

“The condition of the building, its falling apart. We have leaks in the ceiling. We have bed bugs in the room. We have roaches,” she said. “The bathrooms are disgusting.”

The former employee shared a collection of photos she says were taken at the shelter. Photos showed dead rats outside the property, trash throughout the shelter and damaged ceilings.

“Just because they came from being homeless, doesn’t mean they need to be treated that way,” she said.

What was even more concerning to her and the clients she worked with was how much they feared for their safety within the facility.

“We’ve been experiencing a lot of domestic violence and there’s a lot of people that threaten us and say, ‘Well, we’re going to do things to your car,’” she said. “We had an individual that her husband kept her in a room and was beating her up and she had from head-to-toe bruises.”

She says despite having some security guards outside the facility, abuses or unauthorized people would still slip through the cracks.

“When the clients will say, I would rather be in the streets than be in here because it’s safer out there than it is in here,” the employee said.  

This case manager says she has also spoken up about getting more security added to the facility, including a security door. However, she says the facility’s management team did not address these concerns.

“It’s not in the funding; we can’t do it. We don’t have enough money to do security doors,” she said.

Last week, when CBS Colorado first asked the Salvation Army about these concerns, it issued this statement, “One of the things that’s good about having a working relationship with the City of Denver is that they have high expectations for the safety and cleanliness of our programs. The Salvation Army could not operate the Tamarac location if these allegations were true. The safety of our guests is our highest concern. That’s why we’re here – housing families with children, providing three meals a day and connecting our guests with the services that will strengthen their abilities to thrive on their own. Furthermore, HOST or City of Denver employees are on site most days of the workweek every week. The bottom line is the city would shut us down if we didn’t hold to their high standards of safety.”  

This week, however, a spokesperson for the Salvation Army says it’s enlisted independent legal counsel to investigate these concerns. “While the investigation is underway, we will be unable to comment.”

A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Housing Stability released a statement saying the former employee’s claims are largely untrue,” “Department of Housing Stability staff are regularly on-site at the Tamarac Family Shelter, working alongside staff members from The Salvation Army to ensure a safe, welcoming and stabilizing environment for families in crisis.”

These allegations come just as the city auditor released its findings of Denver’s homeless shelter program. The report reveals homeless funding is not being tracked, and safety concerns are not being addressed among other issues. The safety concerns are particularly connected to another shelter run by the Salvation Army on Quebec Street, the Aspen Shelter (formerly a Doubletree Hotel).

“The [homeless] should have a safe haven like they say it is. They should be able to stay there and not worry about their abuses coming in,” the former case manager said.

The report finds that Housing Stability has “ineffective systems for monitoring shelter provider performance,” and that in the case of the former Doubletree location, the city provided a security budget of $807,000 but had not hired a contractor to manage security at the property for several months. It is also the location where two people were shot and killed in March 2024, and a third person was shot and injured weeks later.

The audit also found concerns with Housing Stability’s managing of finances for shelter properties and personal information, “Housing Stability failed to hold providers accountable for their use of city funds. The department received 55% of reviewed invoices past deadline. We found sensitive confidential data was left unprotected in a shared drive that staff in other city agencies could access. Housing Stability stored documents such as birth certificate orders containing contact information and family information of shelter guests. Not protecting confidential information by restricting drive access creates a data security risk.”

“Housing Stability’s poor organization is negatively affecting operations at Denver’s shelters,” said Timothy M. O’Brien, Denver’s auditor. “These issues need to be addressed because vulnerable populations are at risk.”

A spokesperson for the city says the auditor’s report is not an accurate representation of the current state of the city’s shelter system, “Denver’s All in Mile High program has transformed the city’s homelessness resolution system, resulting in the largest decrease in street homelessness on record and positive outcomes both for those experiencing homelessness and the city as a whole. The Auditor’s report on Denver’s shelter system references data and information from more than eight months ago, and is not an accurate representation of the current state of our shelter system. We continue to constantly improve our programs, which is why although we acknowledge the auditor’s findings, it’s important to note that HOST and the City have long been working to improve the system throughout 2024.”

As for the former case manager, she hopes any new information and investigation into concerns at the shelter she worked at and others can help make these facilities better for anyone who works or lives inside them.

“More security for our residents,” she said. “That its clean, and that it’s not falling apart.”