When the National Women's Soccer League's eight playoff teams take the field this weekend, they will be competing for more than a run to the championship. They will be competing for legacy.
Among the playoff contenders are organizations with decades of soccer history, franchises backed by some of the most prominent sports dynasties in American sports and clubs whose owners committed hundreds of millions of dollars to facilities, player recruitment and commercial development.
Their approaches differ but their ambitions are largely the same: build winning teams, attract and retain the world's best players, grow loyal fanbases and establish clubs capable of competing for championships year after year.
"It comes down to three things: ownership, ownership and ownership," Washington Spirit chief executive officer Kim Stone told The Athletic .
Stone was referring to Michele Kang, whose acquisition of the Spirit in 2022 for $35 million came before the recent wave of billionaires and institutional investors who have transformed the economics of the NWSL in the last four years.
Since then, club valuations have climbed, expansion fees have reached record levels and ownership groups have begun committing considerable sums to facilities and operations that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
The eight clubs competing in this year's playoffs arrived at the postseason through different routes. Their experiences suggest that money alone is not enough to build a successful organization — but it helps.
Kansas City Current owners Chris and Angie Long have spent years building the physical foundations of a club they believe can become one of the world's best.
Their most visible investment, CPKC Stadium, opened in 2024 as one of the first stadiums purpose-built specifically for a women's professional soccer team. The approximately 11,500-seat venue has since become one of the league's most recognizable assets, with every NWSL home match selling out. The Longs are now planning to expand seating capacity to 18,000, with room for 20,000 spectators including standing-only areas.
"We have no doubts that it will continue to be a sold-out venue," Chris Long told The Athletic . Their investment has given the team something that remains a luxury in women's professional soccer: a place where the team is not a secondary tenant, competing for dates, locker rooms or commercial opportunities.
"We had 32 consecutive home matches unbeaten during the streak. 25 wins, zero losses, seven draws," Long said, describing the team's success. Kansas City has lost just twice at CPKC Stadium since its opening.
"So you think about the performance on the pitch, and you think about the fact that you got this investment in a facility purpose-built for the team. The two absolutely correlate, I believe."
That level of control remains elusive for many of its competitors.
The Spirit shares Audi Field with D.C. United, while Angel City play at BMO Stadium, home of Los Angeles FC, Seattle Reign plays at Lumen Field, and the Portland Thorns share Providence Park with Timbers.
Two-time NWSL champions and this year's NWSL Shield winner Gotham FC have spent years trying to establish a stronger identity at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, NJ, where they share the venue with the New York Red Bulls in MLS. But beginning in 2028, the club plans to play at Etihad Park in Queens, operated by New York City FC, where Gotham will have a dedicated locker room and greater opportunities to establish its own identity.
The move represents a significant bet on New York City, but also acknowledges a commercial challenge. Despite Gotham's success on the pitch, including its 2023 and 2025 championships, attendance has not consistently matched the ambitions of its ownership. The club averaged 8,892 spectators in 2025, below the league average and far short of filling its stadium.
Gotham's bet on infrastructure improvement extends beyond its future home. Lead owner and governor Carolyn Tisch Blodgett is also developing a $35 million training facility in Whippany, NJ , joining a growing number of NWSL owners investing in player infrastructure. ACFC renovated a 50,000-square foot performance center inside California Lutheran University's north campus in Thousand Oaks, and the Portland Thorns opened the Kaiser Permanente Performance Center earlier this year, reflecting their commitment to building world-class environments for their players.
Still, neither state-of-the-art facilities nor control over stadiums guarantee success on the field.
Kansas City, for all its infrastructure and investment, has yet to turn its recent regular-season dominance into an NWSL Championship. The Current won the 2025 Shield, setting the league's current points-total record, but suffered a disappointing playoff exit to the No. 8 seed Gotham, raising questions about whether their sporting decisions have kept pace with the rest of the organization.
The transition of Vlatko Andonovski from head coach to sporting director, followed by his departure in September, and a series of roster changes have added to those questions. The product on the field still factors heavily in a team's success.
When Willow Bay and Bob Iger acquired control of Angel City in 2024, they inherited a club that had already become a commercial success story.
Its merchandise, sponsorships and passionate fan base had helped establish the Los Angeles franchise as one of the most valuable brands in women's soccer. Yet the club was still struggling to turn those advantages into consistent results.
For Bay, the missing puzzle was parts of the front office. "We didn't have scouting and recruiting a few years ago. We have that department now," she said. "We didn't have a robust data and analytics department. We have that now."
The new ownership group made strengthening the sporting side its priority, expanding medical and performance resources to the team, investing in player care and building departments that had previously been missing.
It also invested in nutrition, sports psychology and support for players returning from pregnancy. One beneficiary has been Scottish forward Claire Emslie, who returned to the active roster in May after giving birth to her son, Jamie, in December 2025. Emslie, one of Angel City's original players, gradually worked her way back into the squad and scored her first goal since returning from maternity leave in the club's 4-1 victory over Boston Legacy on Sunday. The goal capped a 10-match unbeaten run that has made Angel City one of the league's most intriguing playoff contenders.
The club's revival also required difficult sporting decisions. Angel City replaced head coach Alex Straus in June, and its subsequent improvement has demonstrated that investing in departments and personnel is only one part of the equation. Making the right decisions about how those resources are used matters just as much.
Bay is looking beyond this season. "We want to win a championship, but more importantly, we want to build a durable and sustainable winning culture," she said.
A similar philosophy has shaped Utah's transformation. When Miller Sports & Entertainment acquired majority control of Real Salt Lake and the Royals in April 2025, it inherited a women's club still trying to establish itself in a market with a complicated soccer history.
The original Royals had relocated to Kansas City after the 2020 season, following allegations of racist and sexist behavior against former owner Dell Loy Hansen that led to his departure from ownership. David Blitzer later acquired MLS team Real Salt Lake and secured the rights to bring the Royals back as an expansion franchise in 2024. The Miller family, which previously owned the NBA's Utah Jazz, entered as Blitzer's partners and became the controlling owners last year, with Blitzer remaining the second-largest investor.
"This team was never properly introduced to the market," Steve Starks, the CEO of Larry H. Miller Company, the parent company of Miller Sports & Entertainment, told The Athletic . "Last year we were mostly observing and learning, and the team didn't make the playoffs. So this offseason, we said to ourselves, 'How do we invest in this club, and how do we invest in the women who are incredible athletes who make this club?'"
The process began with a straightforward question to sporting director Kelly Cousins: What would it take to build an elite club? The answer involved hiring more people, improving resources and retaining a core of players who could grow together. The result? Utah had an unforgettable season, reaching the playoffs for the first time, while ticket sales increased 57 percent, according to the club. The club sold approximately 14,000 tickets for the Royals' final regular-season home match, almost double their average game-day sales the last two seasons.
"Fans cheer for and become invested in organizations that care about winning," Starks said. "When they know that our players are giving it their best and trying to win, and when they know that the coaches and the front office and ownership are all aligned on wanting to invest and put the best product on the field, then they get invested in that process too, and they stay loyal."
In order to win titles, teams must also sign star players. The San Diego Wave knew that from day one, they were building a team around Alex Morgan. The club has reached the playoffs in four of its first five seasons and won a shield. After taking over the club in 2024, the Leichtman family trusted their staff to build one of the most interesting rosters in the league with U.S. and international standouts and a front office that takes care of the business side.
"They didn't blink an eye," Camille Ashton, sporting director and the general manager of the Wave, told The Athletic . "Our investment in the roster, a willingness to invest in attracting top players from the U.S. but also internationally and also retaining key players. You can see that in all these extensions that we've just announced over the last couple of months, as well in Melanie Barcenas and Lia Godfrey and Mimi Van Zanten all signing longer deals with the club, so yeah, I would say it starts with the investment in people."
The club has even shown a willingness to spend big when the result isn't immediate. This summer, San Diego signed U.S. forward Catarina Macario to a 5-year deal worth more than $8 million. However, the former Chelsea player has yet to feature for the team and was placed on the season-ending injury list in September due to an ongoing knee issue.
"It's okay to take some losses in the short term because you know why you're taking those losses," CEO Morrie Eisenberg, who arrived at Wave from Leeds United just three months ago, said. "It is a calculation that more NWSL owners will have to make as the league grows increasingly expensive to operate."
Without a college draft and rising transfer fees, some teams look beyond U.S. borders for talent.
Through its investment in HB Køge in Denmark and youth-development operations in Brazil, the Current are attempting to create an international network capable of identifying and developing talent before those players become expensive transfer targets. The approach is particularly relevant as international transfer fees rise and the NWSL's evolving roster rules give clubs greater freedom — and responsibility — in recruiting players.
Retaining talent is as important as bringing them to the league. At Gotham, Tisch Blodgett believes the trust between ownership, players and staff can be as valuable as the facilities themselves.
"I think a lot of teams can spend money and build a beautiful practice facility," she said, before emphasizing the importance of the relationships Gotham has established throughout the organization.
"Transparency and trust is really foundational to what we're building here because we're going to have difficult moments," Tisch Blodgett recalled when reflecting on last season's run to league champions. "I think the players understand our investment in them, our belief in them and that level of trust goes both ways. I think it helps us sit here in the first place but also helps in the more difficult moments."
The club has invested in sporting leadership and medical resources while building a roster capable of competing domestically and internationally. Under the leadership of club president Yael Averbuch West, Gotham signed some of the biggest global superstars including Sam Kerr and Guro Reiten while also extending contracts of USWNT stars Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett through the 2028 season.
"We will not define our success as just winning in the NWSL," Tisch Blodgett said. "We want to be one of the best teams around the world."
In Portland, RAJ Sports has a similar strategy. Lisa and Alex Bhathal were not shy with investing in their franchise since taking control in 2024. "Our job is to give our players and coaches every tool to win," Lisa Bhathal told The Athletic .
"The greatest return we've seen is retention. Olivia Moultrie, Pietra Tordin, Reilyn Turner, Jessie Fleming and others have signed multi-year deals here, and money is only part of why. When we ask them, they point to the coaches, the staff and the training environment. A player who chooses to stay tells you the investment is landing, and keeping a core together shows up on the field through chemistry and continuity."
Portland's bet on their players extends further than building a talented roster. Most recently, the team brought back Becky Sauerbrunn in a coaching and mentorship capacity and had celebrations for former players Tobin Heath and Meghan Klingenberg, making an effort to connect with the club's alumni.
As for their arch-rivals, Seattle Reign, this post season will be an important test, navigating a generational transition. With private equity giant Carlyle Group taking control of the team, Seattle simultaneously entered a new era without some of the team's originials who defined its identity. Megan Rapinoe, Lauren Barnes and Jess Fishlock were more than the faces of the franchise, they were foundational figures who built the culture and established standards and forged a connection with fans. For the club's new owners, the challenge is not simply replacing the talent that has departed, but ensuring what they cultivated remains a part of Seattle's DNA.
There is a distinction between assembling a roster capable of reaching the playoffs and building an organization that expects to be there every season. Sometimes the secret sauce is in the smallest details.
While winning championships is an easy way to measure success, longevity and dynasty-building needs a level of sustainability that comes from the community around these teams.
"You either have culture by default or culture by design," Stone said. "Culture eats strategy for breakfast, so you have to have a great culture in order to sustain your success, and it's a very difficult thing to do."
The communities that have surrounded these teams from day one and continue to grow through expansion and ownership changes are not a monolith. Every city, team and fan base comes with it's own challenges and advantages. Their approaches differ, and the full returns on those investments will take years to measure. These eight playoff teams offer no single blueprint for success, rather eight unique opportunities to grow the sport in a 14-year-old league that is still just getting started.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic .
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