Hi, I'm Meg Linnehan. Thanks for joining me for another episode of our women soccer podcast at The Athletic,

full-time with Megalinahan. Again, that's me. Today, I'm joined by NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird,

who is at home. She got her one day off after the success of the NWSL Challenge Cup and is very

much back to work. There's a ton to talk about with her from the tournament itself to expansion

to what comes next for the NWSL on a number of fronts, not just the potential for more games

in 2021. So we're recording this episode on Tuesday, August 4th, because I'm actually on vacation

for the rest of the week. The Sacramento Bee reports that conversations are still underway between

the NWSL and the investors behind Sacramento Republic FC.

Last fall, the Sacramento Ownership Group got close to NWSL expansion with all reports back then,

indicating that they might have even opted for a quick turnaround to start play in 2020.

Instead, they fell off their radar as Louisville and Los Angeles opted for 2021 and 2022, respectively.

I'll have even more for you on this front later, though not quite this specific in the episode with Lisa.

O.L. Rain forward Jody Taylor is heading to France via a transfer to Leone, with her contract running through December 31st, 2020.

The rain will continue to hold her NWSL rights,

but this is a transfer and not alone. Now, not necessarily a news item here, but I do want to let you

know that NWSL Analytica is running a beginner's workshop on August 13th to help introduce fans

to stats, including things like heat maps, soccer roles, and so on. If you're looking to increase

your knowledge of the game, this might be a great place to start. So we recorded with NWSL Commissioner

Lisa Baird on Monday. Thanks to her media availability during the Challenge Cup itself, I didn't

revisit every single topic she discussed with the media before the tournament ended. So if you

think there's something missing from our talk, it might have already been covered. But with all that said, here's Lisa. So we're now, you know, a week and a day out.

I'll take off that day since you did have your one day off, right? Well, we can discuss our

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