Behind the boom in U.S. women's pro soccer
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just a few years ago, the National Women’s Soccer League was a relatively small business. Now, it’s becoming a financial juggernaut with multimillion-dollar investments, a big TV deal and huge attendance. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to tune in this weekend for the big game: the championship match between the Washington Spirit and the Orlando Pride.
Guest host and sports writer Ava Wallace speaks with soccer reporter Steve Goff and sports editor Ella Brockway about how the NWSL emerged from years of scandal and underinvestment.
Today’s show was produced by Bishop Sand with help from Lucas Trevor. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Alison MacAdam and mixed by Justin Gerrish.
Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Okay, Steve Goff, you are one of two reporters that we are sending out to Kansas City to cover the game this weekend, so I know where you will be, but Ella, where will you be watching the championship match? |
| 0:12.5 | I will be watching probably at my house while I do my job as an editor for the post, but I do plan on having a multi-screen setup. |
| 0:20.6 | Okay. So I am-screen setup. Okay. |
| 0:20.9 | So I am excited for that. |
| 0:26.0 | From the Newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. |
| 0:30.2 | I'm Ava Wallace. |
| 0:31.1 | I'm a reporter and writer of the newsletter The Sports Moment here at The Post, and I am your guest host today. |
| 0:36.9 | It's Wednesday, November 20th. |
| 0:41.4 | Today, we're talking about a huge game this weekend to end the National Women's Soccer League season. |
| 0:47.7 | The Washington Spirit and Orlando Pride are meeting in Kansas City to play for the championship, |
| 0:51.9 | and it's been a really big season for the NWSL, |
| 0:55.0 | which has come a long way since the league started in 2012. It's been a watershed few years |
| 0:59.9 | for women's sports in general, so we wanted to talk about how soccer fits in. I'm joined by |
| 1:05.9 | Steve Goff, our soccer writer for The Post, who is in Kansas City to cover the NWSL Championship on Saturday. |
| 1:11.9 | Hi, Steve. Hi, Eva. Great to be here with you. I'm also joined by Ella Brockway, an editor for |
| 1:17.2 | the Post who also cover soccer for us when you've got time, which you have so much of. Hi, Ella. |
| 1:23.4 | Hi, Eva. I'm happy to be here. Okay, so if I had to guess, I think when most people imagine |
| 1:30.0 | women's soccer, like the image that comes to mind is maybe like purple-haired Megan Rapino |
| 1:35.2 | doing the swan celebration with her like arms wide. But of course, women's soccer is not just |
| 1:41.1 | the World Cup. It's not just the Olympics, and it's wider than the U.S. |
| 1:44.5 | women's national team. |
| 1:45.9 | So, Steve, could you tell us a little bit about the history of kind of domestic leagues in the U.S. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.