Raising the Game: an NWSL podcast that covers the league and the business behind it
Raising the Game is a weekly women's sports podcast hosted by Caitlin Tripp and Alex Tripp, and the NWSL has been part of our weekly rotation since we launched in January 2026. We cover the matches and standings, but we spend just as much time on the decisions happening off the pitch — labor fights, expansion fees, and a marketing strategy that's actively rewriting how the league sells itself.
New episodes every Wednesday.
Watch the latest NWSL episode
What our NWSL coverage actually includes
Every episode gets an NWSL section (in season) covering that week's results, transfers, and standings. But the episodes people send to friends are usually the ones where we go deeper: the league's labor fights, the economics behind an 82x jump in expansion fees, or a marketing campaign built to convert World Cup fans into NWSL fans.
We also try to follow stories to their resolution instead of dropping them after one news cycle. We covered the Rodman Rule from the week it was introduced through the Players Association's demand that it be rescinded, and we've tracked this season's parity race from the first weeks of shuffled standings through the fight for the final playoff spots.
The Rodman Rule and the NWSL's labor fights
One of our earliest deep dives was on the NWSL's "High Impact Player Rule" — nicknamed the Rodman Rule almost immediately, since the league introduced it shortly after vetoing a Washington Spirit offer to Trinity Rodman. The rule lets teams spend up to $1 million above the salary cap to retain a small number of qualifying players, and the NWSL Players Association pushed back hard, arguing it changed the league's salary structure without collective bargaining and would only ever help a handful of players. We also covered the counterargument from Gotham FC majority owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, who framed players leaving for better-funded leagues overseas as a sign of a healthy global market rather than a failure at home.
That tension resolved a few weeks later when Trinity Rodman signed what was, at the time, the largest contract in women's soccer history — a three-year, $1 million-a-year deal with the Spirit. We covered both sides of that story: the rule that sparked the fight, and the deal that (for one player, at least) settled it.
Want the details? Our Rodman Rule explainer covers how the High Impact Player rule works, the eight criteria for who qualifies, and the full timeline of the Rodman fight.
The business story: expansion fees, history, and a new marketing playbook
Ahead of the 2026 season, we did a full history episode tracing the NWSL back to the 1999 World Cup boom, through the WUSA and WPS collapses and the 2021 abuse scandal that produced the Yates Report, to the league that exists today. The number that still surprises people: expansion fees went from $2 million for San Diego in 2021 to $165 million for Atlanta's incoming 2028 franchise, an 82x increase in under a decade.
We've also covered how the league sells itself now. During the Men's World Cup, the NWSL ran a "Summer of Soccer" campaign — a tour bus following World Cup host cities, flagpole events like the Challenge Cup, and a "Imagine Missing This" ad push aimed squarely at Gen Z FOMO — betting it could convert soccer-curious fans instead of going quiet during the tournament. We dug into the research behind that bet too, including data showing women's sports revenue grew 4.5x faster than men's sports from 2022 to 2024, and that the "fluid fan" — someone who follows sports through social media rather than appointment TV — is more common among women's sports fans than the industry assumed.
This season: parity, new rules, and a fan code of conduct
The 2026 season has been defined by genuine parity — lower-table teams beating the top of the league most weekends, and a tight race for the final playoff spots that we've tracked week by week. We've also covered the league's midseason rule changes, several borrowed from the Men's World Cup: an off-field treatment rule, timed substitutions, and a simplified heat policy. The change we spent the most time on was the NWSL's new digital code of conduct, which lets the league itself (not individual teams) ban fans from games or revoke season tickets for harassing players or other fans online.
Start with these NWSL episodes
Five entry points, depending on what you're most interested in:
NWSL season preview and league history (Episode 10)
Two failed leagues, a reckoning, and a $2.5 billion comeback, folded into a full preview of the NWSL's 14th season. This is the episode we send people who ask why the NWSL matters.
The Rodman Rule, explained (Episode 3)
Our deep dive on the NWSL's High Impact Player Rule, the Players Association's response, and the wider question of what keeps top talent from leaving for leagues overseas.
Trinity Rodman signs the record deal (Episode 4)
The follow-up: Rodman's three-year, $1 million-a-year contract with the Spirit, and what it meant for the rule that sparked the controversy two episodes earlier.
The NWSL's Summer of Soccer bet (Episode 24)
How the league is using the Men's World Cup to convert new fans, and the fan research data behind the strategy.
New rules and the fan code of conduct (Episode 27)
The NWSL's return from its World Cup break, its new World Cup-inspired rule changes, and the digital code of conduct that puts fan accountability on the league instead of individual teams.
Never Miss an Episode
Subscribe to Raising the Game wherever you listen.
If you'd rather read, the blog has written recaps of every show, including the NWSL episodes above.
Latest NWSL episodes
Episode 43 - A WNBA Title Could Be Clinched at 12:30 in the Afternoon
Game six of the WNBA Finals tips at 12:30 Eastern because of an arena conflict, the Indiana Fever lost their team president and general manager in the same day, and the last NWSL playoff spot comes down to three teams on decision day.
Episode 42 - Nobody on the Valkyries Can Slow Down Angel Reese
Angel Reese put up 30 points and 16 rebounds to even the WNBA Finals, the league handed out a six-player All-Rookie Team, and the USWNT came back from two down against Spain without answering the question of who actually starts.
Episode 41 - A'ja's Fifth MVP, Two Sweeps, and a Finals Nobody Predicted
A'ja Wilson won her fifth MVP, and Golden State and Atlanta swept their way into a Finals between the league's highest-revenue team and its lowest-attended one. Plus Spain exposed a real problem in the USWNT midfield.
Episode 40 - The College Sports Bill's Title IX Loophole, Angel Reese's DPOY, WNBA Semis
The Protect College Sports Act cleared the Senate with a Title IX workaround buried in its language, Angel Reese won Defensive Player of the Year, and the WNBA semifinals delivered the best basketball of the season.
Episode 39 - The Lynx's Playoff Wake-Up Call, PWHL's First All-Star Game, NWSL Tiebreak Chaos
The Lynx dropped game one at home, none of the four WNBA playoff openers were close, and the PWHL announced the first all-star game in women's professional hockey history.
Episode 38 - WNBA Seeding Chaos, Records Falling, and a Report the NWSL Can't Wave Off
The WNBA regular season ends with five teams fighting over four seeds, records fall everywhere, and a Defector report on how the NWSL handles misconduct.
Episode 37 - Team USA Sets the Standard, and the WNBA Playoff Math Gets Real
Team USA's fifth straight FIBA World Cup title, a third-quarter masterclass against France, WNBA playoff seeding math, and our USWNT roster picks for Spain.
Episode 36 - Jeff Goldberg on the UConn Dynasty
Our first interview: Jeff Goldberg on covering UConn for the Hartford Courant, what the Apple TV docuseries left out, and the WNBA at 30 vs. the NBA in 1977.
More NWSL episodes
- Episode 35 - We Did the Me-Bounds Math, and the NWSL Playoff Line Keeps Moving
- Episode 34 - The Facility Boom, the Playoff Logjam, and Getting the Clowns Out
- Episode 33 - Cameroon Makes History and Kayla McBride Makes Records
- Episode 32 - Women's Pro Baseball Is Back After 70 Years, Plus the Playoff Races Get Real
- Episode 31 - FIFA's $20 Billion World Cup Plan Collapses in Three Days
- Episode 30 - Record Crowds and a Messy All-Star Game, Plus the Fight Over Title IX
- Episode 29 - Does the WNBA Need New Leadership? Plus the Queen's Classic and an All-Star Draft Preview
- Episode 28 - Is It Still Fair to Assume the USWNT Wins? Pay-to-Play, Global Parity, and a WNBA Roundup
- Episode 27 - All-Star Snubs, an Officiating Firestorm, and NWSL's Big Return
- Episode 25 - Serena Returns, NWSL Comeback, and a WNBA Heat Check
- Episode 24 - Marketing Women's Sports and the New Fan Economy
- Episode 22 - Dense Week: Transfers, Transparency, and the Fever's Cracks
- Episode 21 - Montreal Raises the Walter Cup, PWHL Goes to 12, and the WNBA Heats Up
- Episode 20 - PWHL Finals Heat Up, Four New Teams Confirmed, and the WNBA Has a Whistle Problem
- Episode 19 - Ottawa Upsets Boston, Detroit Joins the PWHL, NWSL Week 7, and WNBA Season 30 Is Here
- Episode 18 - PWHL Playoffs Heat Up, Expansion Plans Drop, WNBA Season 30 Arrives
- Episode 17 - PWHL Playoffs Set, NWSL Week 5, and WNBA Preseason
- Episode 14 - NCAA Championship, WNBA Free Agency, and Why Connecticut Can't Have Nice Things
- Episode 12 - The WNBA CBA Is Here, Women's Tackle Football, and March Madness Magic
- Episode 11: WNBA CBA Crunch Time, NWSL Is Back, and the PWHL Playoff Race Heats Up
- Episode 10: NWSL Season Preview, She Believes Cup, and a Whole Lot of Soccer
- Episode 7 Recap: USA Women's Hockey, WNBA CBA, Angel Reese Returns to Unrivaled & NWSL Roster Moves
- Episode 6 Recap: 2026 Winter Olympics, Lindsey Vonn, & Team USA Hockey
- Episode 4 Recap: PWHL Deep Dive, Rodman’s Record Deal & USWNT’s New Era
- Episode 3 Recap: NWSL "Rodman Rule," WNBA Moratorium & 2026 Winter Olympics Preview
Frequently asked questions
Is there a podcast dedicated to the NWSL?
Raising the Game isn't exclusively an NWSL podcast — we also cover the WNBA, PWHL, USWNT, and college sports — but the NWSL is in our weekly rotation every single episode. We've covered the league from the Rodman Rule fight through a full season of standings, expansion, and roster news.
Do you cover NWSL expansion and the league's business side?
Yes. We've tracked how NWSL expansion fees went from $2 million for San Diego in 2021 to $165 million for Atlanta's incoming 2028 franchise — an 82x increase in under a decade — and we cover the league's marketing strategy, including its Men's World Cup tie-in campaign, in the same depth we give match coverage.
Do you cover NWSL labor issues like the Rodman Rule?
In detail. We broke down the High Impact Player Rule (quickly nicknamed the Rodman Rule) when it was introduced, the NWSL Players Association's demand that it be rescinded and collectively bargained, and the wider tension between NWSL salaries and what top players can earn overseas.
How often do new NWSL episodes come out?
Weekly, every Wednesday, with a dedicated NWSL section in nearly every episode covering standings, transfers, and the league's bigger storylines.
Do you cover the NWSL's business and history, not just this season?
Yes — we did a full deep dive on the league's history for our season preview, tracing the 1999 World Cup boom through the WUSA and WPS collapses, the 2021 abuse scandal and Yates Report, and the rebuild that got the league to today's multi-billion-dollar valuations.
Where can I listen to your NWSL podcast episodes?
Full video episodes are on YouTube. Audio is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every major podcast app. Every episode also gets a written recap on our blog.
What makes your NWSL coverage different?
We treat the league's business decisions — expansion fees, marketing campaigns, labor rules — as seriously as the games themselves, and we follow stories across months instead of dropping them after one news cycle.
How do I suggest an NWSL topic or guest?
Email us at raisingthegamepod@gmail.com or reach out on Instagram. Several of our deep dives started as listener questions.