Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has joined an ownership group looking to bring an NWSL expansion team to Cincinnati, a representative for the NWSL Cincinnati bid confirmed to The Athletic.
Cincinnati is considered a finalist in the race to land the NWSL’s 16th franchise. The league is expected to award the bid before the end of the year, with that team beginning play in 2026 alongside another expansion team in Boston.
ESPN was the first to break the news of Clark’s involvement.
“The NWSL Cincinnati bid team is thrilled that Caitlin Clark has joined our ownership group in pursuit of bringing a women’s professional soccer team to our city,” the ownership group said.
“Her passion for the sport, commitment to elevating women’s sports in and around the Greater Cincinnati region, and influence as an athlete and role model for women and girls around the world, make her a vital part of our compelling bid to become the 16th team in the NWSL.”
Clark’s involvement raises the stakes for the NWSL expansion race, with Cincinnati considered a finalist among a handful of other cities. Ownership groups have publicly expressed interest in places like Cleveland, Denver, Philadelphia and Nashville.
The 22-year-old Clark was selected first in the WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever in 2024 after a prolific college career at the University of Iowa. Her rookie season for the Fever brought with it unprecedented attention, or what many called the “Caitlin Clark effect.”
While Clark’s involvement in an NWSL may come as a surprise to some, her interest in soccer was well-documented. She grew up as a two-sport athlete in Iowa, playing soccer in high school before committing to basketball full-time.
The Cincinnati group has strong ties to Major League Soccer’s FC Cincinnati. The group, led by Jeff Berding, FC Cincinnati’s president and co-CEO, the team’s controlling ownership group and management team, with support from “a cohort of women executives,” first confirmed their interest in June.
While the NWSL has been tightlipped about the race for NWSL’s next expansion team, a name like Clark’s certainly raises the profile for Cincinnati to bid. It helps that the team has the backing of FC Cincinnati’s ownership, meaning that an NWSL team in the city could potentially share resources and facilities with the MLS club.
The ownership group in nearby Cleveland recently announced an ambitious proposal to build a new stadium to support a future NWSL team as well as an MLS Next team in the city’s downtown. They secured the land through a public-private partnership with the city. That proposal, though, hinges on the NWSL bid being awarded to them.
Required reading
- Inside the decades-long struggle that made the Caitlin Clark phenomenon possible
(Photo: Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
