Raising the Game: Covering WNBA, NWSL, PWHL & More

The Ottawa Charge pulled off a stunning late comeback to stay alive in the Walter Cup Finals, and the WNBA's new foul-calling emphasis is already reshaping games just days into the season. Episode 20 has a lot going on.

Caitlin and Alex recorded this one right after Game 3 wrapped, so the energy is real. They walk through Ottawa's dramatic third-period rally against the Montreal Victoire, break down PWHL's wave of expansion announcements, dig into WNBA opening weekend numbers (spoiler: the league is doing great), and then get into the officiating overhaul that has players, coaches, and fans still figuring out what basketball is supposed to look like now. NWSL Week 8 rounds things out with Mallory Swanson back on the pitch and a couple of league storylines that deserve more attention.

This week they cover:

• PWHL Walter Cup Finals: Ottawa staves off elimination in Game 3 on a dramatic final-minute goal, with goaltenders Gwyneth Philips and Ann-Renée Desbiens putting on a clinic. Series tied, Game 4 on the way. Plus a breakdown of what a Canadian champion means for the league and Carla McLeod's steady hand coaching Ottawa through adversity.
• PWHL Expansion: Las Vegas and Hamilton officially join Detroit for the 2026-27 season, with San Jose expected to follow. A staggering 236 players from 15 countries applied to the entry draft, making the "can we fill these rosters?" question pretty easy to answer.
• WNBA opening weekend: Sellouts across the league, 2.5 million viewers for the Fever-Wings opener (second most-watched regular season game in ESPN history), A'ja Wilson drops 45 points, and the Connecticut Sun officially relocating to Houston as the Comets.
• WNBA officiating overhaul: The off-season task force, the freedom-of-movement emphasis, the foul rate spike that has 12 of 15 teams averaging 20-plus fouls per game, and the real question of how long the adjustment period lasts before it settles into something that feels like basketball again.
• NWSL Week 8: Mallory Swanson returns from maternity leave for the Chicago Stars, Gotham FC in talks to move from New Jersey into Queens, and the Rodman Rule already getting amended before it even takes effect.

Also in the mix: Elina Svitolina wins her 20th career title at the Italian Open over Coco Gauff, Sam Kerr confirms her Chelsea departure after 115 goals and five WSL titles, and an NCAA softball super regional field heavy with SEC teams.

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The PWHL playoffs have been an absolute mess in the best possible way, and the path to the Walter Cup Final is still wide open heading into a postponed Game 5.

Ottawa pulled off one of the bigger upsets in PWHL postseason history, eliminating the Boston Fleet in four games despite being outshot 142 to 94 for the series. Meanwhile, the Minnesota-Montreal semifinal has been everything: a triple-overtime thriller, back-to-back games that raised serious player safety concerns, a suspension, and now a Game 5 postponed due to illness running through the Victoire. And on top of all that, the PWHL officially announced Detroit as its ninth team, with Las Vegas, Hamilton, and San Jose reportedly next in line.

This week on Raising the Game:

- PWHL playoffs recap: Ottawa's gritty run to the Walter Cup Final, Gwyneth Phillips standing on her head, and why the low seed has won every single PWHL semifinal so far

- Minnesota-Montreal series breakdown: scheduling injustice, discipline moments with Laura Stacey and a Frost forward suspension, and what a postponed Game 5 means for both teams

- PWHL expansion draft: We go team-by-team with our mock protected player picks, plus the NHL venue complications that knocked Washington and Denver out of contention

- WNBA Season 30 opener: Olivia Miles posts a historic debut (21 points, 8 assists) for the Lynx, the Aces get blown out by 30 on ring night, Azzi Fudd starts quietly in Dallas, and the GM survey crowns Paige Bueckers as the player GMs would build a franchise around

- NWSL Week 7: Temwa Chawinga's hat trick (first in Kansas City Current history) sparks a table surge, Utah's shutout streak hits six consecutive games and 465-plus minutes, and we ask whether Barbara Banda can carry Orlando alone

We also hit the Portland Fire's 19,000-plus WNBA home opener record, Kwanzaa Jones' historic Padres ownership bid, Marie-Louise Eta making Bundesliga history as the first woman to win a match managing a men's top-five European league team, LOVB's 113% viewership jump in year two, Rachel Entriken's outright win at a 250-plus mile ultra marathon, and Women's Elite Rugby on this weekend's watch list.

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The PWHL playoffs are delivering drama on both sides of the bracket, the WNBA's 30th season is officially here, and women's sports infrastructure is growing faster than ever, a lot to unpack this week.

Ottawa stole a road win in Boston to even their series 1-1, then headed to a sold-out Canadian Tire Center with a freshly repainted PWHL logo under the ice. Minnesota took game one against top-seeded Montreal and we saw the first playoff hat trick in PWHL history from Montreal's Laura Stacey. And the league quietly dropped a detailed five-phase expansion plan with no official teams yet, but a Detroit press conference looming.

This week we get into:

• PWHL playoffs and expansion: Ottawa's road win, the Boston-Ottawa series outlook, Minnesota's gritty game one, and a full breakdown of the league's five-phase roster-building plan designed to protect player choice while giving expansion teams a real shot at competing from day one
• WNBA 30th season: the new 15-team structure (hello Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire), the $2.2 billion broadcast deal, Sportico's valuation report with Golden State Valkyries topping the list at $850M and average franchise values up 59%, and what to watch as newly reshuffled rosters find their footing
• NWSL calendar debate: the WSL announces it will keep its spring-to-fall schedule until 2030. Caitlin makes the case for why the NWSL should not follow suit, and why the league is not in the same position as MLS was when it made that shift
• Cherie DeVaux becomes the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, guiding Golden Tempo from the worst post position in the field all the way through the outside to a historic win in the 152nd running of the race
• Nelly Korda goes back-to-back, winning the Riviera Maya Open a week after the Chevron Championship to reach 18 career LPGA victories and land four points from Hall of Fame induction

We also cover Hailey Baptiste's comeback win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open, Olivia Moultrie's 100th NWSL cap with a goal and assist, Brighton's plans for the first purpose-built women's stadium in England, Lyon reaching the UWCL final, the MNBA's long-overdue SNL cameo, and expansion city predictions.

Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage.Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: www.rtgpod.comSubstack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcastEmail: [email protected]

The PWHL playoffs are here, and Montreal made a pick that has Frost fans cautiously optimistic.

The PWHL wrapped its regular season with Kelly Pannek setting a new single-season points record (33 in 30 games), the league surpassing one million fans for the first time, and Montreal selecting Minnesota as their first-round opponent instead of the weaker Ottawa Charge. We break down why that may have been the wrong call, what to expect from the Boston-Ottawa matchup, and who has the star power to make a deep run.

This week we dig into:

• PWHL playoff bracket analysis: Montreal's controversial seed pick, Minnesota Frost vs. the top seed, and whether Ottawa can pull off a Boston upset behind goalie Gwyneth Phillips. Plus: PWHL expansion is imminent, with Vegas and San Diego reportedly in the mix alongside two-year phased rollout plans.
• NWSL Week 5 results and standings: San Diego Wave sitting at the top with 15 points and Brazilian flair to spare. Kansas City Current struggling badly under new head coach Chris Armis, and Boston's new expansion side scoring just one goal in five games. Plus the Columbus NWSL expansion controversy over McCoy Park.
• WNBA preseason first look: Caitlin Clark back on the court, Raven Johnson impressing for Indiana, Olivia Miles debuting for Minnesota, and a deeper conversation about rookie durability and what the W's record broadcast deal means for the sport's growth.
• Allyson Felix's comeback: The most decorated American track and field athlete in history announced she's targeting the 2028 LA Olympics at age 42, framing it as a "live experiment in human potential" and a challenge to the idea that women should shrink as they get older.
• Headlines across women's sports: NWSL adds an 18th team in Columbus for 2028 with a record $205 million expansion fee, the USWNT draws El Salvador in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, Arsenal leads OL Lyonnais in the UWCL semis, and Nelly Korda wins the Chevron Championship LPGA major.

We also touch on Jess Fishlock's retirement announcement and devastating injury, the ACL research initiative launched by the NWSL and NWSLPA, and Sophia Wilson's emotional first goal back from maternity leave.

Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage.Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comSubstack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcastEmail: [email protected]

The WNBA is officially back, and Episode 16 is your full preview of the 2026 season — from A'ja Wilson's record-breaking supermax to the teams you need to watch on opening weekend.

The Las Vegas Aces re-signed their entire core four (A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and Jewell Loyd), and Wilson's three-year, $5 million deal is the largest contract in women's professional basketball history. The 30th WNBA season tips off May 9th across five broadcast platforms, and the league has never been more watchable. We break down the scary contenders, the sleeper teams, and the biggest questions heading into the year.

We also dig deep into the U.S. Women's National Team's three-game series against Japan — a 2-1 series win that told us a lot more than the scoreline suggests. Emma Hayes played the long game in every sense of the phrase, and we cannot stop talking about her coaching philosophy and what it means for the 2027 World Cup.

This week we cover:

- A'ja Wilson's $5M supermax and the Aces dynasty: reigning champions return 90% of their scoring, with Becky Hammon running the show again

- WNBA season preview: our scary contenders (Las Vegas, New York Liberty, Dallas Wings), honorable mentions, and the teams with the highest upside

- USWNT vs. Japan series breakdown: Rose Lavelle's 100th cap, Sophia Wilson's return from maternity leave, record attendance in Seattle, and Emma Hayes' masterclass in building for the World Cup

- Emma Hayes deep dive: her possession-first tactical shift, her relational leadership style, and why she is the best coach in the modern era

- PWHL playoff picture: Montreal, Boston, and Minnesota are in — but the fourth seed battle between Ottawa, Toronto, and New York is going down to the literal last game of the regular season

We also cover the 2026 WNBA Draft viewership numbers (1.5M average, up 20% year-over-year), the PWHL hitting 1 million in-person fans faster than projected, the NWSL calendar shift debate, Oklahoma's back-to-back NCAA gymnastics title, and LOVB Austin's golden-set championship win.

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Website: rtgpod.com

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Email: [email protected]

The 2026 WNBA Draft just happened live as we recorded, and women's sports is officially a $3 billion industry. There's a lot to unpack.

Azzi Fudd went No. 1 overall to the Dallas Wings, reuniting with former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers and picking up a historic $500,000 rookie salary under the new CBA. The draft class was stacked, UCLA made history with six players selected, and free agency has teams looking very different heading into the 30th WNBA season. We break down the winners, the head-scratchers, and what the new CBA era means for the league.

For a good chunk of this episode we dive deep into Deloitte's 2026 "Game Changers" report, which projects global women's sports revenue to exceed $3 billion this year, a 340% increase since 2022. We go beyond the headline number and get into what actually got us here: Title IX, the 1999 Women's World Cup, the Wubble, the NCAA weight room moment, Caitlin Clark, the Paris Olympics. And then we talk about what makes women's sports grow differently than men's sports ever did.

This week we dig into:

• The Deloitte Game Changers report: commercial revenue hitting $1.4B, matchday climbing to $911M, broadcast up to $765M, and why the industry has outpaced its own projections every year since 2022
• The 2026 WNBA Draft and free agency: Azzi Fudd to Dallas, Olivia Miles to Minnesota, Angel Reese to Atlanta, and which teams are building something real vs. quietly imploding
• USWNT vs. Japan: Sophia Wilson's return, Rose Lavelle's goal and assist, what we're watching in the back line, and how Emma Hayes is likely to rotate through the three-game series
• PWHL playoff race: three teams chasing one spot, what the Frost game at the double-attack end felt like in person, and why an expansion and broadcast deal announcement feels imminent
• What makes women's sports different: cultural ambassadorship over celebrity, athletes building leagues rather than leagues building stars, and fan experience as identity rather than transaction

We also cover the White House stalling the US's 2031 Women's World Cup bid, SI Swimsuit featuring WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Sophie Cunningham, Sue Bird joining NBC's WNBA desk, and the WNBA formally approving expansion teams in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia.

Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage.Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comSubstack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcastEmail: [email protected]

UCLA just won the national championship, and they did it convincingly. Episode 14 covers the Bruins' blowout over South Carolina, the Geno-Dawn Staley postgame controversy, and what Cori Close's transformational coaching style says about the future of the program.

From there, the WNBA news is wall-to-wall this week. The Connecticut Sun are officially moving to Houston as the Houston Comets in 2027, ending a 23-year run in New England under circumstances that raised serious questions about how the league handled the sale. Angel Reese landed in Atlanta. Free agency is live. The WNBA draft is days away. And amid all of it, the league just announced a long-term broadcast deal with CBS Sports.

This week we get into:

• NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: How UCLA won the title with dominant defense, a five-senior starting lineup bound for the WNBA draft, and why Cori Close's John Wooden-influenced coaching philosophy stood in sharp contrast to what we saw from Geno Auriemma after the loss
• Connecticut Sun relocation: Why the WNBA passed on higher offers to move the franchise to Houston, what Adam Silver's reported involvement signals about NBA influence over the league, and what fans in New England lost
• WNBA free agency and expansion draft: Angel Reese to Atlanta, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo making their first picks, and a full breakdown of the WNBA draft order with five UCLA players in the top 15
• USWNT vs. Japan: Three friendlies against the reigning AFC Champions coming up, Sophia Wilson returning after 17 months away, and what Emma Hayes is actually evaluating heading into World Cup qualifying
• NWSL and Denver Summit: A record 63,000 fans at the inaugural NWSL home opener, plus the Summit's $40M bond financing for a new training center, marking a first for the league
• PWHL playoff push: The Minnesota Frost chasing home ice advantage, Kelly Pannek one point from the single-season scoring record, and attendance records falling across the league including a sellout at MSG

We also hit the figure skating World Championships (Kaori Sakamoto's fourth world title and retirement, Amber Glenn's redemption skate), Sabalenka's Miami Open win over Coco Gauff, the NFL's women's flag football league launch, NCAA gymnastics nationals bracket, and LOVB playoffs.

Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage.Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comSubstack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcastEmail: [email protected]

The pioneers who broke down the doors in women's sports didn't just play the game. They rewrote the rules, fought segregation, and built the infrastructure that every female athlete walks through today.

This is Part 1 of "The Door," the first installment in a new series called "What's the Story" from Raising the Game. For Women's History Month, we trace the origin stories of five women who each faced a different kind of barrier and refused to let it stand. From Althea Gibson breaking tennis's color line in 1950 to Donna Lopiano transforming a $57,000 women's athletic budget into a national model at the University of Texas, these are the stories behind the sports we cover every week.

This episode covers:

• Althea Gibson's journey from Harlem paddle courts to back-to-back Wimbledon championships and being handed the trophy by Queen Elizabeth II, all while navigating segregation and the U.S. State Department using her as a symbol of American excellence abroad
• Wilma Rudolph overcoming polio, a seven-year leg brace, and a sprained ankle to win three gold medals at the 1960 Rome Olympics, then demanding her homecoming parade be integrated
• Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress, who authored the 37 words of Title IX that changed women's sports forever, taking participation from 1-in-27 girls to 1-in-2 in fifty years
• Billie Jean King's fight for equal pay in tennis, co-founding the WTA, and beating Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes in front of 90 million viewers worldwide
• Donna Lopiano's 18-year transformation of the University of Texas women's athletics from a $57,000 budget to 18 national championships and a blueprint for every major university in the country

Stay tuned for Part 2, where will break in to more of the modern era and cover six more pioneering women athletes.

Follow Raising the Game for weekly women's sports coverage:Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @rtg_podWebsite: rtgpod.comSubstack: substack.com/@raisingthegamepodcastEmail: [email protected]

The WNBA just agreed to a transformational new CBA — and the numbers are staggering. Salary caps jumped from $1.5 million to $7 million, super maxes hit $1.4 million, and minimum salaries now exceed last year's super max. This changes everything.

After months of tense negotiations and over 100 hours of face-to-face bargaining in New York City, the WNBA and WNBPA reached a landmark seven-year deal that ties player compensation to league revenue for the first time. We break down the key provisions, the EPIC rule that rewards breakout rookies, and what a chaotic April of expansion drafts and free agency is about to look like.

This week we dig into:

• The WNBA CBA agreement — salary cap details, revenue sharing, the EPIC rule and how it could benefit the likes of Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Aliyah Boston, plus the wild upcoming expansion draft and free agency period
• The Women's National Football Conference — a six-year-old full-contact tackle football league with 17 teams, players from 20+ countries, and a medical advisory board dedicated to female athlete health
• Minnesota Gophers March Madness — Amaya Battle's buzzer beater, 10,700 fans in the Barn, Peps Neuman the Blanket Lady, and the first Sweet 16 since 2005
• NWSL attendance records shattering week after week, Denver Summit's 50,000+ ticket home opener, and Sam Kerr rumored to be heading stateside from Chelsea
• PWHL playoff push with Minnesota Frost leading a tight three-way race, plus a national broadcast deal for the playoffs on Ion

We also cover NCAA women's gymnastics conference championships, Jessie Diggins' retirement, the Kara Lawson coaching phenomenon at Duke, and why Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes is must-watch basketball.

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It's a big week for women's sports — and we happened to record on the night the WNBA CBA was supposed to get done.

This week:

• The WNBA CBA hits its deadline with the league and union still apart on revenue sharing — 70% of net vs. ~25% of gross — and we get into why that distinction matters, why the league dragged its feet for months, and why the players are absolutely right to hold the line.
• The NWSL is back in spectacular fashion: 129K fans across opening weekend, 30K in Boston, 50K tickets sold for Denver's March 28 home opener, Sophia Wilson (Gigi's mom!) returning from maternity leave, and Savy King back on the pitch in an emotional moment for Angel City.
• The PWHL is in its playoff push — we break down the standings (spoiler: Minnesota is in second), expansion city contenders, and the first-ever national broadcast on ION on March 28.

Plus:Catarina Macario signs an $8M record deal with San Diego Wave making her the highest-paid women's footballer in the world, NCAA women's basketball brackets are out and we are doing brackets, the Frozen Four is set with Northeastern upsetting Minnesota, college gymnastics conference tournaments, Aryna Sabalenka wins Indian Wells, Oksana Masters dominates the 2026 Winter Paralympics with four golds, Team USA rolling 4-0 in FIBA World Cup qualifying, and Sephora cements itself as the women's sports sponsor to know.

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