In one of our final newsletters of 2025, I described the Courage season as primarily feeling like “unfinished business” – referencing a squad that showed intense promise at times, but fell short of their own goals. In this post, and a related part 2, I consider what needs to hold on to – and what needs to improve – as the Courage head into one of the most pivotal off seasons in team history.
Attendance
Perhaps one of the best storylines of the season was the explosive, consistent growth in Courage attendance.
In the past, the Courage did well to build an audience throughout each season, culminating in a full stadium later in the year. By fall, plenty of people were ready to watch great soccer; support a fun, professional team advancing to the post-season; and frankly, the Courage likely got a late-season boost from extra unused season tickets.
2025 was completely different: the team started out with very strong sales, and crowds were consistently setting records even as the team struggled to garner wins, saw team members get fewer call-ups to the USWNT, and went through a coaching change. Their final, sold-out match set a regular-season record, despite a freak rainstorm.
As a journalist, my primary job in evaluating success and failure is to offer context, so let’s look at the league as a whole. After several seasons of massive growth, the league had an overall decline in attendance this year. It was surprising, considering media buzz around the league is at an all-time high, with a still-nascent multi-partner broadcast deal, and broadcasters picking up “available inventory” throughout the season, meaning they paid to air games that otherwise would have been relegated to NWSL+. But the Washington Spirit and the North Carolina Courage stood out as two teams who saw serious growth this year.
Additionally, when it comes to attendance figures, I think the Courage sometimes get unfairly punished by weather. While many league stadiums are outdoors, WakeMed can be particularly unpleasant in rain or extreme heat: all seats are exposed; the areas that are covered can’t hold everyone and don’t offer much view of the action; and, on rainy days, the getting back to the parking area can be wet slog through mud. Many of the early matches this year were in exceptionally pleasant weather, so I was curious to see what would happen when it took a turn. Both of the last matches were hosted in pouring rain, and still had phenomenal attendance. Granted, the penultimate match was youth night and a lot of people stuck out the first half to support kids, but that can’t be brushed aside in the context of the overall numbers throughout the season.
High attendance eases some pressure on investors, and helps build confidence that long-term, this team deserves better training and game-day facilities. If the Courage can keep ticket demand high, it should help convince more people to put money into the team, and perhaps ultimately make the case for a new stadium.
There’s not a consistent means of tracking broadcast views, especially among streaming services, but I’d be curious to see if those grew as well.
Young player development
Last year, we thought Riley Jackson looked promising. This year, she was impossible to ignore, even on a national stage. Add to that the explosive year Manaka Matsukubo had, the phenomenal final few games for Shinomi Koyama, and the reliability of Maycee Bell, and the team has a young, talented squad on their hands, even with the departure of Jaedyn Shaw. The late-season addition of Payton Linnehan also showed signs of another promising player poised to break out. While we didn’t see her play, Sydney Schmidt could potentially be another fantastic addition. Also, it will be interesting to see what happens with Brooklyn Courtnall as her loan to Bay FC winds down.
Katie and I are both of the mindset that you need some veterans in place to provide a steady, guiding hand, even if you’re building for the future. The Courage offers this in force. Meredith Speck and Denise O’Sullivan come readily to mind. And planned or not, the addition of Natalie Jacobs likely will provide a pretty smooth replacement for the departing Kaleigh Kurtz. Given that the Courage don’t have the same level of financial backing as some other teams in the league, there’s plenty to build on here to make a strong showing for 2026. A few strategic investments – even in young players that might potentially continue to add to the dynamic mix – could make the squad something special.
Top tier administrative additions
Again, let’s take a look at some context around the league. Of the teams that made the playoffs, only the Spirit and San Diego Wave experienced coaching changes. In San Diego’s case, Jonas Eidevall came from Arsenal, and was presumably an expensive hire. He took over before the season even started. And as for the Spirit, Kang’s international pipeline is becoming the model, with an assistant coach poised and ready to take the reins when the head coach moves on.
Time will tell if Angel’s City’s coach, Alexander Straus, will have an impact. Houston hired Angela Hucles Magano as a new GM and brought in Fabrice Gautrat (a former Courage assistant coach) in the offseason. It’s early days, but it’s safe to say neither team significantly changed their trajectory for 2025. Bay FC went from playoff contender in 2024 to bottom three in the league in 2025. While it’s obviously too early to make a real judgment, Chicago’s hire of Martin Sjögren was met with a resounding “meh.” And Denver hired outgoing Courage Chief Soccer Officer Curt Johnson.
In taking a broad view across the league, the Courage’s new Chief Soccer Officer, Dr. Ceri Bowley, might quietly prove to be one of the best hires in the league in 2025. While it’s too early to make any serious pronouncement, he’s been openly welcomed by fans. Publicly, he comes across as thoughtful and passionate about the club. While the Nahas firing was awkward, Bowley followed up with a town hall for season ticket holders in which he engaged earnestly and genuinely with fans. With the media, he’s repeated his desire to build “the best club in the world” so often and with such conviction, we take that intent at face value. But more than that, he has the experience and connections to direct a strategy and pipeline. In short, he may be able to make serious strides toward that claim. He knows building great clubs takes time, and that you have to make the best of the resources you have.
The Courage also have a massive opportunity with their head coaching hire. If the next coach is a savvy pick, meaning someone with a sharp vision and compelling enough to pull in a good player or two, you could potentially have two dynamic leaders steering the club to the next level. Whether the Courage hire a splashy name that turns heads, or make a quietly strategic choice, it can work. But the coach must have the ability to attract and retain talent in a club that’s looking to stay top tier in a shifting league.
Adding to the Chief Soccer Officer hire, we’ve already sung the praises of the marketing team in 2024 and especially in 2025, which has moved ticket sales to a meaningful degree. And the training staff are widely respected across the league, a theme we’ve heard players reference all season long.
The bones of a great club are in place, and a few key moves could mean exponential momentum for the Courage.