Jessica Berman
Racing Louisville FC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- National Women's Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman was not the league's leader when Louisville was revealed as a new NWSL market in 2019. But that doesn't mean she hasn't believed, and doesn't believe, in it. 

"I think the future is bright for Racing," Berman said during a recent visit to Louisville. "We're excited to build on the momentum that we're seeing in this market."

Berman, who has served in her current role for a little more than two years, attended Racing's last match June 29. It was a 1-0 home loss for Louisville to expansion side Bay FC and saw the club fall short of its marketing goal for the game: sell out or fill Lynn Family Stadium.

The seating capacity for the facility is 11,600, while standing room would allow a maximum crowd of 15,304. Racing's listed attendance for the recent "Fill the Fam" promotion was 8,096. Despite that effort falling short, she noticed a larger number of fans supporting the team and some increased enthusiasm.

"It's great to see more and more fans coming to support the team," Berman said. "It's always important to have public support for your local team."

Racing Louisville FC

It is particularly important for Racing because, in the scope of the NWSL, it is a unique franchise. Going off of population, Louisville represents the smallest media market in the league. It is also the only team in the NWSL that has a status as the lone top-tier pro sports franchise for an entire state.

While the club did not meet its recent attendance goal, a Racing spokesperson said it has seen a 25% increase in attendance for this season. When looking at publicly available attendance figures for the seven 2024 home matches, this year would also mark the first time Racing has totaled at least 6,000 for each home game.

Berman noted the overall improvement and credited the organization for having standard-setting facilities as well. But she does want to see consistent attendance, and overall exposure, take another step forward.

"I'd say the thing that we want to see more of is to multiply the number of people in the stands," Berman said. "Obviously, they have been growing year over year. The last three seasons, since I've been here each year, there's been double-digit growth in attendance. And we want that to continue to grow.

"The average attendance across the league is 11,000 per game. And we want this stadium to be one of those teams that has more than 11,000 a game."

Racing Louisville FC

Going off of the available figures, Racing has only crossed a threshold of at least 10,000 twice. One occasion was earlier this season, when the club routed expansion side Utah Royals FC on what was also Thunder Over Louisville.

From a results standpoint, the team is trying to do its part to grow with Bev Yanez as a first-year head coach, Ryan Dell as a second-year general manager and a bigger coaching staff. The results have been inconsistent this year, as Louisville continues to try and make the playoffs for the first time ever. 

"Well, winning helps, for sure," Berman said. "But I think it's just being patient and also pushing, making sure that every person who lives here in Louisville knows that the only tier-one professional sports team here is a women's soccer team.

"It should be a point of pride for everybody who lives here. I just got back from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and cities are clamoring for a women's soccer team, cities of all sizes, medium and large DMAs (designated market areas). And the fact that there is a professional women's soccer team here should be something that is celebrated. Hopefully, more and more of the community will show up in support."

During her visit, Berman took some time to also meet with Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg to express similar sentiments. She looks at the attendance topic more through a lens of the size of a stadium as opposed to just relying on overall market size.

"And certainly, we feel like this venue is the appropriate size for this market," Berman said. "But we have other markets that are similarly sized to Louisville. I look at Kansas City as a really good comp.

"When I think about what this city can be, when they have a Kansas City Current game, the entire city is rallying behind the team. We think that's entirely possible and plausible here. And we're already starting to see the momentum. And again, we just need to see more of it."

Bev Yanez

Racing Louisville FC coach Bev Yanez.

Kansas City has a newer stadium and much more financial investment, similar to newer NWSL expansion clubs. The market also has more experience in pro sports with Sporting Kansas City of the MLS, the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and MLB's Kansas City Royals.

In terms of media market size, Kansas City cracks the top 35 while Louisville trails some in the top 50. And on a winning front, the NWSL standings speak loudly: Kansas City is one of two unbeaten teams and tied for the top spot. Louisville has just three wins in 15 games. 

Cultural context is important too though. Louisville has primarily been known as a dominant college sports market that is home to one of the world's most famous sporting events in the Kentucky Derby. There are professional teams not in top-tier competitions too, like the Bats and Louisville City Football Club. The latter also falls under the same ownership as Racing: Soccer Holdings, LLC. 

But what is clear is this: No matter the factors, the commissioner of the league that Kentucky's first top-tier pro team since the 1970s plays in does not view the fourth-year club as a young one anymore. 

"Since I've come into the league, more than half of our ownership groups have turned over," Berman said. "So, I would say Racing Louisville, from an ownership perspective and a facilities perspective, they're veterans in the league. They're the ones that teams look to for institutional knowledge to know what the league was like before others got here.

"And so, although our league is in our 12th season, we in many ways feel like we're just beginning in our second or third season. So, Louisville is like a foundational team for where we are today."

Racing Louisville FC

Racing understands that better than anyone after a lot of organizational change. This is really the first season of leadership stability, since Yanez was an assistant coach last season and Dell is in his second year. Louisville promoted Yanez after parting ways with its second head coach in Kim Björkegren in part because of his inability to connect with players and the team not taking a step forward in making the playoffs.

Before that, the club fired its first head coach in Christy Holly for cause due to his alleged sexual abuse of a former player and his fostering of a toxic culture detailed in two different investigative reports. That was part of a leaguewide reckoning to vigilantly respond to issues of player safety and organizational environments. 

As a result of those reports, the NWSL also now mandates separate sporting staffs for clubs under the same ownership, which Racing has implemented and continues to invest more in as it looks to grow. But now, the challenge of that growth is different.

Having top-notch facilities is not setting a standard: It is the standard. Sellouts in bigger stadiums in bigger markets are routinely happening. NWSL franchises are being sold for higher prices and the overall exposure for women's sports continues to rapidly grow, as made evident with new media rights deals for women's pro leagues and collegiate competitions. 

The challenge now for Louisville is showing it can keep an NWSL team as the commissioner notices other cities may want one. 

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