Hello friends! In your inbox with a 🧑🏻🦰 SOLO EPISODE 🧑🏻🦰 I covered two hot-off-the-press news items from this week: 1) Gotham FC is officially coming to NYC and moving the team to Etihad Park in Queens, NYCFC's new $780M stadium. 2) The Women’s Professional Baseball League revealed team names and logos ahead of opening day on August 1st. Our team is the NY Heights, in honor of civil rights leader Dorothy Height.
On the big Gotham move, we hit on:
Why now: The team’s vision of becoming an elite club, and overcoming Gotham’s attendance issues, which lag behind NWSL averages despite two championships in three years
The New Jersey of it all: Empathy for longtime NJ fans, and what I hope Gotham does to honor them and the club’s Garden State roots
This announcement as a crown jewel in a collection of buzzy moments: the new $35 million dedicated training facility, signing Sam Kerr, and the Queen’s Classic happening on July 15th
The people behind the vision: Yael Averbuch West and Carolyn Tisch Blodgett
As for our WPBL team, the NY Heights, I talked about the woman who inspired our team name and identity: Dorothy Height, a lifelong leader in the women’s and civil rights movements.
Height’s contributions and legacy can’t be overstated, but of course she didn’t get nearly the same recognition for her work as her male counterparts. The league honoring her in this way feels extremely special; I’m really proud of the WPBL with this rollout. I plan to do a deep dive on Height and the other legends the league chose as namesakes in the coming weeks.
Hope you enjoy this episode! Links below to things I mentioned, as always.
LINKS
Subscribe to Good Sport NYC on Substack
Gotham’s announcement video
Learn more about Dorothy Height and her legacy
