Ep. 28 | Is Pay-to-Play Capping USWNT Dominance?, NWSL's Parity Surge, Paige Bueckers & Wings Spotlight

Raising the Game: Covering WNBA, NWSL, PWHL & More · Jul 15, 2026 · 1h 24m

Is it still fair to assume the U.S. Women's National Team just wins? This week we dig into how six countries develop their women's soccer talent, and why the American pay-to-play system might be quietly capping the USWNT's ceiling heading into the 2027 World Cup.

With men's World Cup fever in the air, we run a full comparison of the development pipelines in the U.S., Spain, Japan, England, Brazil, and Colombia, from cost and coaching philosophy to participation numbers, and ask whether the rest of the world is finally closing the gap. We also cover a wide-open NWSL race, an Orlando Pride…