Over the weekend of August 16th, 2025 the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) had several matches across the country. The weekend was set to be an incredible rivalry weekend, with Orlando Pride versus Kansas City Current taking center stage with a prime time slot on CBS for a national broadcast. 

However, the weather would have a completely different plan in mind for the weekend. There would be soccer but there would be extreme weather, delays, and injuries. 

Before we dive into what the weekend brought the NWSL, let’s review the policies and procedures that set the stage for the league matches. The NWSL has several policies, procedures, and handbooks that detail out how they manage situations. 

2025 saw the NWSL institute a few new policies, such as the “GOOD BEHAVIOR INCENTIVES”. These incentives are in the Competition Handbook found here. 

“GOOD BEHAVIOR INCENTIVES:

Starting in 2025, both Players and Technical Staff members have the opportunity to decrease their yellow card accumulation total through "Good Behavior Incentives." Players and Technical Staff members will each have a separate process in order to have a yellow card deducted from their season total.”

They also included a “Captains only” set of rules. 

“ONLY THE CAPTAIN: The NWSL has opted into a trial of the “Only the Captain” protocol that was implemented by the IFAB for the 2024-25 season. The objective of the protocol is to promote cooperation between the captains and the referee, increase respect between teams and officials and prevent mobbing or crowding around officials.”

The policies and procedures came under fire earlier this year when Savy King collapsed on the field in Los Angeles when Angel City played the Utah Royals. This is where scrutiny over the game delay section of the handbook stemmed. 

“GAME DELAYS, POSTPONEMENT, AND CANCELLATION PROTOCOL TO DELAY, POSTPONE OR CANCEL A GAME

NWSL recognizes that emergencies may arise which make the start or progression of a Game inadvisable or dangerous for participants and spectators. Certain event categories automatically trigger the League Office into an evaluation of whether delay or postponement is necessary, including, but not limited to: 1) the failure of one or both Teams to arrive, (2) a lack of preparedness of one or both Teams to begin or continue playing a Game, (3) serious incident, injury or fatality to a Player, Coach, Official, Team representative or spectator or other medical concern, or (4) unfavorable weather and/or other adverse conditions beyond the control of the

participating Teams which would make playing the Game impractical or dangerous for the Players, other participants, or spectators.”

When King collapsed on the pitch and received more than 10 minutes of emergency care on the pitch, many believed the game should have been rescheduled. However, this did not happen and the league faced much criticism of their response. They acknowledged that the situation definitely qualified as an emergency, but did not share details of all the ways the league missed the mark. Questions went unanswered about details such as if a replacement ambulance was called when the original one left to take King to the hospital or if the commissioner was alerted that night to respond and react to the emergency. Afterwards, the league promised that in the future their response to emergencies would be better. 

Fast forward to the weekend of Orlando versus Kansas City at the CPKC stadium. This game was labeled the game to watch for the second half of the season, highly anticipated and destined to have a sold out stadium. The weather is forecast to be high heat, high humidity, and high UV. Humidity peaked at 78%, with high temperatures of 95 F. Surely, this would qualify under unfavorable weather or adverse conditions. 

Instead, we would meet the wet bulb global temperature device. A wet bulb, according to the National weather service, is defined as: “ WetBulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) is a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight, which takes into account: temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover (solar radiation). This differs from the heat index, which takes into consideration temperature and humidity and is calculated for shady areas. If you work or exercise in direct sunlight, this is a good element to monitor. Military agencies, OSHA and many nations use the WBGT as a guide to managing workload in direct sunlight.”

Further down in the handbook, WBGT is prevalent and further explains weather delays specifically. 

“Extreme Heat – Match Delay Procedures: 

The Referee will add a third WBGT measurement if the anticipated high air temperature of the day is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above. The first WBGT measurement will occur approximately 60 minutes prior to the start of the match at the kickoff spot. 

92. If the WBGT temperature reads at or above 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the home club’s operations staff is required to alert the League. 
93. a) The League will disseminate the information to all appropriate parties. 
94. b) The Fourth Official will take a second WBGT measurement 45 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the match (approximately right before player warm-ups). 

• If the WBGT temperature reads below 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, warm-ups may begin. 
• If the WBGT temperature reads at or above 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the home club operations staff will alert the League and the match will officially go into a delay.”

“During the Delay 

1. Similar to a severe weather delay, the match will not start or resume until it is safe to do so as outlined by the procedures below. 
2. The Fourth Official will take another WBGT measurement 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the match. Follow the same procedure as above, should the WBGT reading meet or exceed 95 degrees Fahrenheit. 

• If the WBGT temperature reads below 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, warm-ups may begin. 

92. Following the reading 15 minutes prior to the start of the match, should the delay continue, a WBGT measurement will be taken every 30 minutes at the kickoff spot, until it is deemed safe to play, below 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, or until such time has passed that the League decides to postpone the match. 

• In the event a WBGT measurement is below the 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit threshold by 1 degree (i.e., 91.3 degrees Fahrenheit), it will be the Fourth Official in conjunction with the home club’s Team Physician with feedback from visiting team medical personnel, operations, officials and both technical staffs, to make the ultimate decision if and when play is allowed to resume. 

92. The Referees will take the second WBGT reading immediately after the conclusion of pre-match warmups. Follow the same procedures as above should the WBGT reading meet or exceed 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit. 

iii. The referees will take the third WBGT reading immediately following the referee’s whistle to end the 1st half of play. Again, follow the same procedures as above should the WBGT measurement meet or exceed 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit.” 

The league moved forward with the Kansas City vs Orlando game. The wet bulb machine went out on the pitch, to determine the safety of the weather. The NWSL said this was to get real time updates on the pitch and whether or not it is safe for the game to begin. 

The wet bulb establishes a threshold that if reached the human body can no longer cool itself down, which would be dangerous for players, staff, and attendees of a soccer game. Research shows that anywhere between 88°F to 93°F wet bulb is the maximum human threshold for being able to cool off in these situations. The issue arises then of announcing the delay.If the wet bulb says the weather is unsafe then the league will postpone the game and hopefully reschedule. It is not exactly what the league ended up doing. 

The day before the game, Current captain Lo’eau LaBonta said “We’re going to need you guys. It’s going to be hot. We need you to be loud.” 

Teams began warming up on the pitch at CPKC around 2:30pm local time. Kick off was set to be at 3:12pm, televised on CBS. The weather delay came around 3:08pm, with an announcement that there will be updates every 15 minutes. This is when the wet bulb reader comes into play.

Bluesky user and journalist Thom Persley posted this on the day of the game, “At 3:33pm Central time, the WBGT read at 93.7F. Another reading will be taken at 3:47pm Central time.” Persley would go on to update many of us from the game and was a critical journalist for the coverage they provided. The coverage Persley provided on Bluesky would also be more informative than the announcements made at the stadium, which were sparse and left many feeling confused about what was happening.

The reading at 3:47pm didn’t show the number going down at all. In fact, it jumped to 94 and the game would be seriously delayed. They would miss the national broadcast time frame on CBS, they would have to cool down players again, and the fans were in the stadium waiting for the game in the same heat that was causing a postponement. 

"Saturday was…a mess."

Danielle Russell, the Vice President for the supporter group KC Blue Crew, took time to share with me her experience on this very hot game day. 

“As leadership for the KC Blue Crew, I attend our tealgates, which are at a bar about a mile and a half away since we can’t tailgate in the lots. Other people arrive at the stadium to set up about 30 minutes before the gates open.”

“Saturday was…a mess. Everyone knew the game should not be scheduled when it was. My group, along with the Current, prepared as much as we could for the heat, but it wasn’t enough. It was hot and the sun was beaming down on us.”

“Basically, the day was full of waiting. The game kept getting delayed little by little, making it so people didn’t want to leave. Fans were spending time on the shaded concourse or moving up the stands to chase the shade.”

“Food and concessions were open and all water lines were long, but moving. The team and concession providers did an excellent job keeping stuff in stock. I heard of some drinks running out, but that was after hours. You can’t really prepare to have long delays like that.”

“Same with some food vendors–they can’t be expected to have enough for an 8 hour day vs a 3 hour day. People were struggling. One person was confirmed to have gone to the hospital, but I heard a few other sirens during the afternoon. A lot of people gave up and got out of the heat and went home.”

“The team [Kansas City Current] did announce that we could get back in if we left, which was incredibly helpful.”

“I think when it comes to the team taking care of the fans, I was impressed. Big fans were put on different parts of the concourse and staff handed out as much as possible. I think for me, the mood was anger at the league for scheduling the game in the first place. Everyone kept talking about the fact that the game was always going to be like this. It is August in Kansas City.”

“It felt a bit like people were figuring it out as they went.”

When asked if the policies and procedures seemed sufficient for safety, Russell had this to say: 

“I think for players, it seemed like it. I know the wet bulb temp procedures are designed to keep them safe. I still think that the whole day did put the players in danger, having them go out and warm up in the first place.”

“For fans and staff, I am not so sure. I think a three hour heat delay is something nobody was really prepared for. It seemed to be a lot of learning as we’re going. Most weather delays are for rain and storms and that’s a whole different animal.”

“It felt a bit like people were figuring it out as they went.”

“I do worry a bit about staff who had to work the entire time to make sure the fans/their customers were okay, especially the part time game operation staff.”

When asked about what Russell wished the league would take from this experience, she shared this: 

“If there aren’t procedures made for this specific situation in place, I would like to see them in place in the future. Summer isn’t going to be getting any cooler. [...] I think while logistically it can cause problems, delaying games early and scheduling games better is key.”

"I want the league to know they put not only players in a dangerous situation but the impact it had on the workers and fans."

Another Current fan, season ticket holder, and board member for the KC Blue Crew, Liz, shared that the Current staff was one of the big supporters of the day. 

“I think I was able to endure what I could with those temperatures because of how we prepared. Along with the KC Current staff making sure we had water, ice, and food.”

“I want the league to know they put not only players in a dangerous situation but the impact it had on the workers and fans. Many people worked over twelve hours that day. There are weather forecasts for a reason and most likely, temps won’t drastically change in a day. The game should be moved to a safer time for all involved.”

This isn’t the first game where weather delays, policies, and reality have been at odds. On August 10th, 2025 the Cascadia rivalry took place in Portland where the Thorns took on Seattle Reign FC. 

Several injuries were sustained at this game and not from the tension of a rivalry…from turf. Coach Laura Harvey was interviewed after the match and confirmed that players burnt their feet through their cleats on the hot turf at Portland’s stadium.

“A lot of the players on Sunday literally had burnt feet. Like, the turf literally burnt them…so imagine a sun burn on the bottom of your feet, that’s basically what they had. That’s how hot it was in Portland.”

Delays for heat do happen in the NWSL. Go back to May 23rd, 2025 when the match of the Houston Dash versus Bay FC was rescheduled. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 24th at 2pm PT/4pm CT. It was then moved to 7pm CT due to the high temperatures anticipated through the afternoon. The biggest difference is that the Houston game was not scheduled for a CBS prime time network spot but streaming on NWSL+ and Paramount +. 

The league office did provide a statement to KCTV 5* on Monday: “The league aims to play matches as scheduled whenever safely possible. While forecasts guide planning, we primarily rely on real-time, on-site weather data to make informed decisions in accordance with our inclement weather policies and protocols. Based on those inputs, the league made the decision to delay today’s match.”

Are ratings and network broadcasting worth the cons that come with afternoon summer games? Clearly, Commissioner Jessica Berman seems to think so. Though it hardly makes sense to schedule the hot summer afternoons if the delays for weather will bump the game from prime time television anyway. Berman, as of this article being published, has not commented on the Current versus Orlando game and the delays.

*Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.