SPOKANE, Wash.—On May 20, Spokane Zephyr FC, the women’s professional soccer team, announced that the team would not be competing in the Gainbridge Super League 2026-2027 season and that the club will cease operations following the 2025-2026 season. According to the team owners, the community market is not right for women’s soccer. However, many community members and team players have different accounts.
The Spokane Zephyr FC received the news at a morning team meeting, in an address that lasted three minutes. The players were told that “At the end of June, everyone is free to go” and that all concerns should be brought up to Human Resources. Meanwhile, the same owners shared the news with the Spokane Velocity FC—the men’s team—all while the team had a catered breakfast. The news left many community members and players shocked, saddened, and with many questions.
The United Soccer League Players Association, the collective bargaining agent recognized by the United Soccer League, expressed its concerns about the team suspending its operations in the form of an official statement: “What makes this situation especially concerning is that players in the USL Super League do not yet have the protections of a collective bargaining agreement. Players who signed multi-year contracts are now facing the reality that those agreements will be cut short without compensation or any protections.” The importance of achieving a collective bargaining agreement was emphasized multiple times throughout the statement, and nothing was in place to help the players in losing their jobs in an instance such as this.
Madelyn Desiano, a defender for the Spokane Zephyr, was quoted in the Spokesman-Review, questioning the ownership for not doing enough outreach in the community. “I don’t think that ownership and marketing did a good enough job getting the word out that we had a team here. We would go out to restaurants, and people didn’t know there was a professional soccer team.” The Zephyr FC attendance through 14 matches this season was 1,564, the third-lowest in the league and a 38 percent decrease from the 2024-2025 season. Travel costs were also burdensome for the team, as the club’s travel burden was the highest in the league. The club was the only team on the West Coast, with the next-nearest team in Dallas, Texas, about 1,500 miles away from Spokane. It has also come into question how vested the ownership actually was in the team and its success, as community members would inquire about getting season tickets, but never received a response from management.
It is undeniable that women’s sports are especially popular in many communities across North America and around the world. The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) held a 2025-2026 Takeover tour, visiting many cities. The PWHL set an attendance record at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., where the New York Sirens defeated the Montreal Victoire, 2-1, in front of a crowd of 17,228. The PWHL has also announced four new teams in Detroit, Michigan; Hamilton, Ontario; San Jose, California; and Las Vegas, Nevada, which is a testament to the growing popularity of women’s sports. The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has been increasing in popularity as well. However, compared to men’s sports such as the NHL and the NBA, the PWHL and WNBA have noticeable pay disparities, which many would argue reflect broader societal issues concerning gender pay gaps. The WNBA collective bargaining agreement was ratified in March 2026.
It could be argued that the team having to end their operations means that the Spokane business class is unwilling to separate itself from profit and corporate interests, and in addition, adds another layer of misogyny onto women’s sports. Many see the Spokane Zephyr FC’s decision to cease operations as a loss for the Spokane community and believe that players deserve owners who care and are willing to invest in the team to be part of the community for the long haul.
In the words of Hope Hisey, the Spokane Zephyr FC goalkeeper, who wrote in a statement on her Instagram account after hearing of the news, “If you build it, they will come. And if you work to sustain it, they will stay.”
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
