Build it and women’s sports fans will come

The GIST: The 29th MLS season kicks off tonight — the league’s earliest-ever start as its popularity reaches new heights, largely thanks to a certain GOAT in South Beach. Vamos.

The details: The regular season will run from now through October. All 29 teams in the two conferences (Eastern and Western) will play 34 regular-season games (17 at home and 17 on the road), with most matches played on Saturdays and some on Wednesdays. The fun culminates on December 7th, when the 2024 MLS Cup champ will be crowned.

• Naturally, eight-time Ballon D’or winner Lionel Messi — who made the stunning move to MLS last year — will feature in tonight’s 8 p.m. ET season kickoff, a home showdown for his Inter Miami CF side against Real Salt Lake. Now that’s starting things off on the right foot.

• Ahead of his first full season in MLS, the Messi Effect has already increased season ticket sales league-wide, helping to up the game’s popularity across North America before the U.S., Mexico, and Canada jointly host the 2026 World Cup.

The teams to watch: Newly stacked with some of Messi’s favorite former teammates from La Liga’s FC Barcelona, the pressure will be on Miami to win it all this year. But the pink squad has a long way to go after failing to even qualify for the postseason in 2023.

• Otherwise, keep tabs on the Midwest teams. The Columbus Crew will try to become the first back-to-back champs since the LA Galaxy did it in 2012, while reigning Supporters Shield holders, FC Cincinnati, will return with league MVP, midfielder Luciano Acosta.

• St. Louis CITY SC will also be hungry to make a splash after amping up their defense following last year’s finish atop the Western Conference in their inaugural season. Not too shabby.

The GIST: Former Nebraska women’s basketball player Ashley Scoggin has accused former assistant coach Chuck Love of grooming and sexually abusing her from 2021 to 2022, as detailed in a Monday lawsuit against Nebraska’s board of regents, as well as current and former athletic department staff. Horrific.

The details: According to the complaint, Love initiated a close personal, and later sexual, relationship with Scoggin when she was a summer athletic department intern in 2021 — a relationship Scoggin reportedly felt pressured to agree to out of fear of retaliation.

• After other team members allegedly captured hidden camera video of Scoggin in Love’s hotel room, the situation was reportedly addressed by Nebraska’s head coach in a full-team meeting — with both Scoggin and Love present.

• Scoggin was ultimately removed from the team, while Love received a suspension with pay for the rest of the season. He resigned in May 2022.

Zooming out: Scoggin’s story seems to be sadly yet another in the disturbing pattern of female athlete abuse by their school’s athletic staff. Want to support organizations working to protect players? Spread the word about the Courage First Athlete Helpline and/or support the Women’s Sports Foundation, which provides a guide for protecting athletes from such abuses of power.

Did you know that the most distinctive shift in sports in the last 50 years has been the rapid rise in the importance, influence, and value of female fans?*

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🏒 PWHL: Montréal vs. New York — Tonight at 7 p.m. ET — YouTube

• Montréal has had New York’s number all season, so expect NY to feed off the home crowd as they try to claim their first victory against their Canadian foes. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.

⛳ LPGA: Honda LPGA Thailand — Tomorrow through Sunday — The Golf Channel

• A $1.7M purse is up for grabs in the Land of Smiles, where world No. 1 Lilia Vu tees off in a group with No. 6 Korean Jin Young Ko and No. 52, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn.

🎓🏀 NCAA women’s basketball: No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 14 Indiana — Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET — Peacock

• One week after making history, Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes return to the Peacock stage for a massive conference battle against an Indiana team that’s undefeated at home. Putting the big in Big Ten.