By Paige Albright
Boston University News Service
How many sports fans know every single line in a rulebook? The NWSL’s most updated competition manual has over 50 pages of rules that may never cross a fan’s mind, but a new rule this season has already made headlines.
When Angel City defender Savy King collapsed mid-game last May, the game continued per the NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman’s direction. When on-field temperatures broke 90 degrees this past summer, the game continued due to Berman’s refusal to miss a peak broadcasting time slot, per The Athletic.
The response to these decisions was clear: fans, players, and teams demanded a safety net.
The new precaution the NWSL created this season outlines how a game could be abandoned — meaning in extreme and special circumstances, a game could end before the clock runs out.
Abandoning games is not a rule special to the NWSL; most professional leagues have guidelines that allow for a game underway to be stalled or abandoned. Abandoning a game in the moment hurts revenue; therefore, it is no league commissioner’s favorite solution.
This is due to most rescheduled games taking place in a closed-door environment and being unable to be fit into peak broadcasting hours. But in the long term, rules like these protect players, and without them, there would be no game in the first place.
“We’re human beings, and this is a simple matter of humanity,” NWSLPA head Meghann Burke told the Attacking Third podcast.
Conversations like these trace back to the constant tension in professional athletics between profit margins and the humanity of sports.
A month ago, in a match between the Seattle Reign and Racing Louisville, the game was abandoned when Savannah DeMelo collapsed.
Berman ultimately made the call to abandon the game; she said the decision was a “no-brainer.”
The abandoned match was continued two days later, playing out the remaining minutes left on the clock; Seattle won. The NWSL released a statement after the incident, acknowledging that player safety has been a major talking point recently.
“We recognized the concern this incident may cause, particularly in light of recent conversations around player safety,” the league said. “The NWSL remains committed to ensuring that the highest standards of medical care and emergency response are in place at every match.”