Barbra Banda's historic strike leads to Orlando Pride's first NWSL championship

This Saturday, Barbra Banda scored the decisive goal that secured Orlando Pride's victory in the 2024 NWSL Championship! 🎉

Barbra's inaugural season in the NWSL has been nothing short of historic:

🏆 Championship Glory: Her goal led Orlando Pride to their first-ever championship. The team also won the NWSL Shield for the best regular season team.

🥇 Post-Season Record: With four goals in the playoffs, she set a record for the most goals scored by an NWSL player in a single postseason, joining legends like Megan Rapinoe by scoring at every stage of the playoffs.

✨ MVP Honors: Barbra was named MVP of the Playoffs, making her the first player in NWSL history to win this award in her debut season.

🌍 A great year for African women in the NWSL ⚽️

Earlier this year, Banda made headlines with her transfer to Orlando, marking the second-largest transfer in women's football history- fellow Zambian Rachel Kudananji holds the honour of largest-ever record following her joining the NWSL’s Bay FC. This season also saw Malawian star Temwa Chawinga score over 20 goals and clinch both the NWSL Golden Boot and regular season MVP.

African women’s football (and sports..) often remains an afterthought, as highlighted by the postponement of  WAFCON this year. Yet, the success of our ladies in the NWSL should prompt investors and marketers alike to recognise the untapped potential of developing women’s football as a lucrative opportunity. Banda, Kudananji and Chawinga’s success should serve as the proof of concept needed for the inception of tailored marketing services dedicated to bolster the personal brands of African female athletes in the U.S. leagues. It should also encourage investors to look into dedicated academies for women’s soccer and other pathways of talent development and management. Finally, there’s a need for U.S. leagues to develop fanbases in the African countries represented in their rosters. ESPN Africa’s broadcasting of the NWSL season is a good start, but more needs to be done to ensure that the next generations are inspired.

Here’s a quick look at the NWSL by the numbers - another reason to be bullish about how much more impact African players can have in this booming league : 

• Franchise valuations are soaring with a year-over-year growth of 57%, reaching $104 million.

• A new media rights deal worth $60 million annually has been signed for 2024 through 2027—an astonishing 40x increase from previous agreements.

• Attendance hit a record 2 million this regular season, up from last year's 1.2 million.

• By the end of the year, the league is set to introduce its 16th team which will debut in the 2026 season.