NWSL threatened to fine Kansas City Current over extreme heat weather delay to preserve CBS broadcast window

Saturday’s matchup between the Kansas City Current and the Orlando Pride in the NWSL was supposed to be a showcase for the league on CBS. But unfortunately, a three and a half hours weather delay due to extreme heat threw a wrench in the league’s plans. And according to new reports, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman was none too happy about the delay.

The Current-Pride matchup was one of just 14 games set to air on CBS throughout the 2025 NWSL regular season. So it certainly makes sense as to why Berman would want the game to continue as planned.

However, it appears as if Berman didn’t have any issue putting players’ safety in jeopardy to do so. According to a report from Tamerra Griffin, Asli Pelit and Melanie Anzidei of The Athletic from an anonymous source, Berman allegedly threatened to fine the Kansas City Current after the two sides had a disagreement over the proper extreme heat procedures.

Notably, both the Current and the Pride were concerned about the extreme heat that exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which they expressed in respective phone calls multiple hours before the start of the game to the league.

But instead of prioritizing the safety of the players, Berman allegedly told Current owners on the call that the team could be fined for breaking protocols by asking for a heat check after the league decided to go forward with the game. Ultimately, this led to Seb Hines, the head coach of the Pride, sharing his disappointment about how the delay was handled after it ultimately concluded.

“It was too hot to play, and we would have liked that decision to have been made earlier on, before warm-up, so they can probably prep a little bit better,” Hines said. “It was a lot of waiting around: ‘We’re going to test the wet bulb,’ ‘Another 15 minutes,’ and there’s a lot of confusion and lack of communication as well on what the next steps were.

“Overall, I was disappointed with the decision-making before the six o’clock kickoff, but once we got there, that was in the best interest of the players and everyone here, and even the fans as well. It’s brutal, three o’clock, sun’s beaming. We have to have the best interest for everyone who’s involved here at the stadium.”

Notably, the NWSL does have a clear protocol that it typically follows when it comes to games that have the potential to experience extreme heat. According to NWSL’s 2025 competition rules and regulations, the league requires reading of the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature index to determine whether extreme heat-related delays are warranted.

The index states that if the WGBT recording is at or above 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the home team must alert the league. This, of course, happened, but Berman seemingly did not want to lose the CBS time slot despite the fact that the temperature was recorded at 93.9 degrees Fahrenheit just 15 minutes before the game was set to start and remained above the threshold long into the weather delay.

We are all at the mercy of this device…

93.5 degrees of the last reading.. next reading is at 3:47 p.m.

— PJ Green (@bypjgreen.bsky.social) 2025-08-16T20:34:59.674Z

Obviously, it is an incredibly bad look for Berman to get upset to the point of threatening a fine to the Current when the team was simply following league protocol.

There is a clear argument that the game should have been cancelled and moved to another date altogether, given the fact that one fan was actually hospitalized due to the extreme heat, with 16 others inside the stadium requiring medical attention for heat-related ailments, according to PJ Green of the Kansas City Star.

Kansas City Fire Department confirmed 1 person was taken to a hospital by ambulance for a heat related illness.

They were unable to say how many people were treated on site at yesterday’s KC Current-Orlando Pride match.

— PJ Green (@bypjgreen.bsky.social) 2025-08-17T21:05:51.451Z

In addition to Seb Hines sharing his disappointment in how the delay was handled, NWSLPA Meghann Burke similarly aired her grievances about how the situation was handled by the league in a statement to The Athletic.

“The medical teams did their jobs here, and they did an excellent job and that’s exactly why we negotiated in two CBAs for investments in medical staff and technical staff, in competent people who are qualified to do this job,” Burke said. “This is a medical decision. This should not be a union decision or a legal decision. It’s a medical issue, and the medical experts need to make that call, so we’re grateful to them for doing their jobs. I have real questions about why it doesn’t occur to them to contact a union whose paramount priority is player safety, when a decision is made like the one they made Saturday afternoon.”