MLB Futures Game score: How to watch, rosters, live updates and highlights
Players are divided into the American and National League teams — based on parent club — rather than American vs. International prospects, as the game was initially played from 1999-2018.
Three of MLB.com's top eight prospects will feature in the 2025 game: Padres infielder Leo De Vries, Rangers infielder Sebastian Walcott and Brewers infielder Jesús Made, following in the footsteps of the future stars who have participated in this showcase over the past quarter-century.
Last year, Joe Mauer (2003) became the first Futures Game alumnus to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, with CC Sabathia (2000) set to join him in Cooperstown this summer.
USA TODAY Sports is providing live updates, scores and highlights from the game at Truist Park. Follow below:
MLB Futures Game live score
This section will be updated throughout the game
MLB Futures Game live updates
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JJ Wetherholt starts game for National League with double
The first hit of the afternoon goes to the National League, as St. Louis Cardinals prospect JJ Wetherholt laces a lead-off double off the wall in left-center field.
"Think you are going to see him starting in St. Louis pretty soon," National League manager Chipper Jones said on the MLB Network broadcast of Wetherholt, who is the Cardinals' No. 1-ranked prospect.
JR Ritchie throws scoreless opening frame in Futures Game
After falling behind 3-1 in the count to Jhostynxon Garcia, JR Ritchie battles back and wins it by getting Garcia to chase a slider away for the third out of the inning. Nice job by the Braves' No. 6-ranked prospect to get himself out of the jam in the top of the first.
The American League strands Max Clark at third in the inning, as they weren't able to bring home the Tigers' No. 2-ranked prospect after he worked a lead-off walk.
MLB Futures Game underway
The 2025 MLB Futures Game is underway at Truist Park in Atlanta as Braves pitching prospect JR Ritchie misses outside on a 3-2 pitch to put Detroit Tigers' outfield prospect Max Clark on base with a lead-off walk.
Pregame
Charlie Condon makes return home in Futures Game
With All-Star Game week in Atlanta this year, it's a homecoming for the Colorado Rockies' No. 1-ranked prospect Charlie Condon, who grew up in the Atlanta area and attended Georgia.
Hitting .301 this season in the minors, Condon, MLB Pipeline's No. 23-ranked prospect, is widely considered the future of the Rockies program by minor league analysts. He was drafted with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft by the Rockies and was recently called up to Double-A Hartford on July 1.
White Sox's Braden Montgomery starting for American League in Futures Game
This time last year, Braden Montgomery was one of the more highly touted and sought-after prospects in the 2024 MLB Draft. A year later, the now-Chicago White Sox's prospect is starting in the MLB Futures Game for the American League team.
Originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and later traded to the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade this past offseason, Montgomery is hitting .261 with 77 hits, 52 RBIs and 11 home runs across two levels in the minor leagues this season. He is ranked as the White Sox's No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline.
Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin taking swings at Futures Game
Pittsburgh Pirates No. 2 prospect Konnor Griffin is taking some pregame swings in the cage during batting practice at the 2025 MLB Futures Game. Griffin, who was drafted No. 9 overall in 2024 out of Jackson Prep High School, is starting at shortstop for the National League.
Griffin is hitting .302 this season for High-A Greensboro with 29 hits, 17 RBIs and four home runs.
American League starting pitcher for 2025 MLB Futures Game
Getting the start on the mound for the American League team in the 2025 MLB Futures Game will be Cleveland Guardians left-handed prospect Parker Messick.
Fresh off being named the Pitcher of the Week in the minor leagues, Messick is 4-3 with a 3.36 ERA in 75 innings pitched this season for Triple-A Columbus. In his most recent start on July 5, the former Florida State product threw seven scoreless innings vs. Toledo while striking out nine hitters.
National League starting pitcher for 2025 MLB Futures Game
Getting the start on the mound for the National League team in the 2025 MLB Futures Game will be Atlanta Braves right-handed prospect JR Ritchie.
Drafted by the Braves with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Ritchie is 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 80 1/3 innings pitched this season for Double-A Columbus. He is coming off one of his better starts this season on July 5, where he threw five scoreless, no-hit innings and struck out eight batters. He is the Braves' No. 6-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
What time is MLB Futures Game?
The 26th edition of the Futures Game starts at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 12.
Where to watch 2025 Futures Game: TV channel, live stream
MLB Network will air the 2025 MLB Futures Game. Streaming options include MLB.tv, MLB.com and the MLB App.
Futures Game starting lineups
All-Star Futures Game roster 2025
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
2025 Futures Game managers and coaches
The coaching staffs for this year's game in Atlanta feature plenty of Braves legends including Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff, as well former stars including Dale Murphy, Andruw Jones and Mick Markakis.
American League
National League
MLB Futures Game MVP: Larry Doby Award winners
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Fox News
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- Fox News
The Best Swing-Off Players For All 30 MLB Teams
The 2025 MLB All-Star Game ended with a first – the swing-off. It was a mini home run derby to determine a winner rather than go to extra innings to break a tie, and it was perfect television. Whether the swing-off becomes the norm in the regular season someday, in some way, is unknown, but that doesn't stop us from dreaming a little. To participate in a swing-off, a team has to select three players who will get three swings each. So that's what we've done for all 30 teams, listed below one division at a time. Remember: the best players for a swing-off might not be the best hitters overall, but the ones that have the greatest chance of going yard the most times in what are Home Run Derby-esque conditions. Meaning, a controlled batting practice environment designed for dingers. Each team gets to select three coaches to throw to hitters, so, a mix of lefties and righties to exploit platoon splits is key. Lineup: Gunnar Henderson, Ryan O'Hearn, Tyler O'Neill Gunnar Henderson is an obvious pick, as the O's shortstop is a great hitter even in a down year, and hit 37 homers in 2024. Ryan O'Hearn didn't hit for much power until he got to Baltimore in 2023, but has gone yard 40 times in 336 games since. Not a ton, no, but let him face some right-handed batting practice, and his long ball chances go up: 73 of his 78 career homers have been hit off of righties. Tyler O'Neill has been a disaster free agent signing for the Orioles, but he's a .526 career slugger against southpaws, so, feed him a lefty. Lineup: Wilyer Abreu, Alex Bregman, Roman Anthony There would have been a spot locked down for Rafael Devers here before Boston traded him to the Giants, but there are still options even without him. Wilyer Abreu has seen his power grow in 2025, as his 18 homers in the first half surpass his 15 rookie dingers. Alex Bregman is more of a doubles guy these days, but against batting practice pitching, he'd surely find that home run stroke once more. And while Roman Anthony is a rookie, the swing-off isn't against MLB pitchers. He can hit a baseball really far, as he showed in last summer's Futures Skills Showcase. Lineup: Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Giancarlo Stanton Aaron Judge is Aaron Judge. The best hitter in the game, but also its most powerful one – easy pick. Jazz Chisholm Jr. might have gone yard just three times in the 2025 Home Run Derby, but he got to participate in the first place for a reason. He deserves a second chance to show just how much pop is in his swing. And Giancarlo Stanton's best days might very well be behind him, but you know that he'd hit a few balls an eye-popping distance against coaches trying to give him pitches to demolish. Lineup: Junior Caminero, Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz Junior Caminero just finished second in the 2025 Home Run Derby, and while he still has work to do on his swing given he's 21 and still figuring things out, he also already has 23 homers. Brandon Lowe mashed 39 homers back in 2021, then 21 each of the last two partial seasons and is at 19 in 2025. Let Yandy Diaz face a lefty in the swing-off instead of a rightly – Diaz's career line against lefties is .302/.386/.489 with 34 of his 99 homers in nearly 1,500 fewer plate appearances – and he's bound to hit a couple of homers. Toronto Blue Jays Lineup: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Addison Barger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the 2023 Home Run Derby champion, and set a new record for the most home runs in the first and second rounds of the Derby four years prior. George Springer is hitting for power again, so he's an easy add; plus, you have to save a space for the eventual home run king of Connecticut. As for Addison Barger, he's not the automatic choice that either Guerrero Jr. or Springer were, but in 134 career games against right-handers, he's hit 19 of his 20 home runs. Keep him away from a southpaw, and he'll go deep at least once. Lineup: Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna Jr., Marcell Ozuna Matt Olson led the majors in home runs with 54 in 2023, and while he's never displayed quite that level of power again, he's also hit over 30 homers on four total occasions, and 29 twice. (Olson went deep 14 times in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, a 38-homer pace.) Ronald Acuna Jr. is capable of serious power when he's healthy, like in 2023 when he mashed 41 dingers, and he has 12 in just 45 games in 2025. Marcell Ozuna led the majors in homers in 2020 with 18, hit another 30 combined between his shortened 2021 and 2022 seasons, then 40 and 39 in 2023 and 2024, respectively. It's his spot to lose even in a tougher 2025. Lineup: Kyle Stowers, Agustin Ramirez, Jesus Sanchez Kyle Stowers never hit for power before 2025 — across three seasons and 117 games, he hit all of six homers. He had more pop in the minors, though, and seems to have settled in enough in the majors to find it once more: Stowers has 19 homers in 91 games this summer. Agustin Ramirez might be a rookie without much of a track record, but he also has 14 bombs in less than half-a-season of work. Jesus Sanchez is not an inspiring third choice, no, but look at the rest of the Marlins' lineup, then settle for having him face a righty he might go deep against. Lineup: Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor The Mets make it easy. Juan Soto? Well, he's literally Juan Soto. That's a head start over most players who are not Juan Soto. Even when other parts of Pete Alonso's game don't work like they should, be they his batting average cratering or his sometimes playing first base like he's a DH, he's got his power. He hit an MLB-leading 53 homers in his rookie 2019. He's hit between 34 and 46 every season since (besides 2020, when he crushed 16 in 60 games, a 43-homer pace), and has 21 through the All-Star break in 2025. Francisco Lindor has seen his power fluctuate on occasion, but he's routinely good for around 30 homers, and would hit like it in competitive BP. Lineup: Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Bryce Harper Kyle Schwarber won the swing-off for the NL in this year's All-Star Game, but even without that he'd be an easy pick. Schwarber has 314 career homers in what amounts to nine seasons' worth of games in the majors, led the NL in 2022 with 46, hit one more than that in 2023, and already has 30 at the break this year. Letting Nick Castellanos try to hit a bunch of home runs in a row might be a terrible omen for the world, sure, but he still has the power to have earned this spot. Bryce Harper recovered from a bit of a power drought to hit 30 in 2024, and has been limited to 10 in 2025 due to missing time more than his actual performance. Lineup: James Wood, CJ Abrams, Nathaniel Lowe The Nationals traded Juan Soto years ago, and they lost Bryce Harper well before that, but they've got yet another young, powerful phenom to step in here as their ace in James Wood. In his first full year in the majors, Wood has already participated in a Home Run Derby and gone deep 23 times. CJ Abrams doesn't have Wood's elite power, no, but his is plenty above-average enough to do damage in a swing-off. The last pick is nowhere near as obvious of one to make: Nathaniel Lowe bashed 27 homers back in 2022 with the Texas Rangers, but that looks more and more like a one-off as time goes by. Then again, he is at 14 homers this year already, so maybe he's finally making that long-awaited sequel. Lineup: Andrew Benintendi, Miguel Vargas, Luis Robert Jr. As you would expect from a team set to lose well over 100 games yet again, there isn't a lot to choose from here. Andrew Benintendi wasn't an exceptionally powerful hitter even at his peak, but he'll have to hold down the fort. Miguel Vargas isn't a power hitter, either, but he's the only other White Sox player to reach double-digits in 2025, and one of the only ones who could maybe hit 20 over a full season. Luis Robert Jr. should be an obvious pick, given he hit 38 homers back in 2023, but he's slugged a collective .357 since. Maybe the swing-off would be a place for him to contribute, though. Cleveland Guardians Lineup: Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, Bo Naylor Jose Ramirez is probably going to retire as the greatest player in Cleveland's history, and you can say something like that in 2025 because of how incredible he still is — he missed becoming the seventh 40 homer, 40 steals player ever by one home run in 2024. Carlos Santana's best homer days are in his past, but the 39-year-old can still let it rip on occasion, especially in this format. Bo Naylor's problem is making contact. He's a career .200 hitter… with a career .177 Isolated Power. Over 21% of his career hits are home runs: sign him up, and against a righty for some extra pop. Lineup: Riley Green, Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter Riley Greene hit 24 homers a year ago, and already has 24 in 2025. He might sell out for power in a way that makes him strike out in regulation, but here? It's going to be dingers for days. Spencer Torkelson's issue is contact, but the .224 career batter would face pitchers who are trying to get him to hit home runs, so his excellent power will show through here even more than against MLB pitching. And Kerry Carpenter has 60 homers in just about two seasons' worth of MLB games, while slugging .540 against right-handers in 975 plate appearances. Lineup: Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, Jac Caglianone Bobby Witt Jr. has hit over 30 homers in consecutive seasons, and might reach that mark again in 2025 after his power started to climb with the temperature. Salvador Perez is the single-season record holder for homers by a catcher with 48, which also led the entire majors in 2021. He doesn't have that power most of the time, no, but facing off against some coaches tossing meatballs down the middle is a sure way for Perez to tap into what he used to be able to do. Jac Caglianone might be a rookie with just four homers to his name in the bigs, but we know the power is there: he hit 33 amateur homers with Florida in 2023, another 35 in 2024, then 17 in just 79 minor-league games before his promotion. Lineup: Byron Buxton, Kody Clemens, Matt Wallner Byron Buxton is the obvious pick, a star when he's healthy who has the power to prove it. Kody Clemens struggled to settle in with the Tigers or Phillies, but since the Twins acquired him, he's at least shown some pop with 12 homers in 55 games. Making contact is an issue for Clemens, but against a batting practice fastball, that shouldn't be an issue for the 29-year-old. Matt Wallner is a career .239 hitter, but one with 33 homers in 636 plate appearances against righties. A perfect pick for this format, even if he has limitations in the first nine innings. Lineup: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Kyle Tucker This would have been much more difficult to answer a year ago, but then Pete Crow-Armstrong decided to break out with some mammoth shots, Seiya Suzuki massively upgraded his power output and already has a career-high in homers because of it, while Kyle Tucker was acquired from the Astros and has just been Kyle Tucker. Which is to say, someone with plenty of power both for a standard game, and for something like this where you hit as many as you can in three swings. Cincinnati Reds Lineup: Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer, Matt McLain Elly De La Cruz just keeps on improving — his 2025 season might also be his first-ever 30-homer campaign, at the age of 23. His problem has been strikeouts, but that won't come up in a swing-off. Spencer Steer doesn't have De La Cruz's power, but he hit 23 homers in 2023 and another 20 in 2024 before popping 11 in the first half of this season. As for Matt McClain, he missed his 2024 season due to shoulder surgery and hasn't shaken off the rust just yet, but he is still hitting for power even with the contact issues. McClain has 26 homers in 176 career games. Lineup: Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Rhys Hoskins Christian Yelich picked a fine time to decide to start hitting home runs again. Not just because his performance has helped the Brewers build a four-game lead in the NL wild card race, but also to make him an easy choice for this hypothetical. Jackson Chourio might be just 21 years old, but he's already well on his way to passing his rookie total of 21 homers, as he has 16 in his first 95 games. Pitch selection and patience are not his strong suits in the majors yet, but the swing-off will erase those issues. Rhys Hoskins, too, is a historically low-average hitter — he's batted .238 across eight years now — but he also carries a .238 Isolated Power. The swing-off was made for someone like Hoskins. Lineup: Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen The Pirates have Oneil Cruz, so obviously the guy who has the two hardest-hit balls on record — as well as a 513-foot shot in the 2025 Home Run Derby — would get to take three swings to see how many long balls he could hit. Bryan Reynolds is an obvious choice in a less exuberant way, but he's hit between 24 and 27 homers in each of the last four years, and the Pirates aren't exactly growing offensive mainstays on trees. Andrew McCutchen isn't a big power guy anymore, but he can still get a hold of one, especially if it's going in a straight line in the 70s. Lineup: Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, Alec Burleson Willson Contreras has hit over 20 homers on five occasions in his career, and freed up from having to catch all the time in 2025, he's got 12 through 91 games. Nolan Arenado is known much more for his defense than his bat, but that says more about the former than it does the latter: the 34-year-old has 351 career homers, and while his days of leading the NL ended when he exited Colorado, he's still mashed 116 of them in four-plus seasons with the Cardinals. Alec Burleson is another guy who would benefit from a platoon matchup: 36 of his 41 homers are against righties. Lineup: Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, Nick Kurtz The Athletics give up a ton of runs, and that hides their own offensive capabilities a bit, but they've got some dangerous hitters. Brent Rooker was just in the Home Run Derby and participated in the swing-off, after hitting 30 and 39 homers the past two years. He's at 20 so far in 2025. Tyler Soderstrom has 18 homers in 97 games, and 30 in his first 203. The 23-year-old's low batting averages won't matter in this format. Nick Kurtz, 2024 first-round pick, debuted in the majors already, and has hit 17 homers in his first 58 games. That's not a surprise, either; his power is why he moved up so quickly. Lineup: Isaac Paredes, Jose Altuve, Christian Walker Isaac Paredes hit 31 homers for the Rays back in 2023, and while his 2024 followup wasn't quite as good on the power front, his 2025 season is shaping up well with 19 homers already, matching last summer's output. Jose Altuve became more of a power guy as he aged and his contact rates and averages dropped — at 17 homers already, he might hit 30 for the third time in his career. Christian Walker's season isn't going that well overall, but the beauty of this format is letting a guy with 30-plus homer power — which Walker has — swing as hard as he can at some pitches he can crush. And he can swing really hard. Lineup: Mike Trout, Jo Adell, Logan O'Hoppe There were some tougher choices to make here than you might think. Taylor Word is the team's home run leader with 21, for instance, and is sure to set a career-high in 2025, but you can't leave Mike Trout out — despite playing in just 70 games and starting poorly, he has 17 home runs, and is also Mike Trout. Jo Adell's power is explosive, so you don't want to skip out on him, and Logan O'Hoppe might have "just" 17 homers to Ward's 21, but he's a catcher, too, who has played in fewer games. And this is without getting into Zach Neto or Jorge Soler. Lineup: Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez Obviously, Cal Raleigh is here. Even if he weren't leading MLB in homers, even if he were "just" the Cal Raleigh of previous years, he'd be here: Big Dumper went deep 91 times in the last three seasons. Randy Arozarena's home run totals don't paint a realistic picture of his power: he averages about 20 per season, but they're hit hard. And he does have 17 this year, setting him up for a likely career-high. Julio Rodriguez is a more well-rounded player than anything, but his power is legitimate enough for him to have entered, and succeeded in, the Home Run Derby. Texas Rangers Lineup: Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, Jake Burger Since coming to Texas, Corey Seager has gone from a guy with doubles power to a regular 30-homer player. He's at 13 in 2025, but that's due to missing time — he might still get there, anyway. Adolis Garcia's last two seasons have been nothing to write home about, but if nothing else works in his game, his power still does, and he has the ISO figures and home run totals to prove it. Jake Burger is a less obvious choice than some more complete players, but set him up against a lefty in the swing-off, and watch him look like a completely different slugger: in 447 career plate appearances against lefties, Burger has 26 homers. Lineup: Eugenio Suarez, Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte The Diamondbacks have no shortage of options, but these three are their premier power hitters. Suarez has history on his side, and is on pace for over 50 homers in 2025. Corbin Carroll is maybe more of a triples guy than a homers one — he led the NL in the former in 2023, the majors in 2024 and is leading the league again this summer — but against batting practice pitchers, it's fair to wonder if those would go over the wall instead of off of it. Ketel Marte is a reliable source of homers over the last three seasons, and might even set a career high (again) in 2025, as he has 19 in just 68 games. Lineup: Hunter Goodman, Ryan McMahon, Mickey Moniak Say what you will about the Rockies' offense — it is bad — but these three can hit a bit, at least. Hunter Goodman in any context, as he's a monster for a catcher, and pretty good at this just in general even after adjusting for the Coors Field effect. Ryan McMahon is leading the National League in strikeouts, but as has been said, that does not matter in this format: he's more liable to look superhuman than human in a swing-off. Mickey Moniak isn't exciting, no, but he's a career .453 slugger against right-handed pitching, with 42 homers against just 3 vs. lefties. Lineup: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy Shohei Ohtani is such an obvious pick that we don't need to spend any more words explaining it. Freddie Freeman would be labeled a doubles hitter if you had to choose, especially since he got to Los Angeles, but a double in innings one through nine could very well be a home run coming out of the hand of a batting practice coach in the swing-off. Max Muncy has serious power, the kind that makes you recoil a little when you see it in action, and the swing-off would erase any of the concerns about contact or strikeouts that you'd normally have with him. Lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill The Padres might have some problems with homers historically, but not this roster, and not for the swing-off. Fernando Tatis Jr. has jaw-dropping power: he led the NL with 42 in 2021, and while his totals have dropped in the years since, when he gets a hold of one, it's a no doubter. Manny Machado might end up with 500 homers in his career, and he still hits like that's possible, too. Jackson Merrill has seen a bit of a power outage in 2025, but he bashed 24 as a rookie and is all of 22. That pop is there, and would be accessible in the swing-off. Lineup: Heliot Ramos, Matt Chapman, Mike Yastrzemski Oracle Park hides the power of the Giants' lineup, but this trio can go yard when needed in a swing-off. Heliot Ramos hit 22 homers in 2024 — again, despite playing in the second-worst park for homers in the majors — and is at 14 in 2025. Matt Chapman hit 27 homers last summer, the third time he's hit that number, and has 194 in his career. Mike Yastrzemski can go yard with regularity so long as you keep him from lefties: he's slugged .474 in his career against righties with 95 of his 114 home runs. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Pioneering skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies in paragliding accident in Italy
ROME (Reuters) — Austrian extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, famed for a record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space, died on Thursday in a paragliding accident in central Italy, local police said. He was 56. Baumgartner lost control of his motorized paraglider while flying over Porto Sant'Elpidio in Italy's central Marche region, and fell to the ground near the swimming pool of a hotel. The reasons for the accident were unclear. Porto Sant'Elpidio's mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said reports suggested he may have suffered a sudden medical issue mid-air, and offered the town's condolences for the death of "a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flights." The Austrian made headlines around the world in October 2012 when, wearing a specially made suit, he jumped from a balloon 24 miles (38 km) above Earth, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier, typically measured at more than 690 mph. He made the historic jump over Roswell, New Mexico, reaching a peak speed of over 833 mph (1,343 kph), on the 65th anniversary of legendary American pilot Chuck Yeager's flight shattering the sound barrier on Oct. 14, 1947. The self-styled "God of the Skies" started parachuting as a teenager before taking up the extreme sport of BASE jumping. His long career of daredevil jumps included skydiving across the English Channel and parachuting off the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. In Austria he was also known for courting controversy with views that included expressing support for dictatorship as a system of government. Baumgartner was fined 1,500 euros after he punched a Greek truck driver in the face during a 2010 altercation that broke out in a traffic jam near Salzburg.
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Arsenal's gaudy transfer fee for Canadian forward Olivia Smith buzzes at home
A Canadian player setting a new benchmark in the women's soccer transfer market floats a lot of boats, says Northern Super League co-founder and former Canadian international Diana Matheson. The one million pounds (C$1.85 million) Arsenal paid Liverpool for 20-year-old forward Olivia Smith of Whitby, Ont., in the Women's Super League is the biggest price tag in women's soccer history for a transfer. Matheson says an accelerating transfer fee market bodes well for the NSL, which kicked off this year with six teams and a mission to provide the first domestic women's pro league for Canadian and international players. 'The growth of the market really helps us sell to investors in Canada and abroad,' she said. 'The transfer market is obviously a piece of that puzzle. 'This is where the market is at that a Canadian player is going for this and how exciting is it like that we're not far around the corner now that we have a professional league, that if top Canadians choose to leave the Canadian league in the future, clubs could be selling them for a whole lot of money because we create such world-class players.' Smith's transfer to the Gunners announced Thursday surpassed the previous high of 900,000 pounds (C$1.6 million) Chelsea paid the NWSL's San Diego Wave for American centre back Naomi Girma in January. 'To be part of a movement that's changing how the game is valued is an honour,' Smith said in a statement released by her public relations agency. 'This is a huge step forward for women's soccer and for Canadian soccer. I hope this shows young Canadian girls that anything is possible.' Serita Thurton of the NSL's Wild FC said rumours about Smith's transfer to Arsenal before it was announced was a topic of discussion in the Calgary club's dressing room. 'Seeing a Canadian player break a record like this, it kind of just shows that Canada has a lot to offer when it comes to quality in soccer players,' said the forward from Ajax, Ont. 'It definitely makes our league look a lot better. Even though she isn't playing it, just the fact that it is a Canadian league, it does make a statement saying that Canada has quality players and that we're a football country in our own right. So yeah, it definitely has a good look in that sense.' Matheson, who retired in 2021, says a transfer fee market for women was nonexistent for most of her career. 'The Olivia Smith transfer is an indication of the strength of the women's soccer transfer market and the overall business model,' she said. 'We all know what transfer fee market looks like on the men's side. And then the women's side, this is a fairly newer revenue stream. 'How exciting is it that like we produce so many incredible players like Olivia, what a positive indicator for women's soccer in Canada that we now have a league and these future players could be playing in Canada, and these giant transfer fees could actually be coming to Canadian clubs in the future and actually fuelling the growth of Canadian women's soccer.' The most expensive transfer fee on the men's side was 200 million pounds (CDN $368 million) for Neymar's move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. FIFA reported US$8.59 billion was spent on men's transfers in 2024. The women's transfer market was small by comparison at $15.6 million, but was double the amount of 2023. Given the rapid expansion, Smith might not hold the record long. 'This is a touch point on the value of the marketplace when so many people are looking for data points and growth factors,' said Cheri Bradish, an associate professor and director of Future of Sport Lab and Sport Initiatives at Toronto Metropolitan University. 'It just really validates the growth and development of the women's sports market.' A Deloitte study predicted global revenues in women's elite sports will reach at least US$2.35 billion (C$3.2 billion) in 2025, with women's soccer accounting for 35 per cent behind basketball at 44. Arsenal's investment in Smith is interesting on multiple fronts, says Canadian Women and Sport chief executive officer Allison Sandmeyer-Graves. 'Just knowing that Olivia's a Canadian, what a cool indicator of just the quality of Canadian talent,' she said. 'It's about the calibre of the player already, but also for the player's incredible potential going forward. They expect her star to continue rising and they expect that next time there's a trade the figure is going to be even higher, but also that she is going to be a very productive player while she's there with their team. 'We are talking wins and losses, but we're also talking about commercial value. They obviously expect that her being in their club is going to be a driver of revenue and of value for their club.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025.
