HERRIMAN, Utah (Wed., Dec. 13, 2023) – Utah Royals FC now have 12 players on its 2024 preseason roster ahead of Friday’s National Women’s Soccer League Expansion Draft, the reborn Club set to return to the NWSL as a 2024 expansion side, along with Northern California’s Bay FC.
The 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft, presented by Ally, will be held this Friday, Dec. 15, beginning at 5:00 p.m. MT, with Utah Royals FC currently slated to select No. 2 overall. Fans can watch LIVE on CBS Sports Network as the two expansion sides can select up to 12 players each, with additional coverage via CBS Sports Golazo and the “Attacking Third” show & social accounts.
Tuesday, a series of transactions were announced by Sporting Director Kelly Cousins on behalf of the Club, positioning URFC for Friday’s draft with a combination of players celebrating Utah homecomings, young NWSL players seeking new opportunities, and various mechanisms added to the club arsenal as Utah builds its roster with new Head Coach Amy Rodriguez.
In the first move of the day, the Utah side acquired reigning NWSL champion GK Mandy Haught from Gotham FC in exchange for $150,000 in allocation money and expansion protection. Haught made three playoff appearances in 2023 for Gotham, with shutouts in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The former Virginia Tech standout (she joins fellow former Hokie Emily Gray in Utah) is just the third goalkeeper in league history to post clean sheets in her first two career postseason starts, prior to hoisting the 2023 NWSL trophy with a 2-1 win over OL Reign in the Final.
Later in the afternoon, Utah Royals FC traded another $75,000 in allocation money and expansion protection to KC Current to bring home a former Royals player, MF Kate Del Fava, and the No. 4 overall pick in January’s 2024 NWSL draft. Del Fava, 25, debuted with the first iteration of the Utah Royals during the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and made six appearances before the club relocated to Kansas City. The former Illinois State standout from Kenosha, Wisconsin, made 40 appearances the past three years for KC, including scoring the game-winning goal in the 10th minute of overtime of a playoff match against the Houston Dash in 2022 — the latest goal in NWSL history at the time.
Del Fava was the first of four players with Utah ties who discovered their return to the Wasatch this week, as Cousins and Rodriguez also brought home Timpanogos High alum and former University of Utah GK Carly Nelson and $65,000 in allocation money from the Orlando Pride, in exchange for a 2024 international roster spot, then went and grabbed Lone Peak High alum and former BYU standout Cameron Tucker (the Royals’ third former Cougar, joining Mikayla Cluff and Michele Vasconcelos) and $50,000 in allocation money from the Houston Dash in exchange for expansion draft protection.
Utah also added FW Hannah Betfort, a two-goal scorer in 11 appearances with the Portland Thorns, as well as the No. 33 pick in the draft and $10,000 in allocation money in exchange for expansion protection.
These player acquisitions were announced on the same day that Utah Royals also traded expansion-draft protection to the Washington Spirit in exchange for the No. 20 and No. 21 picks in the January NWSL Draft, as well as expansion protection to Los Angeles-based Angel City FC in exchange for a 2024 international roster spot and $100,000 in allocation money.
As we look ahead to Friday evening, the Royals have traded expansion protection to all but three teams (Seattle-based OL Reign, Racing Louisville and Chicago Red Stars) in what will be a 14-team league in 2024 via transactions over the last month with the following teams:
- Angel City FC (int’l spot + allocation money)
- Gotham FC (Imani Dorsey, Mandy Haught)
- Houston Dash (Cameron Tucker)
- KC Current (Kate Del Fava)
- North Carolina Courage (Emily Gray, Frankie Tagliaferri)
- Orlando Pride (Mikayla Cluff, Carly Nelson)
- Portland Thorns FC (Michele Vasconcelos, Hannah Betford)
- San Diego Wave FC (Madison Pogarch)
- Washington Spirit (No. 20/21 picks in 2024 draft)
Northern California-based Bay FC has also traded expansion protection to Houston, Angel City, Gotham FC, Portland, Washington, Louisville, Kansas City and Orlando as part of its pre-expansion flurry of transactions.
Each team can protect a total of nine players, according to NWSL rules and regulations, and may protect one additional player once a player is selected from its roster. Unsigned unrestricted and restricted free agents are unavailable for selection, as are Under-18 players, individuals on the discovery list of any team, and any player with a “no-trade” clause in their contract, meaning they are required to be protected by the club.
Bay FC will pick first in the expansion draft, which will air live on CBS Sports Network at 5 p.m. MT Friday, with additional coverage on CBS’s “Attacking Third” women’s soccer show.
Here’s Utah’s roster by position – along with each player’s 2023 NWSL side – as it currently stands heading into Friday:
- GK: Mandy Haught (Gotham FC), Carly Nelson (Orlando Pride)
- DF: Kaleigh Riehl (San Diego Wave), Madison Pogarch (San Diego Wave), Kate Del Fava (KC Current)
- MF: Mikayla Cluff (Orlando Pride), Michele Vasconcelos (Portland Thorns), Emily Gray (North Carolina Courage), Frankie Tagliaferri (North Carolina Courage)
- FW: Hannah Betford (Portland Thorns), Imani Dorsey (Gotham FC), Cameron Tucker (Houston Dash)
Just prior to Thanksgiving, the National Women’s Soccer League announced that the 2024 NWSL Draft, presented by Ally, will take place Friday, January 12 at 6 p.m. MT during the United Soccer Coaches Convention at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. For the full list of draft rules and procedures, please click here.
Currently, Utah Royals FC’s 2024 draft picks (round / overall) are as follows:
1st Round – No. 1, No. 4 (KC)
2nd Round – No. 16, No. 20 (WAS), No. 21 (WAS), No. 26 (ORL)
3rd Round – No. 29, No. 33 (POR)
4th Round – No. 44
Live coverage of the 2024 NWSL Draft, presented by Ally, will be televised on ION from 6 to 8 p.m. MT. All rounds of the draft will be streamed on ION Plus. Viewers can find access to ION in their area by visiting https://iontelevision.com/find-us.
KEY UPCOMING NWSL DATES:
- Tues., Dec. 12 – Transaction Moratorium Begins;
- Protected/Unprotected player lists distributed to Utah Royals FC / Bay FC
- Fri., Dec. 15 – Expansion Draft
- Sat., Dec. 16 – Transaction Moratorium Ends
- Fri., Jan. 12 – NWSL Draft, presented by Ally
ABOUT UTAH ROYALS FC
For the 2024 season and beyond, Real Salt Lake’s Blitzer / Smith ownership groups have partnered to bring the National Women’s Soccer League back to Utah, as Utah Royals FC return in the Spring. Led by Head Coach Amy Rodriguez, President Michelle Hyncik and Sporting Director Kelly Cousins, URFC aims to seize upon the success the NWSL enjoyed during its first iteration on the Wasatch Front from 2018-20 and grow the game to even greater heights going forward. Led by visionary sports business entrepreneur Jess Gelman – the founder of the Sloan Sports Analytics Institute, along with innovative NBA executive Daryl Morey – Utah Royals FC blazes new trails in 2024.
2024 Utah Royals FC Full-Season Ticket Packages NOW ON SALE at www.UtahRoyalsFC.com or by calling 844.Real.Tix.
