Utah Royals FC will continue to build out its roster during the 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft ahead of the Club’s second era.
Utah Royals FC and fellow 2024 NWSL debutant Bay FC will alternate picks through 12 rounds, with each team selecting up to 12 unprotected players. Each incumbent team may lose no more than two unprotected players throughout the expansion draft.
Following a flurry of trades announced on Tuesday, December 12th, Utah Royals FC can now only select players from Racing Louisville FC, OL Reign, and Chicago Red Stars with the remainder of the incumbent teams receiving protection via picks, player rights or allocation money.
This is the first NWSL Expansion Draft in which Utah Royals FC will participate, despite initially entering the league in 2018. When FC Kansas City folded, the team’s player contracts, draft picks, and other rights were transferred and the first iteration of Utah Royals FC was born.
The 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft, presented by Ally, will air live on CBS Sports Network with coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m. MT on Friday, December 15.
The “Attacking Third” women’s soccer show will also provide additional coverage and analysis during the week of the expansion draft on CBS Sports Golazo Network and across @AttackingThird social accounts.
Teams must designate all players as either protected, meaning they are ineligible for selection by Bay FC and Utah Royals FC in the expansion draft, or unprotected, meaning they are eligible for selection by either club, according to the following requirements:
- Teams are permitted to protect a total of nine players. All other players must be unprotected.
- A team is permitted to protect one additional player after the first expansion team selects a player from its roster.
- Unsigned, unrestricted and restricted free agents are not eligible to be selected in the expansion process.
- Under-18 players are not eligible to be selected in the expansion process.
- Individuals on the Discovery List of any team are not eligible to be selected in the expansion draft.
- Players with a “no trade” clause are required to be protected by their current club.
- Teams are required to disclose to the league, along with the protected/unprotected designation, any players who a team believes will be unavailable to play by January 1, 2024, due to injury, retirement, loan, or any other reason. This information will be shared with the expansion teams.
Entering Friday’s draft, Utah Royals Head Coach Amy Rodriguez’ roster by position is as follows:
- GK: Mandy Haught (Gotham FC), Carly Nelson (Orlando Pride)
- DF: Kaleigh Riehl (San Diego Wave), Madison Pogarch (San Diego Wave), Kate Del Fava (Kansas City 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)
