I’d watch a Canes game from a Lazy River…
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Avenue Sports Fund, led by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry has invested in the North Carolina Courage. They haven’t disclosed the terms, but sources say it is a $40 million investment at a $155 million pre-money valuation.
Probably most relevant to this forum, majority owner Steve Malik says they are making progress on a stadium in Downtown Raleigh.
Getting a big chunk of equity from a deep-pocketed investor should help with those efforts.
Edit: I think the news of this broke last month, and the latest update is b/c the investment has now happened. Also, an article I read said that the previous talks that fell apart b/c of private equity rules were at a $108M valuation in late 2024. Now in early 2026 the valuation is $155. That is like a 40% jump in less than two years!
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Related to this, I heard yesterday that the NWSL is not going to discuss flipping the season like MSL voted to do. (this will put the MSL on the same schedule as most of the world that plays fall thru spring with the summer off). Part of the possible reasons not to do this is stadium issues - as most women’s teams play in shared stadiums, and there are fewer conflicts in the spring to fall schedule. None of the NWSL teams have their own stadiums, so getting one for the Courage would be a huge boost for the team. Fingers crossed for the Courage and for an eventual MLS team to share their stadium.
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The KC Current have their own stadium. Boston and Denver are currently building their own.
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Thanks for that correction! So 2, with 3rd planned. Lets get on that bandwagon! By the way, the Denver team has a Raleighite in the front office.
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Canes with OT win last night. Up 2 games to 0 against Philly.
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That was an awesome game. So exciting! I couldn’t believe they were down 2-0 in the first few minutes, and still came back the way they did.
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The Cames are still undefeated in the playoffs!
They won on the road in Philly tonight, 4-1 and now lead the series 3-0!
LETS GO CANES!!
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I’d hate to be a Philly fan.
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You’re pretty good at posting about all these games you’re not watching 
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I watch when I can. Last night I was able to watch most of it, except the beginning and when they scored 2 goals in short succession to go from 2-1 to 4-1 
All in all, probably was able to watch 40 of the 60 minutes.
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I’m loving all the fights, in addition to (and sometime resulting in) the massive number of power plays. Each one of these games so far has been very entertaining.
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I was thinking the complete opposite. Philly is awful and shouldn’t even have made the playoffs. Its been complete domination in both series. Possibly the least exciting playoff matchups I have ever watched.
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This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I could do without all the fights in hockey. Any other sport you get ejected if you start throwing punches. I know it’s deep rooted hockey culture, but just play the damn game. If you take a big illegal hit, let the refs handle it.
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I agree but Philly is one of the teams that has come back from 3-0 so there’s always that possibility.
It’s lopsided. Philly isn’t that good and they looked bad last night, albeit reeling from injuries. But what I LOVE is how the team is still so dialed in and taking it one game at a time. Did you see Freddy’s postgame interview last night (…possibly the longest player interview of all time lol)? He is completely locked in, it’s even a little scary. Ehlers? Looks like he hates everyone and wants to break through a brick wall. These guys want it so freaking bad and I think that intangible is what’s different this year.
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Well, fighting is on brand for Philadelphia.
While Philadelphia is nicknamed “The City of Brotherly Love”—derived from the Greek roots for brother (adelphos) and love (phileo) by founder William Penn—that phrase is often sarcastically challenged due to the city’s reputation for rowdy sports fans, intense rivalries, and urban toughness. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Why People Say “City of Brotherly Love, My Ass!”:
- Sports Rivalries: Football fans and visitors often use this phrase to describe hostile encounters, particularly for Cowboys fans visiting Philadelphia.
- Reputation for Rudeness: Some residents and visitors consider Philadelphians among the rudest in the country.
- Crime and Cynicism: Local critics sometimes refer to the city as “Killadelphia” or “Pistolvania” due to violent crime rates and a tough, sometimes unkind, atmosphere.
- Historical Irony: Many feel the modern reality of the city starkly contradicts William Penn’s original vision of a peaceful “holy experiment”. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Despite this, the phrase “Philadelphia Maneto” (Let Brotherly Love Continue) remains the official city motto.[1]
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Yeah, I’m sure they are dialed in but if the playoffs were 1-8 seeding then its a totally different story and the Canes are playing Montreal or Boston in the second round. The fact that Philly played Pitt in the first round makes no sense whatsoever so now Carolina will sweep the first two rounds with the easiest path to the ECF in NHL history.
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1-8 seeding vs. the current division/wildcard seeding would have resulted in a Canes (113 pts = 1st) vs. Flyers (98 pts = 8th) opening round.
Second round opponent would be the winner of a Canadiens (106 pts = 4th) vs. Bruins (100 pts = 5th) series.
Senators (99 pts = 6th) as an opening round opponent were coming in hot and not an easy draw.
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Acting like Ottawa and Philly are beer league squads feels a little aggressive lol. Ottawa had 99 points, basically the same as the Bruins, so that wasn’t exactly a cupcake matchup. And if the Philly series was really that boring, I doubt Game 2 pulls 2.3 million viewers and sets an ESPN cable record…
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