Caitlin Clark has many irons in the fire at the moment. And now she’s backing a move to bring an NWSL expansion team to Cincinnati, with the bid potentially setting the group back nearly 79.5 million pounds ($100 million).

FC Cincinnati has hailed Clark’s involvement in the move, which emerged on Thursday night. In a statement to ESPN, the NWSL Cincinnati bid team said: “The NWSL Cincinnati bid team is excited that Caitlin Clark has joined our ownership group in pursuit of bringing a professional women’s soccer team to our city.

“Her passion for the sport, commitment to elevating women’s sports in and around the Greater Cincinnati region, and influence as an athlete and role model for women and girls around the world make her an important part of our compelling bid to become the 16th team in the NWSL.”

Clark has been a revelation in her first season with the Indiana Fever in the WNBA. The 22-year-old has been selected as the first overall pick in the first round of the 2024 WNBA draft and has exceeded expectations, reports Mirror USA.

Her impressive debut season earned her the title of Rookie of the Year after she set both single-season and single-game assists records, surpassed the rookie scoring record and became the first rookie ever to record a triple-double. Clark’s efforts also propelled the Fever into the playoffs, where their journey unfortunately ended at the hands of the Connecticut Sun.

Clark’s profound influence on women’s basketball has been coined the “Caitlin Clark Effect,” and this phenomenon may spill over into soccer as Cincinnati enters the race to secure an NWSL expansion team. Securing a position as the 16th team in the National Women’s Soccer League could command a hefty sum, with ESPN sources estimating it could come to almost double the £42.1m ($53m) price tag being paid of BOS Nation FC and Bay FC to join the league as its 14th and 15th teams in 2023.

Although Bay FC has already debuted in the NWSL this season, BOS Nation isn’t set to kick off until 2026. On the soccer front, FC Cincinnati is a fairly recent addition to the sports arena, having been unveiled in 2015 and starting their MLS journey on March 2, 2019 .

Their highlight so far was taking third place in the 2024 Eastern Conference and making it to the first round of the playoffs. As for the NWSL, it started in 2012 with just eight teams, meaning the potential introduction of the 16th team marks a doubling in size for the league in just over a decade.

Portland Thorns FC have established themselves as the league’s powerhouse, winning three championship titles to date. Looking ahead, the NWSL Finals are set for Saturday, November 23, where the Orlando Pride will face the Washington Spirit in a bid to capture the 2024 title at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.