One of the driving forces behind news that the Washington Freedom and FC Gold Pride would fold was the WPS requiring all teams to put up an escrow payment at the start of the November.
The idea behind this was seemingly sound, in that the league wanted to be able to have assurances that every team was financially viable and avoid a midseason collapse similar to the one that brought down St. Louis Athletica.
According to a release by the league, that decision has been delayed. The expansion draft was scheduled for Thursday, but has now been pushed back and free agency will start in mid-November.
This was all done in apparent attempt to give the league’s champion and the most storied women’s soccer team in the country an extended period to find some extra investors.
There are various reports saying that as few as four teams are strongly committed to next season, while there seems to still be a possibility that as many as eight could be around.