Seattle Reign 2026 Season: Key updates and timelines

The Seattle Reign held a press conference on Thursday morning to discuss the upcoming 2026 NWSL season, Laura Harvey's contract extension, and significant scheduling changes tied to the FIFA Men's World Cup coming to Seattle this summer.

In addition to Harvey, the press conference featured Reign General Manager Lesle Gallimore and Chief Business Officer Maya Mendoza-Exstrom.

Here are some of the big highlights.

Playing games in Spokane

Coinciding with the release of the NWSL schedule, the Reign announced that their first three home matches will be played in Spokane over a 10-day span, from March 25 to April 4. This represents about 20% of the home matches this season. The front office explained why this move was needed and how they're addressing it with season ticket holders.

Why are the Reign playing games in Spokane?

Lumen Field needs to be converted to a grass field for the World Cup matches taking place in Seattle this June and July. That conversion was scheduled to start after the Seattle Seahawks concluded their season at Lumen. Because the Seahawks had such a great regular season, they are scheduled for more home playoff games than potentially expected – pushing the conversion into the start of the Reign's season.

Reign Chief Business Officer Maya Mendoza-Exstrom explained the complicated situation: "We knew this was going to be the most complicated schedule in the history of the NWSL, not only in terms of growing, adding four games and fixtures. There was a lot of work done at the league level with sporting to accommodate the number of FIFA windows to make sure players were getting the right load."

Seven NWSL markets, including Seattle, are impacted by the World Cup and required scheduling accommodations and alternative plans. Working alongside the league and Lumen Field leadership at First & Goal, the Reign had several early conversations about different options. There are strict standards for stadiums that can host NWSL games, so while other NWSL teams with stadium issues found alternate venues closer to home, the Reign didn't necessarily have the same options.

After evaluating their options, Mendoza-Extstrom noted that "Spokane was really the only soccer-specific stadium that met all those needs. It was built to purpose. It was built to host first-division women's football. We have a really, really good partnership with the leadership of the Velocity and the Zephyr and with Mayor [Lisa] Brown in Spokane. Spokane became the very clear and easiest and obvious venue for us for all of those reasons."

How does this impact season ticket holders?

The three Spokane matches are not part of the season ticket package, but many fans already paid for a 15-match home package. It's what the Reign had been promoting, after all. While the Reign didn't have all the details during Thursday's press conference, Mendoza-Exstrom said they are aware this isn't ideal for fans, and the club would share a lot more before the end of the month.

"Over the next couple of weeks, we're going to lay out a bunch of options for our season ticket members... if you have concerns about the message that went to season ticket members, reach out, have a conversation with our representatives, and over the next sort of 9, 10, 11 days, a lot more is going to become clear on what the options are for season ticket members, because we recognize that those three matches were displaced, and we'll take care of you because that's what we do."

Some season ticket holders who already reached out have been told that more news will be shared on January 24.

When did the team find out?

While the Reign have been working with the NWSL and First & Goal for a while, Harvey shared that the coaching staff received confirmation about the plan about 10 days ago. Harvey felt this was the outcome that had the least impact on the players.

"Honestly, I took a sigh of relief," Harvey told reporters. "This feels like the most painless it could have possibly been, mainly because we thought for a long time that we might not be able to play even more [matches] in Seattle early than we actually are."

Given the quick flight between Seattle and Spokane, Harvey confirmed that the Reign will return to Seattle between their Spokane matches so the players can sleep in their own beds and train at Starfire. She also shared that she's especially thrilled the Reign can play on the grass at Lumen Field in April and May.

Laura Harvey's contract extension

Harvey announced earlier this week that she signed a contract extension with the Reign through 2028. She joined the Reign in 2013, left for a few years, and returned in August 2021. The entire coaching staff from 2025 is also returning. Mendoza-Exstrom and Gallimore spoke about why there was "zero hesitation" to keep Harvey at the Reign.

Why extend Laura Harvey now?

When asked why the club felt that Harvey continued to be the right manager for this club, Mendoza-Exstrom came back to the final moment of last year's season.

"We were all on the field in Orlando last year when the season ended, and all of us collectively were gutted in a way that you could just start to see that there's more, there's more here for all of us. This generation of players were angry that they lost in a way that they didn't ever want to feel that again, and that comes from the coaching staff, that comes from the culture of this team that has been built."

While the Reign's chief business officer acknowledged that stability is important for NWSL clubs, she said re-signing Harvey was more about building momentum with such a talented core group of young players who have developed under Harvey in the last two years.

"Being around the team a little bit more last year, it was fun to be around the team. And that comes from our head coach and our leadership, and this group of players believing that they are the next generation of this club."

Gallimore added that, since the ownership change in the middle of 2024, she, Harvey, and Reign owner Adrian Hanauer have had many conversations about how they can collectively improve and grow. These conversations have continued, and the club feels there is a real sense of collective buy-in to that vision.

"There are conversations that go on daily, and that's the best thing about being here is I think we've built relationships amongst ourselves at the executive level that we all want the same thing, which is to push each other to be better. We want the consistency. We want the stability, but we don't want complacency."

Why did Harvey want to stay in Seattle?

On Harvey's end, she also said that there was "zero hesitation" about re-signing with the Reign. "Everyone knows I love this club. This club is so special to me. This city's special, it just has something that when you get in the door, you don't want to leave it."

Harvey also talked about how much fun she had last year and how eager she was to build on that momentum with such a large core group of players returning.

"Last year was one of the funnest years I've had coaching this team. It felt like a new era; it felt like there was something special. We were closing the chapter on one person who's been really influential in our club in Lu [Barnes], but we were seeing this new generation come through, and that was really exciting and really fun to work with, and selfishly, I didn't want anyone else to enjoy that. I wanted to have that joy myself."

Despite all the changes the Reign have endured over the years, with three different ownership groups, Harvey is proud that the club's culture has never changed. It's one of the key reasons she's back for more.

"I walked back through the door in August of 2021, and it was still the same place. And everything had changed. The ownership had changed, all the people had changed, there were only three players that were the same, but the essence of who the club is and what it represents was still there. And to me, that's what makes it special. There is always turnover, there's always new faces, there's always new things happening, but the essence of what the Reign is in its culture and what it has been from its infancy still exists, and I think that's what keeps bringing us all back because it's a special place to be."

What are the expectations for Harvey?

As Gallimore shared, the team wants to continue to evolve, return to the playoffs, and make it all the way to the championship this year. "We want to see continued evolution and continued competitiveness, but we want to win. We want to win. I mean, it's professional sports, and this club has three shields but no trophy, and I know that our players want to win right now. We want to win for our city. And so that's going to be our mantra internally. And we're capable of that. We're talented enough to do it. We want people to know that this is what we're about, and this is the coach we're going to do it with."

Team Goals for 2026

While the Reign have had a quiet offseason so far, Harvey and Gallimore spoke about their vision for how they want the team to grow this season – with a focus on keeping their defense strong while creating more chances. Gallimore hinted at signings to come, though perhaps not all before the season kicks off, as the team waits for more clarity on the league's new High Impact Player (HIP) rule.

How will the offense improve?

The Reign made dramatic improvements from the 2024 to 2025 seasons. As Harvey noted, "I think last year was a huge step in the right direction for us, because in 2024, the amount of goals we conceded, it wouldn't matter how many goals you scored, you weren't going to be successful conceding that amount of goals. So how can we make that better, which was a dramatic difference from ’24 to ’25."

At the same time, as Sounder at Heart highlighted last month, the Reign struggled to create chances on the offensive end. Harvey acknowledged this when talking about the team's goals for this year. "One thing we did brilliantly last year was our conversion rate was really high. What we didn't do was create 85% more of that, and that's the aim. Can we keep our conversion rate at the conversion rate we had it at — and create more chances and keep the goals against record the same as it was?"

Harvey will be the first to admit that she's never going to stray from her defensive mindset. That's still one of the most important parts of her coaching philosophy. But her focus in 2026 will be on getting that balance right.

"We were a really tough team to beat. The top teams in the league found it really hard to play against us and beat us, and the reason for that was because of our defensive acumen. But then the next layer of it: how do we make sure that it's not just a draw that we're getting, but we're actually turning that into a victory – and that comes down to creating more chances."

Gallimore noted that there were so many new and young players last year, and it took time to figure out the best way to get the most out of the players and put all the pieces together.

"I think we're building, and as a group that hadn't had a ton of experience together, it was trying to figure out which pieces went where and giving them that experience. And now they have the experience... and I will say that Laura and I have had conversations, pushing her, pushing her staff always, to improve and look at where we can be better, what parts of the game need to improve — and certainly how we go from the middle to the front and how we create and score more goals, because people want to see goals."

Will there be more roster moves?

Expressing gratitude first that this offseason didn't require a full roster rebuild – "I wasn't replacing 12 players," Gallimore noted – she also indicated that there will be more roster news coming, and the first announcements came this week with the club transferring Maddie Prohaska to Louisville on Wednesday and signing Evan O'Steen, a U-18 goalkeeper with significant youth national team experience, on Friday.

"Now we can be a little bit more fine-tuning in what our needs are and where we're looking to add," Gallimore said about what made this offseason different than last year.

The club will start preseason next Tuesday, January 20, and they will likely share news at that time about trialists in the mix for some of the few remaining roster spots. That's how the Reign brought on Prohaska and Sally Menti last year.

In addition, the team is preparing for a few scenarios regarding their preseason and mid-season roster-building opportunities. That includes planning to bring in a High Impact Player and considering other mechanisms if the HIP rule is successfully overturned by the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA), which has filed a grievance with the league. The NWSLPA has argued that the HIP rule has to go through a collective-bargaining process before it can be instituted. They instead pushed for the league to increase the salary cap by $1 million, without restrictions on how the new money can be spent.

"We'll always prepare for every scenario," Gallimore stated. "So we'll prepare for the HIP rule, and we'll prepare for not having the HIP rule. We're going to prepare for both, not in this window, but for future windows, and that's been the beauty of being in this moment in time in the club. We are now able to look past our notes and look further down the line: what we can do in the summer and what we'll do with the contracts we do have when we look to re-sign. We can actually do real work in the club and it's a real project now, which is fun for Laura and I to do together."

As the Reign begin preseason on January 20, they will finalize roster decisions and season ticket holder accommodations over the next several weeks before opening the 2026 season on the road against Orlando on March 15, playing their first match in Spokane on March 25, and starting their home campaign at Lumen Field on April 26.