The National Women’s Soccer League announced Monday that the Western New York Flash have been sold to a group that will move the team to North Carolina for the upcoming season.
North Carolina FC acquired the rights to the defending league champion Flash, who will be renamed the North Carolina Courage and based in the Raleigh suburb of Cary. The name is a nod to the Carolina Courage of the now-defunct Women’s United Soccer Association in the early 2000s.
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The team will play at the WakeMed Soccer Park.
It is the first time a team in the NWSL - now entering its fifth year - has been moved. Flash players will remain on the Courage’s roster.
The Flash won the NWSL title in October, beating the Washington Spirit.