NWSL's Voting Delegates to Support Kathy Carter in U.S. Soccer Election

Kathy Carter has the support of MLS and NWSL entering Saturday's anticipated U.S. Soccer election in Florida.

ORLANDO, Fla. — With the highly contested U.S. Soccer presidential election on Saturday, the NWSL has decided that all three of its voting delegates (4.8 percent of the total vote) will go to Kathy Carter, SI.com has learned.

There had been questions over whether the NWSL vote would be split. Four of the nine NWSL teams are owned my MLS teams, and MLS is supporting Carter. But five NWSL teams are not MLS-owned. The women’s pro league has decided, however, to go all-in on Carter, the on-leave president of Soccer United Marketing (MLS’s marketing arm).

MLS has nine voting delegates on the Professional Council (14.5 percent of the total vote). If you add the MLS vote to the NWSL vote, it means Carter now has 19.3 percent of the total vote sealed up.

If Carter can secure the three voting delegates of the second-division USL men’s league (4.8 percent of the total vote), as she is expected to do—the USL has an affiliation with MLS—the Professional Council alone will give Carter 24.1 percent of the overall vote.

The NASL, which has one voting delegate (1.6 percent of the total vote), has announced it is supporting candidate Eric Wynalda.

The winner of the election will need to have a majority of the total weighted vote.