The North Carolina Courage were established on 9 January 2017 when Stephen Malik bought the Western New York Flash franchise and moved it south. The club plays at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, capacity 10,000, in Atlantic blue, cardinal red and Southern gold, behind a crest carrying a stylised lioness that nods to the WUSA-era Carolina Courage and takes its star and colours from the North Carolina flag. The Courage won NWSL Shields in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and NWSL Championships in 2018 and 2019, becoming the first club to take the Shield and the Championship in the same season. They also won the 2018 Womens International Champions Cup and the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2022 and 2023.