The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league and the highest level of the

United States soccer league system The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by a system o ...

(alongside the

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

). The league comprises 14 teams (16 in 2026). It is owned by the teams and sanctioned by the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

. The NWSL is headquartered in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

. The NWSL was established in 2012 as the successor to

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

(WPS; 2007–2012), which was itself the successor to the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

(WUSA; 2000–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of WPS (

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

, and

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

). Through the 2024 season, seven teams (one now defunct) have been crowned NWSL Champions, awarded to the playoff winner, and six teams (one defunct) have claimed the

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

, awarded to the team in first place at the end of the regular season. The current (2024) NWSL champions and shield winners are the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

Competition format

the NWSL regular season runs from March to November, after which the team with the highest point total is awarded the

. Each team is scheduled for 26 regular-season games, 13 home and 13 away. This is followed by a playoff tournament culminating in the NWSL championship game in late November to crown the league champion. In 2024 a full quarterfinal round was introduced, so that currently the eight teams with the most points from the regular season qualify for the playoffs. From 2021 to 2023, the playoffs included six teams, with the top two teams receiving byes to the semi-finals. Prior to 2021, the playoffs included only four teams. The number of regular-season matches also fluctuated between 20 and 24 in past seasons. The league also plays the

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2025) cup holder is the Washington Spirit, who ...

, which since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

is a single-game

super cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

between the current NWSL Shield holder and current NWSL Champion. The Challenge Cup originated in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

as a way for all teams to return to play after the halt from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

(though one team had to drop out because of COVID). It continued featuring all teams, occurring in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

as a preseason tournament and in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

running concurrently with the season, until 2024.

Participation in CONCACAF W Champions Cup

For the

2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup The 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup was the first season of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF. The winner qualified for both the inaugural 2026 FIFA Women's Champio ...

, three clubs qualified based on performance in the

season. These clubs were

NJ/NY Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

, the playoff champions;

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

, the Shield winners; and

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

, the Shield runners-up.

History

Founding

2022 NWSL Championship 08 - 10 year players

After

(WPS) officially folded in April 2012, the

(US Soccer) announced a roundtable for discussion of the future of women's professional soccer in the United States. The meeting, which included representatives from US Soccer, WPS teams, the W-League (ceased operation in 2015), and the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

(WPSL), was held in June. By November, after much discussion, owners from the Chicago Red Stars, Boston Breakers and US Soccer recruited an additional six teams. Compared to WPS, the teams would intentionally operate at a lower cost structure and manage growth in a sustainable way. In November 2012, it was announced that there would be eight teams in a new women's professional soccer league that was yet to be named at the time of the announcement, with national team players subsidized by

US Soccer The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at ...

, the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

(CSA) and the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

(FMF). The three federations would pay for the salaries of their national team players (24 from the US, 16 from Canada, and 12 to 16 from Mexico) to aid the teams in creating world-class rosters while staying under the salary cap. The players would be distributed evenly (as possible) among the eight teams in an allocation process. The teams would own the league, and the league would contract US Soccer to manage league operations. After the 2020 season, the league terminated its management contract with US Soccer. On November 29, 2012, it was announced that Cheryl Bailey had been named executive director in the new league. Bailey had previously served as general manager of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

from 2007 to 2011, which included leading the support staff for the U.S. team during the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

s, as well as the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. During her tenure with the women's national team, she was in charge of all areas of administration including interfacing with clubs, team travel, payroll, and working with FIFA, CONCACAF, and other federations. The league name was announced in December 2012.

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

was selected as league sponsor, providing apparel to all teams as well as the game ball.

Early years

The first NWSL game was held on April 13, 2013, as the

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL, which received supp ...

visited

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champio ...

, playing to a 1–1 draw in front of a crowd of 6,784 fans at Shawnee Mission District Stadium. Renae Cuellar scored the first goal in league history. The 2013 season saw regular-season attendance average of 4,270, with a high of 17,619 on August 4 for Kansas City at Portland. The NWSL became the first U.S. professional women's soccer league to reach nine teams with the addition of

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

, backed by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS) team

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

, in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

; expansion interest, particularly from MLS and USL teams, has continued. The third season saw a shortened schedule and some early-season roster instability due to the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

in Canada, but the World Cup also provided exposure to the NWSL, which was credited with boosting attendance numbers across the league. The league also became the first professional women's league in the US to play more than three seasons when the league kicked off its fourth season in 2016.

Response to COVID-19 pandemic

The 2020 season was initially postponed due to the

and later canceled. Instead the league played the

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States ...

, a special competition hosted in the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

region with no spectators. The cup began in late June, making the NWSL the first major U.S. team sports league to return to play. The league was the recipient of a federal loan through the

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the First presidency of Donald Trump, Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and ...

, which it used to compensate players before the competition was able to begin. Later that year the league also played the NWSL Fall Series, a set of 18 games between teams within geographically restricted regions.

Teams

Current teams

The NWSL teams are spread across the United States. Each club is allowed a minimum of 20 players on their roster, with a maximum of 22 players (26 when including supplemental players) allowed at any time during the season. Originally, each team's roster included up to three allocated American national team players, up to two allocated Mexico women's national team players, and up to two allocated Canadian national team players via the

NWSL Player Allocation The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the National Women's Soccer League were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were co ...

and subsequent trades. In addition, each team had four spots each season available for international players; these spots could be traded to other teams. The remaining roster spots were required to be filled by domestic players from the United States. Teams filled their rosters via a number of drafts and 4–6 discovery player signings. Mexico stopped allocating players to the NWSL, having established its own women's league in 2017, and the numbers of allocated players and international players on each team varied each year due to trades. Effective with the 2022 season, the player allocation system has been fully abolished. Of the 14 teams contesting the 2025 season, six are affiliated with men's

teams, two are affiliated with men's teams of the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

, one is part of a global portfolio of women's soccer clubs owned by Michele Kang, and seven are independent.

Future teams

Former and defunct teams

Membership timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2013 till:2028 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:orange from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2017 text:

(2013–2017) bar:2 color:orange from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2017 text:

(2013–2017) bar:3 color:skyblue from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2024 text:

(2013–2024) bar:3 color:skyblue from:01/01/2025 till:end text: Chicago Stars FC (2025–present) bar:4 color:skyblue from:01/01/2013 till:end text:

(2013–present) bar:5 color:skyblue from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2018 text:

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

(2013–2018) bar:5 color:skyblue from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text: RFC (2019) bar:5 color:skyblue from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2023 text:

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

(2020–2023) bar:5 color:skyblue from:01/01/2024 till:end text:

(2024–present) bar:6 color:skyblue from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2020 text:

(2013–2020) bar:6 color:skyblue from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2024 text:

(2021–2024) bar:6 color:skyblue from:01/01/2025 till:end text:

Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

(2025–present) bar:7 color:skyblue from:01/01/2013 till:end text:

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

(2013–present) bar:8 color:pink from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2016 text:

(2013–2016) bar:8 color:skyblue from:01/01/2017 till:end text:

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

(2017–present) bar:9 color:skyblue from:01/01/2014 till:end text:

(2014–present) bar:10 color:skyblue from:01/01/2016 till:end text:

(2016–present) bar:11 color:pink from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2020 text:

Utah Royals FC The Utah Royals (formerly Utah Royals FC) are an American professional soccer team based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion team, ...

(2018–2020) bar:11 color:skyblue from:01/01/2024 till:end text: Utah Royals (2024–present) bar:12 color:skyblue from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2021 text: KC (2021) bar:12 color:skyblue from:01/01/2022 till:end text:

Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an NWSL expansion, expansion team in 2021 NWSL ...

(2022–present) bar:13 color:skyblue from:01/01/2021 till:end text:

Racing Louisville FC Racing Louisville Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Louisville, Kentucky, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team i ...

(2021–present) bar:14 color:skyblue from:01/01/2022 till:end text:

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

(2022–present) bar:15 color:skyblue from:01/01/2022 till:end text:

(2022–present) bar:16 color:skyblue from:01/01/2024 till:end text:

Bay FC Bay Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team began play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 Nat ...

(2024–present) bar:17 color:yellow from:01/01/2026 till: end text: Boston Legacy FC (from 2026) bar:18 color:yellow from:01/01/2026 till:end text: Denver NWSL (from 2026) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2013

Expansion

Soon after launch, the league reportedly planned to expand to ten teams for 2014. Potential candidates included groups not accepted as part of the original eight; groups from the Los Angeles area (joint effort from the

LA Strikers Los Angeles Strikers Football Club is an American women's soccer team, founded in 2011. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the Western ...

and

Pali Blues Pali Blues was an American women's soccer team, which played from 2008 to 2014. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Western ...

) and from

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, were confirmed failed bids, as was one from the

Seattle Sounders Women Sound Football Club is an American women's soccer team in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Sound FC play its home games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, six miles south of downtown Seattle. The team was founded in 2000 as ...

. There was speculation that the

Vancouver Whitecaps Women The Vancouver Whitecaps FC women was a Canadian soccer club based in Vancouver, British Columbia that played in the USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team was formed in 2001 under the name Van ...

could be logical candidates especially given the

in Canada; however, the Whitecaps shuttered their women's program (except for one U-18 academy team) in December 2012. During the inaugural season, there were rumors of expansion interest from

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

teams

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

, and the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

, as well as confirmed interest from WPSL side the

Houston Aces The Houston Aces are an American women's soccer team that was founded in 2012. The Aces participate in the WPSL, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada, underneath the NWSL. The Aces play at Albion Campbell Road. Th ...

. NWSL team owners hinted that expansion for 2014 was not a question of "if" but "how many". Despite this, it was announced during the playoffs that there would be no expansion for the league's second season, though the Red Bulls and Sky Blue FC confirmed that they were in discussions for cooperation. During the first offseason, the

added their name to the list of MLS teams interested in fielding a women's side, stating that they were "exploring the opportunity" of starting an NWSL side in 2014 or '15, and in 2013 they announced the Houston Dash with 2014 as their inaugural season. By early December, NWSL approved a new team run by the Dynamo organization for expansion in 2014, despite their earlier statement that there would be no expansion for the league's second season. During the second offseason, expansion talk grew rapidly, with three established men's teams (

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

of MLS, the

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

of NASL, and the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

of USL Pro) expressing interest in joining NWSL, as well as an unattached group from Atlanta. There was also rumored or suggested interest from three men's teams in California, though none of those groups made official statements. Despite this interest, it was announced in late April 2015 that there would be no expansion for the 2016 season. However, after the well-publicized success of the US Women's National soccer team, renewed interest in NWSL expansion caused reports from the owners' meeting that "a new team in 2016 has not been ruled out", with potential expansion news to be revealed within a month. Commissioner Jeff Plush said that over a dozen interested groups had contacted the league in the post-World-Cup weeks; MLS team

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

was one of the first newly interested groups made public. On October 20, 2015, it was announced that Orlando would be hosting the 10th NWSL team, the

, due to start the 2016 season. At that announcement, the Pride announced that they had hired former U.S. National Women's Team coach

Tom Sermanni Thomas Dorby Sermanni (born 1 July 1954) is a Scottish football manager and former professional player, who mostly works in women's football. He has previously managed the Australia women's national team across three stints (1994–1997, 2005� ...

. On November 16, 2017, it was announced that

would expand into the NWSL beginning in the 2018 season. The Salt Lake City team, shortly thereafter unveiled as

, is officially considered a new franchise that replaced FC Kansas City. The NWSL announced on October 22, 2019, that a team in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, affiliated with the city's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, which is currently the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club was founded in 2014 after O ...

, would join the league in 2021. The team was originally to be named Proof Louisville FC, but after significant disapproval from fans it was announced that the Proof Louisville FC branding would not necessarily be the final selection, and that the process to determine the team's identity would be restarted. On July 8, 2020, the Louisville team was rebranded as

, and its associated visual identity was announced on the same day. Racing plays in

Lynn Family Stadium Lynn Family Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the Butchertown, Louisville, Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It has been home to Louisville City FC of the USL Championship (USLC) since its opening in 20 ...

, which opened in 2020 as the new home of Louisville City. On July 21, 2020, the NWSL announced that a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based team will begin play in 2022. The team's ownership group, who call themselves "Angel City", is led by president and founder Julie Uhrman, a media and gaming entrepreneur; co-founders

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

, an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning actress, and venture capitalist Kara Nortman; venture capitalist

Alexis Ohanian Alexis Kerry Ohanian (; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and former executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz. He also ...

as lead founding investor; and additional investors including fourteen former USWNT members, most with ties to Southern California; actresses

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba () (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she w ...

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with Feminism, feminist themes, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Jessica Chastain, various ...

America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress, director and television producer. She has received List of awards and nominations received by America Ferrera, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golde ...

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Company ...

, and

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...

; talk show host

Lilly Singh Lilly Singh (born September 26, 1988) is a Canadian YouTuber, television host, comedian and author. She began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman (stylized IISuperwomanII), her YouTube username ...

; and Ohanian's wife, tennis great

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

. In 2022, the Los Angeles NWSL team became the first American professional sports team founded by a majority-woman ownership group to begin play, and co-founders Portman, Nortman, and Uhrman have publicly discussed their ownership stakes extensively as one way to address gender inequity in sports and to encourage additional investment by women into women's sports. On October 21, 2020, the ownership group announced that the expansion club would be called

and announced more group members, among them tennis great

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

, WNBA star

Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986), nicknamed "Ace", is an American former professional basketball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA dr ...

, alpine skiing great

Lindsey Vonn Lindsey Caroline Vonn ( ; born October 18, 1984) is an American FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. She won four World Cup overall championships – third amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mika ...

and her fiancé at the time,

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

star

P. K. Subban Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban ( ; born May 13, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, and ...

, actress and activist

Sophia Bush Sophia Anna Bush (born July 8, 1982) is an American actress. She starred as List of One Tree Hill characters#Brooke Davis, Brooke Davis in The WB/The CW, CW drama series ''One Tree Hill (TV series), One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012), and as Erin Li ...

, Latin music pop star

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, she first gained recognition in 2011 for her cover version, cover versions of popular song ...

, actor and TV host

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & S ...

, and former US men's soccer international

Cobi Jones Cobi N'Gai Jones (born June 16, 1970) is an American former professional soccer player and commentator. He is an analyst for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. He has also been seen on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Fox Sports, BeIN Sports, the Pac-12 ...

. On December 7, 2020, the NWSL announced that an expansion team in Kansas City would join the league in 2021 and take over player-related assets from

. The Royals ceased operations at the same time, but the new owners of Utah Soccer LLC (after Dell Loy Hansen completes the sale) would have the option of re-establishing the Royals franchise in 2023. The team played under the placeholder name of Kansas City NWSL in the 2021 season, announcing its permanent identity of

immediately before its final home game of that season on October 30. On January 12, 2021, then-NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird shared in a press conference that an expansion team in Sacramento would join the league in 2022, but that the team ownership would make the official announcement in due course. A team announcement never materialized, however. In May 2021, it was reported that the ownership group behind the Sacramento expansion would be seeking NWSL approval to move its expansion rights to San Diego instead. On June 8, 2021, the NWSL officially announced a San Diego expansion team, ultimately named

, with former

head coach

Jill Ellis Jillian Anne Ellis (born 6 September 1966) is an English-American football manager and executive who is the Chief Football Officer of FIFA and will serve as part of the world governing body's executive management team, driving the development an ...

as president. In late 2022, it was reported the likely 13th expansion club would be in Utah, as the new Real Salt Lake ownership had the rights to an approximately $2 million expansion franchise fee to bring back the Utah Royals to the Salt Lake City area. In addition the three finalists for the 14th expansion club were a group from the San Francisco Bay Area, Tampa, and Boston. It is thought these teams would join for the 2024 season. The highest bid was reported to be $40 million. On January 27, 2023, it was reported that the NWSL would expand to Utah, San Francisco and Boston. The owners in Utah would pay $2–5 million, while the groups in San Francisco and Boston would pay $50 million. Utah and San Francisco would join the NWSL in 2024 and Boston would join the NWSL later. On March 11, 2023, it was confirmed that the Utah team would join in 2024, inheriting the Utah Royals FC name and history. League commissioner Jessica Berman announced on Nov. 22, 2024, that Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Denver were finalists for the 16th franchise, which is set to join the league in 2026 alongside Boston. The league decided that Denver would get the franchise in January 2025.

Organization

Stadiums and attendance

In the 2025 season, every NWSL team will use one stadium as its primary home venue. The highest single-game attendance in the league's history was on June 8, 2024, for a game between the

and

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

which drew 35,038. This broke the league previous single-game attendance record of 34,130 from an October 6, 2023 game between

and the

, which was

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

's final regular season appearance. On June 3, 2023, a double-header featuring Seattle Reign FC and

alongside a

matchup between the Seattle Sounders and

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

drew an announced attendance of 42,054. In 2024, the NWSL reached a historic milestone of 2 million match attendees for the first time in league history. In 2025, multiple teams set attendance records for their home openers, including the NC Courage.

Squad formation and salaries

In each season, teams receive a

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

that limits their total spending on players. Before the 2022 season, salaries of federation players were paid for completely or mostly by their respective national federations, and they counted against the salary cap at a pre-determined amount—$33,000 for U.S. players, and $27,500 or the actual salary for Canadian players, whichever is lower. Non-federation players are subject to minimum and maximum salary limits. Each team provides fully paid healthcare for its players, and also provides housing, either directly or through a stipend of no more than $3,000 per month. In addition, teams are allowed to provide their players with the use of a car valued at no more than $50,000. These expenses are specifically excluded from cap calculations. In 2019, the maximum senior roster size was expanded to 22 and the minimum to 20, with an additional four supplemental spots for players earning minimum salary that do not count against the salary cap. the minimum senior roster size is 22 and the maximum 24, so each team could carry a maximum total of 28 players on its active roster. The NWSL introduced significant changes to its compensation guidelines before the 2020 season. In addition to a sizable increase in the salary cap and the salary limits for unallocated players, teams now can purchase up to $300,000 in "allocation money" in excess of the salary cap to invest in qualified current or future players; allocation money can be traded. Multi-year contracts (up to three years plus one option year) are now permitted, year-round housing becomes mandatory, and the cap for permitted team assistance has been removed. When originally announced, allocation money could not be used to supplement the salaries of U.S. or Canadian federation players, and players could not refuse federation status to access allocation money. The allocation rules were quietly changed in advance of the 2020 season to allow players to refuse federation status, but this change did not become public knowledge until after the end of the abbreviated season. In the 2021 season, clubs were explicitly allowed to use allocation money to sign federation players. In 2021, salary for unallocated players and the team salary cap both increased between 5 and 10 percent. On December 13, 2021, as part of negotiations between U.S. Soccer and the union representing USWNT players, both agreed to end the allocation system for USWNT members, effective with the 2022 season. Starting in that season, the club salaries of all USWNT players will be paid directly by their NWSL clubs, and these players will be represented in their club employment by the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA). The NWSL and the NWSLPA, the union representing all players in the NWSL, jointly announced on January 31, 2022, that they had entered into the league's first official collective bargaining agreement, which was intended to run through the 2026 season. Under this agreement, the minimum player salary increased to $35,000 in the 2022 season. Free agency will formally be added; players with six seasons of NWSL service will become unrestricted free agents in 2023, with the required service time reduced to five seasons from 2024. Additionally, starting in 2024, players with three seasons of NWSL service will receive restricted free agency. Also, should the league become profitable in any season from 2024 to 2026, the players will receive 10 percent of the league's broadcast revenues in the applicable season. On August 25, 2022, the NWSLPA filed a grievance against the NWSL after the league announced the omission of 22 players from a list of 26 who would become eligible to negotiate free-agent contracts for the 2023 season. The league contended that the contracts of the 22 omitted players included one or more option years that each player's club must first decline to exercise by the deadline of November 15 before the player would be eligible for free agency. The players association contended that the contracts expired on their expiration date, and not the option exercise deadline. The players association expected the league to deny the grievance, and for the dispute to enter arbitration. In March 2024 Sophia Smith, now Sophia Wilson, was signed by the

to a two-year contract extension that made her the highest-paid player in the NWSL, but her salary was not disclosed. Later in 2024, the league and the NWSLPA entered into a new CBA, running through the 2030 season, that ESPN journalist Jeff Kassouf called "radical by American sports standards". The new CBA eliminated all forms of player drafts—both entry drafts and expansion drafts—thus setting the NWSL apart from all of the major men's leagues and the WNBA. Also, once a player's contract expires, she is free to sign with any team worldwide, regardless of years of service. The league's "discovery rule", which allowed teams to claim NWSL "rights" to negotiate with players at random, was also eliminated. Minimum player salaries were increased to $48,500 for 2025 (more than $9,000 above what the 2021 CBA would have allowed) and will further increase to $82,500 by 2030. The new CBA fixes team salary caps for each year in advance, replacing the old system of announcing each season's cap during the prior offseason. The cap will be $3.3 million in 2025, increasing to $5.1 million by 2030. The largest cap increase in this period will be between 2026 and 2027 ($3.5 million to $4.4 million), coinciding with the U.S. cohosting the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...

. Depending on league media and sponsorship revenue, the figures set forth in the CBA may be increased. The use of charter flights for team travel was modestly increased, and player health benefits were significantly expanded. Perhaps most significantly, the new CBA removed language that effectively enshrined the NWSL's current spring-to-fall calendar, giving the league the option to change to the fall-to-spring calendar used by most European leagues. Any change to the season calendar will require one year's notice. : ''All currency amounts are in

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

s.''

Players' union

Active non-United States federation players, including unpaid amateur players, announced their formation of the NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) on May 15, 2017, as the first step toward forming a union. The NWSL recognized the NWSLPA as the players' union on November 15, 2018. the NWSLPA is led by civil rights attorney and former WPS players' union organizer Meghann Burke. Prior to the 2022 season, the NWSLPA membership did not include United States federation players because those players were contracted to the US Soccer Federation for their NWSL play. With the abolition of the federation player system for 2022 and beyond, the NWSLPA now represents all players in the NWSL. The league and the NWSLPA entered into their first collective bargaining agreement in advance of that season.

League competitions

Championship and Shield

The winner of the

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

, the final match of the

NWSL playoffs The National Women's Soccer League playoffs (or NWSL playoffs) are a single-elimination tournament among eight teams in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) of the United States. The final round of the playoffs is the NWSL Championship. Si ...

, determines that season's NWSL champion. In addition to receiving the championship trophy, the champion gets to add a star to the crest on its jersey. The playoffs, a single-elimination knockout tournament, are organized by the league in a format similar to other North American professional sports leagues. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams in the standings earn a berth to the tournament; from 2021 to 2024, the top six teams qualified for the playoffs, and prior to 2021 the top four teams qualified. The league also awards the

to the team with the best record (most points) at the end of the regular season. Like the playoff championship, it is recognized as a major trophy by the league. The first NWSL Championship was played on September 1, 2013. , six teams have been crowned NWSL Champions: Portland Thorns FC (3), FC Kansas City (2), North Carolina Courage (2), NJ/NY Gotham FC (1), Washington Spirit (1), and Western New York Flash (1). Six teams have claimed the NWSL Shield: North Carolina Courage (3), Seattle Reign FC (3), Portland Thorns FC (2), Orlando Pride (1), San Diego Wave FC (1), and Western New York Flash (1). The Reign was the first team to repeat as Shield winners in 2014 and 2015. FC Kansas City was the first team to win consecutive championships, also in 2014–15, both times defeating the Reign. In 2018, the North Carolina Courage became the first team to win both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship in the same season, a feat they repeated in 2019 and the Orlando Pride achieved in 2024. The trophies won by FC Kansas City and Western New York officially remain with those teams and were not transferred to the expansion or successor teams in Utah and North Carolina that were assigned their player-related assets. This was a non-issue for Utah Royals FC, which won no trophies before folding and having its player-related assets transferred to the franchise now known as the Kansas City Current.

Championship records

''Italics'' indicates a defunct team.

Shield records

Challenge Cup

In 2020, the

prevented the regular season from starting. Instead the league played the newly announced

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

, a tournament-style competition starting in late June, with all teams in a protective bubble in

. This made the NWSL the first professional team sport in the U.S. to restart during the pandemic. The

won the inaugural Challenge Cup, topping the

in the final. In November 2020, the NWSL announced that the

would become an annual league cup competition. The 2021 Challenge Cup was played in April and May prior to the regular season, with the Portland Thorns FC emerging as victors over NJ/NY Gotham FC in the final. The

2022 Challenge Cup The 2022 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 Betfred Challenge Cup, was the 121st edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout cup tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). It s ...

was played from March to May of that year and was won by the North Carolina Courage. The 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup was played concurrently with the NWSL season, and the North Carolina Courage won their second straight NWSL Challenge Cup. In 2024, the Challenge Cup became a single-game

contested by the previous season's NWSL Shield holder and NWSL Champion. Should the same team win both trophies, the Challenge Cup would be a rematch of the previous season's championship game (which happened for the first time in the 2025 edition). The 2023 NWSL Shield winners San Diego Wave FC defeated the NWSL Champion's NJ/NY Gotham FC to win the 2024 Challenge Cup, the first under the current format.

Planned second division

On April 1, 2025, the NWSL applied to U.S. Soccer to create a new Division II league, confirming this to media outlets on April 25. At the time, the U.S. soccer system had no Division II women's league, but a separate organization has applied for Division II sanctioning for WPSL PRO, set to launch in 2026. If sanctioned, the as-of-yet unnamed second division intends to launch in 2026 with reserve sides of eight current NWSL teams—Bay FC, Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville FC, Seattle Reign FC, and the Washington Spirit. All 14 current NWSL sides, plus the two 2026 expansion teams, are expected to field reserve sides in the new second division within that league's first four years, and teams without NWSL affiliations will also be welcome at some point.

Fall Series

In September and October 2020, the league played the Fall Series, in which the nine teams were divided into three geographic "pods" to minimize travel during the COVID-19 pandemic; each team played a home-and-away round-robin within its pod. The

earned 12 points, the maximum possible, and won the Fall Series and the associated trophy, the Community Shield (named

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

Community Shield for sponsorship reasons).

Broadcasting

2013–2016: YouTube, Fox Sports, ESPN

During the 2013–2016 seasons, the majority of league games were available for viewing via YouTube or via individual team's websites. Of the eight teams in the league during the inaugural season, the Boston Breakers were the only team that charged a fee for access to their broadcasts. On April 18, 2013, NWSL signed a one-year agreement with

Fox Sports 2 Fox Sports 2 (branded on-air as FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in ...

to televise six regular season games, the semifinal, and championship games. On May 28, 2014, the NWSL signed a one-year agreement with

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

to televise nine games of the 2014 NWSL season. The matches included three regular season and three playoff matches on ESPN2, as well as 3 regular season games

live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an internet, online streaming media, streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) an ...

. On June 30, 2015, the NWSL announced a one-year agreement with Fox Sports once more to cover ten matches. Three regular season and three playoff matches were televised on FS1, and four live-streamed on

Fox Sports Go The FanDuel Sports Network app is the video streaming service of FanDuel Sports Network. The service is available for customers of select cable and satellite TV providers. History The service was initially introduced as Fox Sports' TV Everyw ...

. The agreement was extended into 2016 under another one-year contract, covering three regular season matches and the three playoff matches, once again on FS1.

2017–2019: Lifetime and go90, ESPN

On February 2, 2017, the NWSL announced three-year agreements with

A&E Networks A&E Television Networks, LLC, doing business as A+E Global Media (formerly A+E Networks) is an American multinational broadcasting company owned and operated as a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company th ...

and

Verizon Communications Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

' streaming platform

go90 go90 was an American Internet television service and mobile app owned and operated by Verizon Communications. The service was positioned as a mobile-oriented "social entertainment platform" targeted primarily towards millennials, featuring a ...

. A&E's women's cable network Lifetime broadcast 22 regular-season matches as the ''NWSL Game of the Week'' at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoons, as well as three post-season matches. This marked the first time that the NWSL had a weekly broadcast window throughout the entire season. As part of the deal, A&E Networks purchased a 25 percent equity stake in the NWSL and were granted two seats on the league's board. The company also formed a joint venture with the league known as NWSL Media to oversee the league's marketing and broadcast rights, and Lifetime became a league-wide kit sponsor for all players. This deal marked the first time Lifetime had broadcast sports since the WNBA in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Lifetime also streamed the game of the week in the United States via its website, and internationally in the NWSL website and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

app. The remaining games were initially streamed in the United States exclusively by go90, and through the NWSL website internationally. The quality of the streams on go90 faced criticism, with sportswriters, users, and players and team staff criticizing the service for its inconsistent quality and arguing that the NWSL's growth could be harmed by go90's relative lack of reach and prominence when compared to YouTube. ''The Equalizer'' noted that the app was prone to crashing, did not have the same wide device support as YouTube, and that the telecasts themselves suffered from their own technical problems (such as poor camera angles and glitches with graphics), but that the streams were good when they worked. On May 19, 2017, the league announced that they would additionally stream games on the NWSL website and app in the U.S. until the technical issues with go90 were rectified. After Houston Dash player Rachel Daly collapsed on the pitch after a match in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, on May 27 – where the

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shade (shadow), shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the Shade (s ...

was reportedly over 100 degrees

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a scale of temperature, temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accou ...

– she was carried off on a stretcher and hospitalized for heat illness. League operations director Amanda Duffy subsequently announced that the ''NWSL Game of the Week'' matches, many of which were slated for the hottest parts of the day in humid cities such as Houston,

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, and

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, Wake, Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham, and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh-Cary, NC M ...

, would be rescheduled to allow for longer hydration breaks. Some ''Game of the Week'' matches changed to other venues, and teams not scheduled for television were granted more flexibility in rescheduling kickoffs for player safety. The league also adopted new procedures for addressing heat and rescheduling matches. On June 6, 2018, it was announced that six ''Game of the Week'' matches through the remainder of the season would move to evening kickoffs and air on

ESPNews ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News," stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hear ...

(which is owned by a sister venture to A&E Networks), in an effort to ensure the safety of players, as well as improve attendance. Go90 shut down in July 2018; the remaining games not aired on television were moved back to the NWSL website for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs. On February 20, 2019, the NWSL announced that A&E Networks had pulled out of its broadcasting agreement with the league one season early. A&E's stake in NWSL Media was given back to the league, but Lifetime remained a kit sponsor. NWSL president Amanda Duffy said the changes would give the league and its teams finer control over its media and sponsorship agreements, and expected to announce a new television rights deal soon.

Verizon Media Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

remained the U.S. digital rightsholder to the league, but the streams moved from go90 to the

Yahoo! Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from Stats Perform. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. ...

website and apps. The NWSL did not reach any national television deals before the start of the 2019 season, but after their opening match, the

reached their own television deal with the

regional sports network A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major L ...

NBC Sports Chicago NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) was an American regional sports network that broadcast regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago Chicago metropolitan area, metropolitan area, as well as college sports ...

. In July 2019, the NWSL announced that ESPN had acquired a 14-match package for the remainder of the season divided among ESPNews and

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

, including the semifinals and championship match.

2020–2023: CBS Sports and Twitch

Portland Thorns vs Chicago Red Stars cameras 20230521

In October 2019, the NWSL signed the agency

Octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

to market its media rights. It was reported that Octagon was pursuing multi-year agreements of at least three years and stronger broadcaster commitments, as to help build an audience and discourage broadcasters from acquiring NWSL rights to ride the coattails of the U.S. national team and the FIFA Women's World Cup, but then "abandon" it afterward. On March 11, 2020, the NWSL entered into a three-year media agreement with

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

-owned streaming service

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

. For the 2020 season, CBS Sports planned to broadcast 87 matches (including the playoffs) split between

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...

, and CBS All Access (now

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

) in Canada and the United States, with the exact distribution among the channels subject to change, while Twitch planned to stream an additional 24 matches for free. Twitch also became the NWSL's international media rightsholder and streamed all matches outside Canada and the United States for free. In September 2021, players publicly complained about the 2021 NWSL championship match's announced the 9 a.m. PDT kickoff time in the neutral-site host city of Portland, Oregon, which was required for the league's noon EDT broadcast slot provided by CBS. The league responded by moving the match to

, in the Eastern Time Zone. Following criticism of match broadcast quality, the NWSL announced improvements to cameras, infrastructure, and staffing in August 2022, with additional improvements necessary to support the introduction of

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

s in 2023. CBS Sports did not renew its rights beyond 2023 during its exclusive negotiating window. The league's contract with Twitch expired after the 2022 season, with the U.S. rights to the matches reverting to CBS. The NWSL stated that matches would stream internationally on its website as part of an agreement with

Endeavor Streaming Endeavor Streaming is a multinational digital video distribution and streaming company. Based in New York City, the company works with professional sports leagues and entertainment companies to distribute live and on-demand content. It also offe ...

, while also reaching agreements with TSN (Canada),

DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...

(Brazil, Japan, UK, and 12 European territories), and

Tigo Millicom International Cellular SA is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider operating in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. Its main shareholder is Xavier Niel, a French billionaire who owns 40% of ...

(

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

). On June 6, 2023, Tigo also added free Spanish-language streams of two regular-season NWSL matches per week, the NWSL Challenge Cup playoffs, and NWSL playoffs in the United States and Canada.

2024–present: CBS, Amazon, ESPN, and Ion

On November 9, 2023, the NWSL announced multi-year deals with CBS Sports, ESPN,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, and

Scripps Sports Scripps Sports is the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company; it is responsible for the broadcasting of sporting events across its broadcast television portfolio, including local stations and co-owned networks (such as Ion Television). Hi ...

, reported to be valued in total at around $60 million per-season (in comparison to the roughly $1.5 million paid by CBS under the previous agreement). *On CBS and streaming on Paramount+, CBS Sports will air at least 10 regular season matches, one quarter-final, one semi-final, and the championship. Eight matches will air exclusively on CBS Sports Network. * Prime Video will stream the season opening match, 25 regular season matches on Friday nights, and one quarter-final. * ESPN will air 17 regular season matches, two quarter-finals, and one semi-final on ESPN, ESPN2, or

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, and streaming on

ESPN+ ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communicati ...

. *

Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...

will air 50 regular season matches per-season, consisting of primetime doubleheaders on Saturday nights. * The remaining matches not covered by these contracts are streamed for free on the league-owned NWSL+ streaming service. Individual teams also have the option to sell the rights to these matches to

regional sports networks A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major L ...

or broadcast stations in their local markets, though the NWSL+ stream is not blacked out.

Statistical leaders

Bold indicates active NWSL players.

Awards

Throughout the season, the league awards Player of the Month, Team of the Month, and Player of the Week awards to individual players, which are voted on by the media. At the end of each season, the league presents seven annual awards for outstanding achievements, six of which are voted on by players, owners, general managers, coaches, media, and fans. The 2024 holders of the annual awards were as follows: * Golden Boot: Temwa Chawinga,

(20 goals) *

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

: Temwa Chawinga, Kansas City Current * Rookie of the Year:

Croix Bethune Croix Collette Bethune ( ; born March 14, 2001) is an American professional association football, soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States wom ...

* Goalkeeper of the Year:

Ann-Katrin Berger Ann-Katrin Berger (born 9 October 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Germany national team, where she has been the number one since 2024. She ha ...

* Defender of the Year: Emily Sams,

* Midfielder of the Year: Croix Bethune, Washington Spirit *

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

: Seb Hines, Orlando Pride In addition, the league names an annual NWSL Best XI team and NWSL Second XI team, which are voted on by players, owners, general managers, coaches, media, and fans.

Leadership

Former general manager of the

Cheryl Bailey was announced by US Soccer president

Sunil Gulati Sunil Gulati ( ; born July 30, 1959) is an American sports administrator who presided over the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) from 2006 to 2018. On April 19, 2013, he was elected to a four-year term on the FIFA Council. In March 2014, h ...

as the first commissioner of the NWSL on November 29, 2012. On November 18, 2014, she resigned after overseeing two seasons and the launch of the new professional league in less than five months ahead of the inaugural season. On January 6, 2015, Jeff Plush, managing director of

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

and a former

board member, was named as Bailey's successor. Plush oversaw the 2015 and 2016 seasons, including the Orlando Pride expansion, a broadcast partnership with A+E Networks (including the three-year broadcast deal with Lifetime television), and the sale of the Western New York Flash to

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional association football, soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Caro ...

owner Stephen Malik and the team's relocation to North Carolina. During his tenure, former

president Amanda Duffy was hired in December 2016 as the NWSL's managing director of operations. Plush resigned as commissioner on March 2, 2017, and the position remained vacant until 2020, although Duffy served as the public face of league management. On January 15, 2019, Duffy was promoted to president, the league's highest office. On January 7, 2020, Amanda Duffy announced that she would leave the NWSL for a leadership position at the

on February 15, 2020. On February 27, 2020, the NWSL announced that Lisa Baird, chief marketing officer of the

New York Public Radio New York Public Radio (NYPR) is a New York City-based independent, publicly supported, Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit media organization incorporated in 1979. Its stated mission is "To make the mind more curious, the heart more open and t ...

, would become the league's commissioner on March 10, 2020. Baird resigned on October 1, 2021, during the NWSL abuse scandal . On October 18, 2021, the league hired

Marla Messing Marla Messing (née Pearlstein; born 1964) is an American attorney and sports executive. She is known primarily for her work in soccer – first with the 1994 FIFA World Cup and as one of the first executives of Major League Soccer in 1995. In ...

as its Interim CEO. On April 20, 2022, Jessica Berman became commissioner, overlapping with CEO Messing, who continued work until May 31.

Sexual harassment

The NWSL has undergone many allegations and reports of sexual harassment, misconduct, and emotional abuse by coaches and staff over the years, and has received a significant amount of criticism.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Major women's sport leagues in North America Sports leagues established in 2012 2012 establishments in the United States Women's soccer leagues in the United States Professional soccer leagues in the United States Top-level women's association football leagues in North America Professional sports leagues in the United States

Competition format

Participation in CONCACAF W Champions Cup

History

Founding

Early years

Response to COVID-19 pandemic

Teams

Current teams

Future teams

Former and defunct teams

Membership timeline

Expansion

Organization

Stadiums and attendance

Squad formation and salaries

Players' union

League competitions

Championship and Shield

Championship records

Shield records

Challenge Cup

Planned second division

Fall Series

Broadcasting

2013–2016: YouTube, Fox Sports, ESPN

2017–2019: Lifetime and go90, ESPN

2020–2023: CBS Sports and Twitch

2024–present: CBS, Amazon, ESPN, and Ion

Statistical leaders

Awards

Leadership

Sexual harassment

See also

Notes

References

External links