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 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

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. Organized by 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 ...

(USL), it operates as its premier league for women above the pre-professional

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

. The league consists of eight clubs who annually play four round-robins – two in the fall and two in the spring – to earn four places in a playoff tournament that determines the league's champion. Additional clubs are expected to join the league in the future. Clubs in the league have no cap on salaries or squad sizes, while minimum salaries are around

US$ 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 ...

35,000 to 37,000. There is no

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

system, and squads are primarily built with

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

s. The league's matches are streamed nationally on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

. The USLS was established in September 2021 as part of an effort to establish a youth-to-pro pathway for women's players within the USL system. Initially planned as a division two league, numerous USL clubs explored fielding women's teams in the league, with eight markets being decided upon. The USL would later successfully seek division one sanctioning by U.S. Soccer, marking the first time that two leagues occupied the top tier of the United States women's soccer league system. As of the 2024–25 season, Tampa Bay Sun FC are the current champions, while Carolina Ascent FC are the current Players' Shield holders.

History

Embarking on the creation of a full pathway for women's soccer within their system, the

(USL) established a professional women's league in 2021, and publicly unveiled it as the USL Super League in September of that year. Amanda Vandervort, former Chief Women's Football Officer for FIFPro, was appointed as the league's first president. In the wake of the unveiling, D.C. United, Lane United FC, Memphis 901 FC, Real Central New Jersey, USL New Orleans, and Santa Barbara Sky FC expressed interest in entering the Super League. In May 2023, the USL awarded Super League franchise rights to Carolina Ascent FC, Dallas Trinity FC, DC Power FC, FC Tucson,

Lexington SC Lexington Sporting Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2021 as an expansion side in USL League One (the third division of the United States soccer league system), the clu ...

, Phoenix Rising FC, Spokane Zephyr FC, and Tampa Bay Sun FC for the inaugural season; and Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Forward Madison,

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 ...

, Oakland Soul SC, and Sporting Club Jacksonville for later seasons. FC Tucson and the Rising would later forfeit their franchise rights, citing unpreparedness for professional play. Brooklyn FC and Fort Lauderdale United gained entry into the league in their place. U.S. Soccer granted the Super League its Division I sanctioning in February 2024, alongside the

. The league's inaugural season kicked off on August 17, 2024 with two matches: an Ascent home victory against the power during which Vicky Bruce scored the league's first goal, and a Zephyr home tie with Fort Lauderdale.

Format

The USL Super League plays a "fall to summer" schedule, aligning with the traditional fall–spring domestic soccer season, but differing from the spring–fall schedule typically played by American soccer leagues. A mid-season break is observed in order to avoid play in harsher climates during winter. The Super League does not have a college draft, and clubs rely on

s and transfers to build rosters. The team with the best record in the regular season wins the USL Super League Players' Shield. After the regular season, the top four teams play a single-elimination playoff tournament, the winner of which is the league champion.

Organization

Amanda Vandervort serves as the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the USL Super League, while Missy Price serves as its vice president. Carrie Taylor is its vice president of operations.

Teams

Timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 Period = from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:80 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:scale value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5) id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) legend:Current_clubs id:Future value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) legend:Future_clubs id:Former value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) legend:Former_clubs id:Other value:rgb(0.900,0.900,0.900) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/2024 Legend = orientation:hor position:bottom LineData = color:scale layer:back width:2 at:01/01/2025 #> CHANGE THIS DATE TO UPDATE CURRENT SEASON <# TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text: PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s #> JOINED IN 2024 <# bar:1 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: Brooklyn FC (2024–) bar:2 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: Carolina Ascent (2024–) bar:3 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: Dallas Trinity (2019–) bar:4 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: DC Power (2024-) bar:5 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: FTL United FC (2024-) bar:6 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text:

(2024-) bar:7 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: Spokane Zephyr (2024–) bar:8 color:Full from:08/01/2024 till:end text: Tampa Bay Sun FC (2024–) #> FUTURE CLUBS <# bar:9 color:Future from:08/01/2025 till:end text: Sporting Jax (2025–)

Seasons

Broadcasting and sponsorship

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

holds broadcasting rights for the USL Super League as part of a multi-year deal. It

livestreams Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- live ...

all matches on its subscription streaming service

, with some matches simulcast on its NBC Sports NOW FAST channel. Gainbridge owns the league's naming rights as part of a multi-year deal beginning in the 2025–26 season. IDA Sports is the league's official provider of

cleats Cleat may refer to: * Cleat (nautical), a fitting on ships, balls, and balls to which ropes are tied * Cleat hitch, a knot * Cleat, Orkney, a List of places in Orkney#C, place in Scotland * Cleat (shoe), a type or part of a shoe * Cleats (comic st ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control USL Super League Women's soccer leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 2021 2021 establishments in the United States Professional soccer leagues in the United States Top-level women's association football leagues in North America 2024 in American women's soccer Professional sports leagues in the United States