NWSL
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NWSL Commissioner reveals streaming plans for FULL 2023 season
About NWSL
The National Women’s Soccer League is the top-flight professional league for women in the United States. It was founded on November 21, 2012, and it was owned by the teams under a management contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation. As of January 2021, U.S. Soccer is no longer managing the league, although some aspects of the partnership remain.
The NWSL is a successor to Women’s Professional Soccer (2007-2012), which was a successor to Women’s United Soccer Association (2001-2003) – the world’s first women’s soccer league in which players were paid as professionals.
The NWSL kicked-off with its 2013 season featuring eight teams, four of which were former participants in the WPS (Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue, Western New York Flash). The league saw FC Kansas City and Boston Breakers fold and introduced three expansion teams – Houston (2014), Orlando (2016), Salt Lake City (2018) – across seven years. In 2020, Utah Royals FC (Salt Lake City) sold its ownership and relocated to Kansas City following sexual and racist harassment allegations against owner Dell Loy Hansen. Moreover, Louisville was introduced as the fourth expansion team was introduced in 2021. The NWSL's 10th year anniversary will be celebrated with the introduction of two more expansion teams - Angel City FC (2022), Sacramento (2022).
Current teams:
Chicago Red Stars
Houston Dash
Kansas City
North Carolina Courage
OL Reign
Orlando Pride
Portland Thorns
Racing Louisville
Sky Blue
Washington Spirit
The NWSL typically runs from May through November and consists of ten teams. Each team plays 24 regular season games meaning that contenders play each other three times. The team with the most points at the end of the season is awarded the regular-season title.
The NWSL playoffs consist of the six clubs with the most points in the regular season. The top two teams will receive a first-round bye, while the other four teams play single knockout quarterfinals games. The winners will join the top two seeded teams in the semifinals' single knockout games. The two winners advance to the NWSL Championship to fight for the title.
