What does the landscape for women’s professional soccer look like in North America?
The National Women’s Soccer League, which kicked off in 2013, is arguably the top league in the region. Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil is in its eighth season.
But in the past year, two other women’s leagues have jumped into the fray: the USL Super League, which is in the midst of its first season, and Canada’s Northern Super League.
Two other leagues could join next year, occupying the tier below the NWSL and USL Super League on the women’s soccer pyramid in the United States.
National Women’s Soccer League
After two other attempts at professional women’s soccer in the United States failed, the NWSL finally took hold. Founded with eight teams, the NWSL was boosted in the early days by the U.S., Canadian and Mexican soccer federations, which paid the salaries of their national teams players who played in the league. When Denver and Boston join next season, the NWSL will have 16 teams. Team valuations have risen dramatically in three years, with Angel City valued highest, at $250 million. The league has been able to attract some high-profile sponsors, including Nike, Ally Bank, Elf Cosmetics and AT&T.
Liga MX Femenil
The women’s counterpart to Liga MX in Mexico has 18 teams, all associated with men’s clubs. The league, founded in 2017, features two competitions each year: the Apertura that runs from late summer through the fall and the Clausura, which runs from January to May, similar to the Liga MX men. The league has attracted high-profile foreign players including Women’s World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso and France’s Amandine Henry. Big-name sponsors include Nike and Amazon. Mexico also has a lower division, Liga TDP Femenil, but it is not professional.
USL Super League
Nearing the conclusion of its debut season, the league sits on the top tier of women’s soccer alongside the NWSL, but it does not share the same status in the U.S. ecosystem, largely because it is new and teams are located in some smaller markets. The Super League has eight teams with a ninth set to join next year. Investors are taking notice, and Gainbridge financial services company will be the league’s title sponsor next season.
Northern Super League
Canada’s first pro league kicked off in April with six teams: the Halifax Tides, Montreal Roses, AFC Toronto, Calgary Wild, Ottawa Rapid and Vancouver Rise. One of the highest-profile players in Quinn, who won a gold medal with Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. Quinn scored the league’s first goal, converting a penalty for a 1-0 Vancouver victory over Calgary in front of more than 14,000 fans at BC Place. Sponsors of the league include Coca-Cola, Toyota and DoorDash.
WPSL Pro
This second-division league will launch next year with a focus on developing players. The league got a boost from the Cleveland Soccer Group, which pivoted to WPSL Pro when it did not land an NWSL team in the latest round of expansion. Cleveland’s group is fielding a team and investing in the league itself. Cleveland will be joined in the startup league by teams in Atlanta, Dallas, North Carolina, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
NWSL Division II League
The NWSL recently confirmed it had asked U.S. Soccer to sanction a lower-division women’s professional soccer league that could launch as early as next year. With at least six teams, the new league seeks to develop players who aren’t quite ready for the top level. U.S. Soccer has certain conditions for Division II sanctioning, including a minimum number of teams and stadiums that seat at least 2,000. In the case of the NWSL, all the lower-division teams would be affiliated with top-tier clubs, sharing ownership and infrastructure.
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