Soccer-NWSL eyes 2027 World Cup, 2028 Olympics in next era of growth

By Amy Tennery

NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) – The NWSL is aiming to capitalise on a golden period for soccer in the United States, with commissioner Jessica Berman pointing to the the LA28 Games and the 2031 Women’s World Cup on home soil as catalysts for the sport’s continued rise.

The so-called U.S. “summer of soccer” has kept up since last month’s men’s World Cup final in New Jersey, with residual interest from the well-attended and watched tournament spilling over into the men’s and women’s domestic club leagues.

The NWSL has seen average match attendance 11,174, year-to-date, second only to 2024 by a slim margin, after blockbuster debuts by new clubs in Denver and Boston earlier this year, with social media engagement on platforms like Instagram and YouTube soaring.

Early hints of the knock-on effect of the World Cup, co-hosted by Canada and Mexico, were clear as a game last month between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit sold out the home of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, to the tune of some 42,000 tickets. 

“That was on the foundation of men playing soccer. So we are incredibly bullish about how we’re going to be in a position to capitalise when women are playing soccer, which will be the case in the three upcoming milestones,” Berman told Reuters, also referring to next year’s Women’s World Cup.

“The Women’s World Cup in Brazil (in 2027), the Olympics in ’28, and the Women’s World Cup being here in the U.S. (in 2031) – being able to have that connectivity between club and country in real time, which didn’t exist this summer but will exist in all three of those examples, will allow us to… exponentially, bring in those tailwinds into the league’s business.”

The United States is widely expected to co-host the 2031 tournament with Costa Rica, Jamaica and Mexico.

WOMEN’S SOCCER MEETS SUPER BOWL FOOTBALL

The NWSL will get a jump start to their 15th anniversary celebrations next year, kicking the season off a month early and steering into the Super Bowl weekend in Los Angeles, with the opening game set to kick off three days before the NFL title game in the same city. 

The league’s television deal with Super Bowl broadcasters ABC and ESPN will see the season launch woven into the championship weekend, said Berman, with the NWSL set to hold an annual meeting of its advisory board – which includes retired Super Bowl winner Eli Manning – at the same time.

“We’ll use that as an opportunity hopefully to host the hundreds and hundreds of industry people who will be in town for the match,” said Berman.

“Then hopefully, with the match made behind us, use the weekend’s activities to bring the NWSL into the footprint of Super Bowl weekend.”

The 2027 season sets the stage for greater expansion, with the league’s 17th and 18th teams set to debut in Atlanta and Columbus in 2028.

HIGH-PROFILE PLAYERS RETURN

The strategy comes as multiple high-profile figures have returned to the domestic league from its European competitors, including Australian striker Sam Kerr from WSL side Chelsea and U.S. women’s national team captain Lindsey Heaps from Premiere Ligue’s OL Lyonnes.

Berman cited several factors in the return to NWSL, including infrastructure investments that have seen roughly two-thirds of the league having built or in the process of constructing purpose-built training facilities.

“I think there’s a lot of interest and intrigue in the brand building that you can do in this country culturally,” she said. 

“People are excited about celebrating women and their achievements on and off field and that provides a unique opportunity for our players to be able to have brand deals, to build their social media presence, to really anchor their careers for the longevity and create a pathway for even life beyond.”

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Aleksandra MichalskaEditing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)