NWSL targets 18th team for 2028 as league leans into expansion and World Cup tailwinds

The NWSL expects to award its 18th franchise later this year, with the team set to begin play in 2028, commissioner Jessica Berman has said.The move would take the league to 18 clubs two seasons after it doubled in size from its 2013 launch, with Boston Legacy and Denver Summit debuting in 2026 and Atlanta already confirmed for 2028.The league, which starts again this weekend, has positioned 2026 as a commercial inflection point, with expansion driving local sponsorship and ticketing growth while the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America lifts broader US football attention.Berman said: “We’re intending to and expect to break records, as we have in every prior season. There will be less tonnage, or less games, that are happening on the men’s World Cup side, and give us an opportunity to occupy some of that space when there are still going to be millions of people paying attention to soccer in this country and globally.”Atlanta’s award raised the expansion benchmark, with the NWSL previously indicating a record fee for that bid, and the league has signalled it will apply a more deliberate process for the next market rather than rush to match 2026 timelines.The NWSL has also been calibrating its media strategy ahead of its next domestic rights negotiation, with the current cycle running until the end of the 2027 season.The league has expanded its distribution footprint in the run-up, deepening relationships with established partners and testing additional platforms as it looks to grow regular-season audiences and create more appointment viewing.Operationally, the men’s World Cup is expected to create both disruption and opportunity, with training sites, stadium availability and venue overlays likely to affect scheduling and match operations in some markets.The NWSL has said it is planning around the tournament window to maintain visibility, including programming decisions that keep product in-market when the World Cup schedule thins between group and knockout phases.The expansion timeline also gives prospective ownership groups time to lock down venue plans, training facilities and front-office buildout, with the NWSL increasingly prioritising infrastructure and long-term capital commitments alongside headline valuations.