Commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters Thursday the National Women's Soccer League will pursue at least two more expansion clubs, bringing the total to 20 teams before the end of the decade. The league currently fields 16 franchises and has two more — Boston and the Bay Area — launching in 2026. Berman framed the move as geographic necessity: *"Our vision to be able to compete on a national basis. In order to do that, we need to have a presence across the country."* Translation: the next media deal, up for renewal in 2027, prices on household reach, and the NWSL still has Cleveland, Philadelphia, and most of the Southeast unserved.
The league sold its last expansion slot — the Bay Area franchise to a group anchored by Sixth Street Partners and Willow Bay — for north of $53M in 2023. Boston, awarded in 2023 to a group including Jennifer Epstein and the Kraft family's adjacent capital, carried a similar number. Insiders expect the next two slots to clear $100M each, assuming they land in top-15 metros and announce before the World Cup bump fades from memory. Cleveland and Philadelphia are the quiet favorites. Both have USL infrastructure, neither competes with MLS broadcast windows in-market, and both deliver the demographic tilt — college-educated households, corporate sponsorship density — that carried the league's last $240M media package with CBS, ESPN, and Amazon.
The timing matters for two reasons. First, the league's collective bargaining agreement runs through 2030, but the no-strike pledge expires in 2027, the same year media renewals begin. Locking in 20 teams and the revenue base that implies — call it $2B in total franchise fees collected since 2019 — gives Berman's office leverage to pre-negotiate salary cap increases without reopening the full CBA. Second, private equity is already circling. Sixth Street, Carlyle, and Arctos have all taken club stakes in the past 18 months. A 20-team league with average valuations near $150M starts to look like a $3B+ asset class, large enough for a league-wide credit facility or a bundled minority sale to a single institutional player. That's the play: grow fast enough that the financial infrastructure treats you like a major league before the players' union or the broadcast buyers do.
Berman did not name markets or timelines, but two cycles are already visible. The league will likely announce one expansion club in early 2025 — ahead of the summer transfer window, giving the new ownership group 18 months to hire, build, and sell tickets for a 2027 kickoff. The second slot would follow in late 2025 or early 2026, targeting a 2028 start. That sequencing keeps the league in the news annually, keeps expansion fees climbing, and ensures at least one new market debuts before media negotiations begin in earnest.
Watch for three signals in the next six months: a Cleveland or Philadelphia announcement by March 2025, coinciding with the SheBelieves Cup media run; any Sixth Street or Arctos public comments on additional club stakes, which would confirm the institutional bid is widening; and whether Boston or the Bay Area begin pre-selling 2026 season tickets before their rosters are named. Early velocity on those two clubs sets the comp for what the next two can charge at the gate, and that comp sets the expansion fee floor.
Berman's math is simple. Two more teams at $100M+ each, added to a league already clearing $200M in annual sponsorship revenue, means the NWSL enters media negotiations in 2027 with a balance sheet that didn't exist when the current deal was signed in 2023. The broadcast buyers will notice.
The takeaway
NWSL targeting 20 teams by 2028; next two expansion slots expected to clear $100M each, doubling prior cycle pricing.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
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