NWSL ‘not done’ expanding with announcement set for next week

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said Thursday that expansion efforts are “not done,” with the league set to name its newest franchise next week.

ESPN sources confirmed reports that Denver will be awarded the 16th franchise when that announcement is made.

“Obviously, there’s been a lot of rumors circulating, but we will have an announcement next week, so more to come in the not-too-distant future,” Berman said. “We know that our expansion is not done. We’re in active conversations with our board to determine the next sequence of expansion, and as I’ve shared before, we have so many interested bidders who were not given a team in this round.

“Part of the effort in the next three to six months is really developing our next expansion strategy. We want to be aggressive with expansion, but we also want to be strategic and smart about how we do that.”

Currently at 14 teams, the league will grow to 16 by 2026, with the 15th team BOS Nation FC already announced and Denver expected to be revealed next week.

Regarding how the league will choose future markets, Berman outlined three guidelines that will determine where the league moves beyond 2026.

“The first is ownership and knowing that we have the right owner with the right — both financial wherewithal as well as vision to invest,” Berman said. “The second being infrastructure, making sure that we have a bid with a professional and appropriate stadium and training facility that meets the standards, not just of today, but of where we think the league is heading.

“The third being the market, the reason the market is third is really only because we’re in this vast country where we know there’s opportunity for growth in so many different cities. So it doesn’t have to be the driver for our decisions.

“I could sit here and think of 10 to 12 markets where we could have a team be successful.”

Heading into the 2025 season, the league will also be charting new waters without a college draft and free agency. Those decisions, among others, will be an adjustment after the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement last year.

“It’s a learning process for the whole ecosystem,” Berman said. “On the technical staff side, they’ve never experienced anything like this. There actually is nothing to point to as a case study of how to make this transition, because there is no league that has gone from a world of a draft and having years of service, to being able to earn free agency and just having that melt away overnight.

“But I think it’s also been an adjustment for the players. I’ve seen some reports of the number of players who are out of contract, who are still looking for a job, and I think being able to find places for all of them, either within our ecosystem or beyond, is also going to be an adjustment for everyone.”

On Wednesday, the league announced the full schedule for the 2025 season that will include a Rivalry Weekend and the return of Decision Day. Berman said the location of the 2025 championship will come in “the next few months.”