Everything you need to know about the 2026 NWSL season | The GIST

The NWSL keeps growing and will feature 16 teams this season, with expansion squads Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC joining the fun. Every club will compete in 30 regular-season matches (up from 26 in 2025), facing every team twice — once at home and once away.

• 🛑 The league will not hold any regular season games from June 1st to June 28th to account for both a CBA-mandated break and the men’s FIFA World Cup. NWSL games will resume on July 3rd following the World Cup group stage.

Come the end of the regular season in the fall, the top team will walk away with the NWSL Shield (awarded to the club with the best regular-season record). Perhaps it’ll come down to the always exhilarating Decision Day, aka the final day of the regular season where all 16 teams could still be battling for one of eight spots in the single-elimination NWSL Playoffs. Bring it on.

Before we dive into the teams, here are a few headlines to know ahead of the first whistle.

📺 More than 1M people watched November’s NWSL Championship, a monumental feat as the league hadn’t broke the million-viewer mark for a single game yet. Plus, more fans attended the playoffs than ever before. Girls just wanna have fun watch women’s soccer.

👀 Speaking of, we’re in the third year of the NWSL’s four-year, $240M transformative media rights deal. In the U.S., you can tune in on ION, Prime Video, CBS, ESPN, Victory+, and NWSL+, while games will air on TSN, One Soccer, and NWSL+ in Canada.

⭐ The aforementioned Trinity Rodman signed a three-year, $2M annual contract in the offseason to stay with the Spirit. As a free agent, Rodman fielded massive offers from abroad, so the NWSL, which abides by a salary cap, made some changes.

👋 Last but not least, Boston and Denver will make splashy league debuts, both hosting their home openers at NFL stadiums. Legacy play defending champ Gotham FC tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium, while Summit has already sold over 50K tickets to their March 28th match at Mile High and are on track to break the league’s single-game attendance record. If you build it…

🗽 Gotham FC: Folks love to underestimate Gotham, who won their second franchise ’ship as the lowest playoff seed last year. We won’t make that mistake — especially with stalwart center back Tierna Davidson returning from injury imminently.

🧨 Washington Spirit: Don’t let the charming cherry blossom kit fool you: The Spirit are out for revenge after losing their second straight championship game. Speedy striker Gift Monday was the breakout star of their postseason campaign and will be a force on the front line with Rodman.

💧 Kansas City Current: KC made one of the splashiest offseason moves, acquiring $1M midfielder Croix Bethune from the Spirit. Bethune will now team up with goal wizard Ally Sentnor and two-time reigning MVP, friend of The GIST Temwa Chawinga.

🌹 Portland Thorns: Midfielder Sam Coffey heading abroad left a big hole in the Thorns’ roster, one rookie Shae Harvey will try and fill. As for returners, 2022 MVP Sophia Wilson (née Smith) will return to the pitch following a season long maternity leave. In moms we trust.

⛰️ Denver Summit: Denver is our expansion squad pick to make the playoffs. USWNT captain and Colorado’s own Lindsey Heaps (née Horan) will join the squad in June — until then, expect Northern Super League transfer Emma Regan to control the midfield.

🌊 San Diego Wave: The Wave have also been busy since November, acquiring not one, but two standout Brazilian forwards: Ludmila, who recently scored the fastest hat trick in league history, and Gabi Portilho, fresh off a championship with Gotham.

🍊 Orlando Pride: Forward Barbra Banda’s season-ending injury in August 2025 put a real damper on the then–reigning champ Pride’s title defense. She isn’t officially back for Orlando, but Banda did join the Zambian national team camp last week. Can’t wait to see her on the pitch with Marta.

👑 Seattle Reign: The Reign struggled to score last season, but boast stout goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, who has firmly cemented herself in the USWNT pool. Alongside veteran midfielder Jess Fishlock, Dickey will provide the stability the squad needs as their forwards…figure it out.

☔ Bay FC: Their $1.1M trade for 20-year-old midfielder Claire Hutton, who recently became the youngest player to captain the USWNT, makes Bay FC intriguing. Time will tell if that move sends them back to the playoffs after a disappointing sophomore season.

🏇 Racing Louisville: With reigning Coach of the Year Bev Yanez at the helm and their playoff curse broken, anything feels possible in Louisville. Now it’s up to splashy forward Emma Sears to keep the foot on the gas.

💪 Boston Legacy: Pro women’s soccer is back in Boston for the first time since 2017, a reason for celebration even as home stadium issues persist. As for the players, 2025 Ballon d’Or Féminin nominee Amanda Gutierres and goalkeeper Casey Murphy will be bright spots in Beantown.

😇 Angel City FC: ACFC struggled with consistency in 2025, but that’s nothing stalwart center back Emily Sams can’t fix. What’s more, defender Savy King is expected to return to the pitch this season after suffering an on-field cardiac event last May. Already tearing up.

⭐ Chicago Stars: The rebuild continues, but in a new location: The Stars changed their home field for the 2026 season. As fans await forward Mal Swanson’s return from maternity leave, Jameese Joseph will carry the offense while goalie Alyssa Naeher holds it down during her 11th Chi season.

🫅 Utah Royals: Timing is everything and last season was too little, too late for the Royals, who went unbeaten in nine of their last 11 games, but failed to make the playoffs for the second straight year. Perhaps rookie and NCAA champion Kameron Simmonds can provide the spark.

💨 Houston Dash: Houston, we have a problem: scoring goals. Watch for rookies midfielder Linda Ullmark and forward Kate Faasse, both from college powerhouse UNC, to remedy this.

✊ North Carolina Courage: After missing the playoffs in 2025, the Courage made significant changes in the offseason, including adding goalie Kailen Sheridan and new head coach Mak Lind. Nothing like a refresh.