What do Hollywood A-listers, global sporting legends, rich contracts, billion-dollar clubs and made-for-female-purpose stadiums have to do with women’s football?
They’re all the ingredients that make Sam Kerr’s reported new destination, the NWSL overtake the WSL as the best women’s sports league in the world.
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Kerr has been linked with a move to the Denver Summit in the NSWL, although there has been no official word from the Matildas captain or from either Chelsea or Denver since this news gained momentum earlier this month.
If true, it’s considered a bold move from Kerr, who needs one more goal to break Chelsea’s WSL goal scoring record, with the Blues one of the globally recognisable football clubs and Denver one of the newest football clubs in the world — but there could be more to the move than you may think.
The NWSL for a long time was THE destination for female football players, until the Women’s Super League in the UK announced that it was going fully professional in 2018. The promotion of Manchester United and Tottenham in 2019 further boosted the league and with the boom in women’s football for the past six years, it’s been home to the top football players in the world.
Now the pendulum is swinging back in America’s favour and here’s why.
HOLLYWOOD v HISTORY
The WSL may be home to global football powerhouses Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham but the NWSL has some powerhouse backing of its own in the form of Hollywood A-Lister owners and sporting legends.
Kerr’s new home of Denver has former NFL star Peyton Manning as an owner, while fellow NFL royalty Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany are owners of Kansas City Current. Magic Johnson and Chelsea Clinton are part of Washington’s ownership group. While Alexis Ohanian (who is also a part owner of Chelsea women’s team), Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Billie Jean King and Jennifer Garner are part owners of Angel City. Kevin Durant, Naomi Osaka, Lindsey Vonn and James Harden and Oscar De La Hoya have also invested in NWSL clubs.
It’s a who’s who of epic celebrity proportions in the US league with every team in the competition boasting a celebrity owner in its ranks.
CROWDS AND STADIUMS
Here the NWSL is the standout winner. Let’s start with Kerr’s new home Denver.
This is the newest club in the competition yet it didn’t take long for the expansion team to resonate with fans. A whopping 63,000 fans, the largest attendance in NWSL history, packed into Mile High Stadium for the franchise’s first ever home game.
It was a record breaking week one all round for the competition, with Boston’s inaugural match drawing over 30,000 fans and the crowd average over the eight games was 16,150.
Portland Thorns FC boasts the highest average attendance across the league with over 18,000 with Angel City FC closely behind with 16,000. The average attendance did, however, drop in 2025, but there are encouraging signs from the start of this season.
A big feature of the NWSL is the development of purpose built stadiums and facilities. The Kansas City Current opened CPKC Stadium in 2024 – the world’s first stadium designed specifically for a professional women’s team. Every aspect of the stadium, from the change rooms, bathrooms and design features has been constructed with women’s teams, athletes, fans and the sport of football in mind.
The downside is that it only seats 11,500 and they have sold out of every home match since they opened. While, it’s great they now play in front of a packed crowd every game, it does make you think that they undersold their potential in the planning process for the stadium and sold themselves short.
The Denver Summit is also constructing a 14,500 seat bespoke stadium for the NWSL side, considering their opening game 63,000 attendance, perhaps they too underestimated their popularity and growth.
Kansas City, Angel City FC and Portland Thorns also have bespoke training facilities.
In comparison, the WSL has a standout performer when it comes to crowds in Arsenal. Arsenal has an average attendance of 36,521 after they moved all their women’s matches to the Emirates this season for the first time. Their clash against Chelsea in November registered a crowd of 56,537.
The next best average crowd figure in the league is from Chelsea which has just 8.299, more than three times fewer than Arsenal. Chelsea holds most of its matches at Kingsmeadow which has a 4,850 capacity but has announced it will play all its matches next season at Stamford Bridge.
The average league attendance of the WSL is just 7,000.
As for the stadiums, Brighton and Albion Hove have just announced it too will build a bespoke stadium for its women – Europe’s first. Again, this only has a 10,000 seat capacity.
SALARIES
While the minimum salaries for the leagues are comparable it’s what’s happening at the other end of the salary spectrum where it gets interesting.
The WSL doesn’t have a salary cap and clubs can spend 80% of revenue on wages. Sam Kerr is reportedly the highest player in the league with 466,000 pounds (US$627,000), while Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp is believed to be on 400,000 pounds (US$538,000).
In the WSL, Trinity Rodman recently signed a contract extension with the Washington Spirit which is reportedly worth over US$2 million a season. It makes her the highest paid women’s soccer player in the world.
Kerr’s new contract could potentially exceed that.
VALUATIONS
These have skyrocketed in the NWSL.
Angel City FC tops the list for valuations at $340 million – their expansion fee was just $2million six years ago in 2020.
Columbus Ohio was recently revealed as the latest expansion club, the 18th team to join the competition in 2028. Their owners paid an expansion fee of $205 million, that’s almost double Denver’s $110 million paid a year ago, quadruple what Boston and San Francisco paid in 2023 in $53 million and more than 100 times that of Angel City.
BROADCAST RIGHTS AND VIEWERS
Here the NWSL continues to lead the way. The latest broadcast deal was brokered ahead of the 2024 season and runs until the end of 2027. The four year deal is worth a staggering US$240 million which equates to US$60 million per year. Negotiations for the new rights are set to begin later this year.
In the WSL, a new five year broadcast deal was signed for 2025-2030 worth 65 million pounds, which is around US$87 million, that’s US$17 million per year, well below the NWSL.
In terms of viewership, the NWSL saw an 18% increase across the 2025 season, with the Championship match peaking at 1.55 million viewers with an average audience of 1.184 million – making the final the most watched game in the league’s history. Viewership of the final for the younger age group of 18-34 grew 70% YOY.
In the WSL, broadcast figures dropped around 35% over the 2024/2025 season but figures for the latest season are yet to be released. Many believe a new schedule that places competition head to head with Premier League matches or at unfavourable times also contributed to the drop.
KERR FLOW-ON EFFECT
If the salary, stadiums, valuations and crowds are enough to entice more players to America to play in the NWSL, then the Sam Kerr effect just could.
Having one of the best players in the world playing in the league is sure to turn the spotlight onto the NSWL again and could encourage more players to make a similar move.
There’s no denying the football powerhouses that are the clubs in Europe, but in the women’s game, a new world order is being created and America and (potentially) an Aussie are at the centre of it.