The target is 18 teams in 2028.
Wanted: Someone with deep pockets who loves women’s soccer located in a city with a ready to go soccer stadium, a good corporate base and a good media market contact Jessica Berman for details. The National Women’s Soccer League is now looking for an 18th franchise. The league awarded Home Depot co-founder and owner of the National Football League Atlanta Falcons franchise and Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United FC franchise, Arthur Blank, the league’s 17th franchise in Atlanta. Blank’s team will begin play in 2028. “It is our intention to admit Team 18, and we are targeting a 2028 launch,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said during an appearance in Atlanta one day after announcing the league’s 17th franchise in November. Arthur Blank did not bid for a franchise.
“I think the philosophy around our shift in strategy as it relates to expansion remains true, which is that we will now admit teams as we and a potential bidder deem is ready and appropriate, and really use a slightly different filter so that we can make decisions more on a case-by-case basis,” Berman said. “With that in mind, we’re definitely working on expansion. It will likely always be, at least for the foreseeable future, going on in the background, and when and if we determine that a deal is ready to be presented to our board and move forward, we’ll be able to add Team 18.” In January, 2025 the National Women’s Soccer League awarded its 16th franchise to the Denver market. Denver got the nod beating out Cincinnati and Cleveland. Presumably those two cities are in the mix for that 18th team along with places like Nashville, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Jacksonville. It has been a long road for professional women’s soccer leagues in the United States to find success. That may be changing.
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