The National Women’s Soccer League has formally applied to the U.S. Soccer Federation to create a new Division II league.
The league confirmed the news in a statement to ESPN on Friday.
“As a global leader in the women’s soccer landscape both on and off the pitch, the NWSL and its member clubs are committed to growing our sport in meaningful ways,” an NWSL spokesperson said in a statement.
“The demand for professional soccer has never been higher. We look forward to working to build a strong foundation for future generations of players, officials and coaches and ensure the continued advancement of the women’s game.”
CBS Sports reported that eight NWSL teams committed to the D-2 league thus far, and that every NWSL team would be required to have an affiliated second-tier team within the first four years.
News of the NWSL’s plans comes only a week after WPSL Pro announced that it would launch as a second division, a level of women’s professional soccer that has not previously existed in the United States.
If all proposed leagues launch as planned, the number of women’s professional teams in the U.S. could jump from 12 in 2023 to roughly 50 by the end of 2026.
Both WPSL Pro and an NWSL second division will require formal approval and sanctioning from U.S. Soccer.
There is no rule preventing multiple leagues from occupying the same division. U.S. Soccer sets minimum standards for each level of play through its Pro Licensing Standards.
The plan is for the league to launch in 2026 as a developmental tier under the NWSL, which has been a first-division league since its inception in late 2012.
A second division would create a player development pipeline that executives around the NWSL have clamored for over the years.
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told ESPN in an interview earlier this month that the league was evaluating options.
“It’s not as if the players aren’t there; they are there,” Berman told ESPN. “They need to be identified, they need to be in the right technical environment, they need to be invested in and developed in an age- appropriate way that allows for them to ultimately graduate into what we need for our teams as we continue to scale, and what the U.S. national team needs as well.”
Sources told ESPN that it is possible that teams from outside the existing NWSL infrastructure could join the second division.
“If NWSL does, in fact, launch another league, I would fully expect those players to be unionized and advocated for, in addition to the terms of our CBA being respected and adhered to,” NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke told ESPN.
A second-division women’s professional league must have at least six teams to apply for sanctioning.
All stadiums must seat at least 2,000 people, and principal owners of teams must have a net worth of at least $7.5 million.
NWSL first teams already meet much higher standards for first division infrastructure and ownership.
Berman said earlier this month that she is not concerned about thinning out the player pool as the league expands to 16 teams next year and, potentially, double that at some point in the future.
“What does academy really mean? There isn’t a universal definition,” Berman told ESPN. “But yes, the idea of having a development program for youth is something that we’re looking at. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.
“We have to make a strategic decision where we want to direct our resources, because we know that cultivating that next-gen talent is going to be key to our expansion.”
Berman said those efforts require collaboration with U.S. Soccer. The USL Super League launched as another first division last year.
It has eight teams, with plans to add another next season and more teams in the future.
