Expansions, Extensions and Lessons Learned

After two days of league board meetings, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman spoke to the media about what's happening in the league.

She touched on four key items: league expansion, salary caps, her contract extension and lessons learned after medical crises on the field.

League Expansion

We know there are several teams vying for a shot at joining the NWSL (Cincinnati and Minnesota, just to name two of them.) But, Berman says that list is quite a bit longer, with "dozens of them" interested in joining the league. (The Sports Business Journal calls out Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville, Philadelphia and St. Louis.)

From the Sports Business Journal: "Those conversations are ongoing and each of them have a different perspective on how much time they need to launch and the investments they need to make in order to be successful, including potentially around infrastructure. We want to not force a square peg into a round hole. We want to be more flexible so that we can get to the best possible result for the next round."

As you know, Denver and Boston are joining in 2026. Beyond that? We'll have to see. What we do know is that the league is moving from set start and end dates for expansions to a "rolling expansion process," examining bids from prospective teams as they present them.

Salary Caps

With talks of league expansion comes talks of players transferring out of the league for a bigger paycheck.

Here's a quick overview from The Athletic on the moves this year: Naomi Girma moved from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea in January 2025 for a record fee at the time; Emily Fox joined Arsenal soon after, as did Jenna Nighswonger; Crystal Dunn left Gotham FC for Paris Saint-Germain; and, most recently, Alyssa Thompson departed Angel City FC for Chelsea.

Berman refuses to blame the moves solely on salary cap.

“While I could understand the focus on the salary cap, the ways that players make decisions about where to play is a complex set of considerations, and we will always look at that, not in a myopic way, but holistically. We are quite confident that the value proposition that we offer to players is compelling and will continue to attract and retain the best players.”

The NWSL has been working on the salary cap issue. Last year, the cap doubled to $2.75 million and this year it jumped to $3.3 million. As part of the collective bargaining agreement, the base cap is required to rise to $5.1 million by 2030.

Will that be enough to retain our top talent? Only time will tell.

Berman's Contract

While she didn't say much, Berman did touch on her contract set to expire at the end of this year.

"What I can say is that I intend to be here. I joined this league because I believe in the future of women's sports and professional women's soccer, and that's all I can say."

Rumor has it, she's not going anywhere and will, at least, sign a short-term extension.

Lessons Learned

There have been a handful of on-field crises in the NWSL's history, including three this year.

The first, in May, when a player collapsed during a match and play continued shortly after. The league admitted to making a mistake in continuing play.

Then, some concerns about on-field temperatures when Berman was accused of pushing for a match to go ahead despite temps above the league's own safety threshold.

The third, where it looks like the league learned its lesson, happened last weekend when a player collapsed during a match. Play was quickly halted and the game suspended and later rescheduled.

Berman called that decision a no-brainer and said the league has streamlined decision-making processes in these circumstances.

“No one wants to have experience practicing these policies, but having had the opportunity to play it out earlier this year, assess and learn the things that we could do better, and then actually have the chance to do it better the second time around, was a moment that allowed us to show what we’re capable of."