NWSL boss to head Women’s Leagues Forum

SAN DIEGO — A group of professional women’s leagues and governing bodies from across the globe have joined together to form the Women’s League Forum, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman announced on Friday.

Berman will co-chair the group alongside Annika Gralls of Sweden’s OBOS Damallsvenskan league, they said during a media availability at Snapdragon Stadium ahead of Saturday’s NWSL championship match between OL Reign and NJ/NY Gotham.

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“A lot of the men’s professional leagues work together through a group called the World Leagues Forum and we have been convening over the last 15 months in an informal way to share best practices and ideas with all of the professional leagues that have women playing professional soccer globally,” Berman said.

“We have enjoyed that convening so much that we’ve made the decision to formalize our group.”

Sixteen organizational bodies will represent the alliance that connects women’s leagues from the United States, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Norway, Australia, Mexico, Scotland, Belgium, Costa Rica and Panama.

Along with Berman and Gralls as co-chairs, the board will consist of: Mariana Gutierrez (Head of Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil), Haruna Takata (Chairwoman of Japan’s WE League, Beatriz Alvarez (President of Spain’s Liga F), Fiona McIntyre (Managing Director of the Scottish Women’s Premier League), Nick Garcia (Commissioner of Australia’s A Leagues) and Lorin Parys (CEO of Belgium’s Pro League).

The Women’s League Forum will be an addition to the World Leagues Forum, which was created in 2017 and represents “around 45 men’s professional leagues,” according to a release announcing the alliance.

“One of the things that we think can help us as we build for the future is understanding best practices globally,” stated Berman.

“What are the technologies that they deploy to ensure that their fields are appropriate and aren’t frozen and covered in snow? How do they train? What are their access to the facilities that are necessary to ensure that our athletes are getting the appropriate training environment?”

Gralls later added that “hopefully other leagues will join us.”

Ahead of Saturday’s finale in San Diego, Berman also touched on NWSL’s future expansion plans.

The league currently stands at 12 teams, with Bay FC in Northern California and the Utah Royals joining the league next season and a Boston expansion team set to begin play in 2026.

Berman revealed earlier this year that the league expects to move to 16 teams in time for the 2026 season, and she said Friday that they have “more than a dozen qualified investor groups from different markets around the U.S.” to potentially provide that next addition.

Two teams also remain up for sale, in the OL Reign and the Portland Thorns. Berman noted that they “expect to sell both of those teams or have those teams be owned by new investors by the end of the calendar year.”

As for the 2024 schedule, Berman confirmed that the league will not play regular season games during the Paris Olympics. However, she indicated that there is a “work-in-progress” for a league activity during the summer.

The NWSL season will end with much to celebrate. Berman announced that ticket sales to NWSL games grew 36% this season and average attendance at games was up 26%. The San Diego Wave led the league with an average of 20,718 fans per home match.

Saturday’s NWSL championship game at Snapdragon Stadium will have added intrigue as it provides the stage for the last professional games for U.S. women’s national team icons Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger.

Ahead of the championship, the league announced a new four-year media rights deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports that will begin in 2024. According to ESPN sources, the deal is worth $240 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.