The 11th NWSL season kicks off this Saturday, and it feels like a pivotal one for the league.
For one, it’s a World Cup year, and the NWSL has always looked to the world’s biggest tournament as an accelerant when it comes to driving interest. With nearly the entire U.S. women’s national team playing for NWSL clubs, and dozens of other players for other nations doing the same, it’s not hard to see why.
Just as significantly, the league has come through two extremely fraught years off the field. A first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NWSL Players’ Association and the league is in effect, instituting some badly needed standards when it comes to player safety, resources, and salary. Teams that badly needed to clean house have done so, while the league headquarters has grown in terms of staff, experience, and capabilities.
All of that change means some longstanding NWSL basics have been altered. That brings us to this piece, a quick reference guide for some important NWSL regulations, including competition formats and rosters.