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2025 National Women's Soccer League season

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National Women's Soccer League
Season2025
DatesMarch 14 – October 31 / November 2 (regular season)
November 14–16 – November 22 (playoffs)
Challenge CupWashington Spirit
(1st cup)
Matches played35
Goals scored84 (2.4 per match)
Biggest home win6 goals
ORL 6–0 CHI
(Mar 14)
Biggest away win4 goals
LA 0–4 NJY
(Apr 18)
Highest scoring6 goals
ORL 6–0 CHI
(Mar 14)
← 2024
2026 →
All statistics correct as of April 19, 2025.

The 2025 season is the 13th season for the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it is the 19th overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States.

The league has 14 teams, unchanged from the 2024 season, which set a record for average attendance and television ratings.[1] It is the second under a set of national broadcasting agreements with CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports that run through the 2027 season.[2] The 2025 season is not expected to see the return of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, an international competition between clubs from the NWSL and Liga MX Femenil of Mexico.[3] It will be the first season without a college draft; the 2025 rookie class will enter the league as free agents.[4]

The defending NWSL Championship and NWSL Shield winner is Orlando Pride.[5]

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

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Team names

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The Chicago Red Stars re-branded to Chicago Stars FC prior to the season.[6]

Stadiums and locations

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See also: List of National Women's Soccer League stadiums
Team Stadium Capacity
Angel City FC BMO Stadium 22,000
Bay FC PayPal Park 18,000
Chicago Stars FC SeatGeek Stadium 20,000
Houston Dash Shell Energy Stadium 22,039
Kansas City Current CPKC Stadium 11,500
NJ/NY Gotham FC Sports Illustrated Stadium 25,000
North Carolina Courage Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park 10,000
Orlando Pride Inter&Co Stadium 25,500
Portland Thorns FC Providence Park 25,218
Racing Louisville FC Lynn Family Stadium 11,700[a]
San Diego Wave FC Snapdragon Stadium 35,000
Seattle Reign FC Lumen Field 10,000[b]
Utah Royals America First Field 20,213
Washington Spirit Audi Field 20,000
  1. ^ Seated capacity; full capacity with standing room is 15,304.[7]
  2. ^ Lumen Field has a capacity of 68,740; standard configuration for Reign games seats 10,000 but can expand based on demand for individual games.[8]
class=notpageimage|
Locations of the National Women's Soccer League teams in 2025.

Personnel and sponsorship

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Note: All teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer as part of a league-wide sponsorship agreement renewed in November 2021.[9]

Team Head coach Captain(s) Shirt sponsor
Angel City FC England Sam Laity (interim) New Zealand Ali Riley DoorDash
Bay FC United States Albertin Montoya United States Abby Dahlkemper
United States Tess Boade[10] 		Sutter Health
Chicago Stars FC Jamaica Lorne Donaldson United States Alyssa Naeher Wintrust
Houston Dash United States Fabrice Gautrat United States Jane Campbell[11] MD Anderson Cancer Center
Kansas City Current North Macedonia Vlatko Andonovski United States Lo'eau LaBonta United Way of Greater Kansas City
NJ/NY Gotham FC Spain Juan Carlos Amorós United States Tierna Davidson[12] CarMax
North Carolina Courage United States Sean Nahas Republic of Ireland Denise O'Sullivan Merz Aesthetics
Orlando Pride England Seb Hines Brazil Marta Orlando Health
Portland Thorns FC England Rob Gale United States Sam Coffey[13] ring[14]
Racing Louisville FC United States Bev Yanez United States Arin Wright[15] GE Appliances
San Diego Wave FC Sweden Jonas Eidevall Canada Kailen Sheridan[16] Kaiser Permanente
Seattle Reign FC England Laura Harvey United States Lauren Barnes
Utah Royals Belgium Jimmy Coenraets United States Paige Monaghan America First Credit Union
Washington Spirit Spain Jonatan Giráldez United States Aubrey Kingsbury CVS Health

Coaching changes

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Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment Ref.
San Diego Wave FC United States Landon Donovan (interim) End of interim period November 18, 2024 Preseason Sweden Jonas Eidevall January 7, 2025 [17][18]
Houston Dash England Ricky Clarke (interim) End of interim period December 9, 2024 Preseason United States Fabrice Gautrat January 3, 2025 [19][20]
Angel City FC England Becki Tweed Fired December 9, 2024 Preseason Wales Eleri Earnshaw (interim) December 9, 2024 [21]
Angel City FC Wales Eleri Earnshaw (interim) End of interim period January 22, 2025 Preseason England Sam Laity (interim) January 22, 2025 [22]
Angel City FC England Sam Laity (interim) End of interim period May 31, 2025 TBD Norway Alexander Straus June 1, 2025 [23]

Regular season

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Standings

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Kansas City Current 5 5 0 0 12 1 +11 15 NWSL Shield, playoffs
2 Orlando Pride 5 4 0 1 11 2 +9 12 Playoffs
3 Washington Spirit 5 4 0 1 7 3 +4 12
4 NJ/NY Gotham FC 5 2 2 1 8 4 +4 8
5 Angel City FC 5 2 2 1 7 8 −1 8
6 San Diego Wave FC 5 2 1 2 9 8 +1 7
7 Seattle Reign FC 5 2 1 2 5 5 0 7
8 Bay FC 5 2 1 2 5 5 0 7
9 Portland Thorns FC 5 1 2 2 3 5 −2 5
10 Houston Dash 5 1 1 3 4 8 −4 4
11 Utah Royals 5 1 1 3 4 8 −4 4
12 Racing Louisville FC 5 1 1 3 3 9 −6 4
13 Chicago Stars FC 5 1 0 4 3 11 −8 3
14 North Carolina Courage 5 0 2 3 3 7 −4 2
Updated to match(es) played on April 19, 2025. Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total goal differential; 3) total wins; 4) total goals scored; 5) head to head points; 6) head to head goal goals scored; 7) fewer disciplinary points; 8) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Tiebreakers

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The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams tie in total points total when determining rank, playoff qualification, and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker criteria, going down the list until all teams are ranked.[24]

  1. Greater goal difference across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  2. Most total wins across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  3. Most goals scored across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  4. Head-to-head results (total points) between the tied teams.
  5. Head-to-head most goals scored between the tied teams.
  6. Fewest disciplinary points accumulated across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  7. Coin flip (if two teams are tied) or drawing of lots (if three or more teams are tied).

Format

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The regular season will begin on March 14 with each team playing 26 matches—13 at home and 13 away. Matches will be paused from June 23 to July 31 to accommodate international competitions, including the UEFA Women's Euro and Copa América Femenina. The regular season will culminate with "Decision Day" on November 2.[25][26] The NWSL playoffs will begin on November 7 and finish with the NWSL Championsip on November 22.[27]

Results

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Home \ Away BAY CHI HOU KC LA LOU NC NJY ORL POR SD SEA UTA WAS
Bay FC — 1–2 Aug 2 Sep 6 May 17 2–0 Oct 17 Sep 21 Jun 13 Jun 7 Aug 16 Apr 26 Sep 27 Aug 23
Chicago Stars FC Aug 10 — 1–2 May 24 Nov 2 0–1 Aug 22 Aug 1 Sep 7 Sep 14 Apr 26 Jun 14 Oct 5 May 10
Houston Dash May 24 Sep 19 — Oct 18 1–3 May 2 Aug 8 0–0 Oct 3 May 16 Jun 13 Aug 24 Apr 25 1–2
Kansas City Current May 11 Sep 26 2–0 — Jun 20 Jun 14 Aug 30 Oct 11 Aug 16 3–1 Nov 2 Sep 20 3–0 Sep 13
Angel City FC Sep 1 Jun 7 Oct 12 Oct 6 — May 24 Jun 14 0–4 Aug 21 Oct 19 1–1 2–1 May 9 Sep 18
Racing Louisville FC Nov 2 Oct 10 Aug 29 Aug 1 Sep 27 — 1–1 May 9 Jun 20 Sep 5 1–4 May 16 Jun 6 0–2
North Carolina Courage 0–1 May 17 Jun 21 Apr 26 Sep 13 Oct 4 — Nov 2 May 10 Aug 16 Aug 2 1–2 Sep 6 Oct 11
NJ/NY Gotham FC Jun 21 May 4 Aug 17 Jun 7 Sep 7 Oct 19 3–1 — 0–2 Sep 26 May 16 Oct 5 Aug 23 Aug 9
Orlando Pride Sep 13 6–0 Jun 7 May 16 Apr 25 Aug 9 Sep 19 Aug 29 — Oct 10 2–1 Nov 2 Aug 3 0–1
Portland Thorns FC Oct 4 Jun 21 Nov 2 Aug 23 1–1 Apr 27 0–0 Apr 22 May 3 — Sep 20 Aug 10 Aug 29 Jun 15
San Diego Wave FC May 4 Oct 18 Sep 7 0–2 Aug 9 Aug 24 May 25 Sep 12 Sep 26 May 10 — Jun 6 3–2 Jun 22
Seattle Reign FC Oct 10 Aug 18 May 11 May 2 Aug 1 Sep 14 Sep 28 1–1 0–1 1–0 Aug 29 — Oct 17 May 23
Utah Royals 1–1 1–0 Sep 14 Aug 8 Aug 15 Sep 19 May 3 Jun 13 May 23 0–1 Oct 11 Jun 21 — Nov 2
Washington Spirit 2–0 Aug 31 Sep 28 0–2 May 2 Aug 15 Jun 8 Apr 26 Oct 18 Aug 3 Oct 5 Sep 7 May 17 —
Updated to match(es) played on April 19, 2025. Source: NWSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Attendance

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See also: National Women's Soccer League attendance

Average home attendances

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Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.

Regular season
Team GP Attendance High Low Average
Angel City FC 3 53,577 19,728 15,384 17,859
Portland Thorns FC 2 31,806 15,967 15,839 15,903
Washington Spirit 2 31,394 19,254 12,140 15,697
San Diego Wave FC 2 29,302 18,465 10,837 14,651
Bay FC 2 27,062 14,742 12,320 13,531
Orlando Pride 3 35,329 19,237 7,071 11,776
Kansas City Current 3 34,500 11,500 11,500 11,500
Utah Royals 3 32,760 17,085 5,051 10,920
NJ/NY Gotham FC 2 16,833 9,718 7,115 8,417
Seattle Reign FC 3 23,797 8,467 7,609 7,932
North Carolina Courage 2 15,207 8,158 7,049 7,604
Houston Dash 3 18,592 7,671 5,263 6,197
Racing Louisville FC 3 15,164 7,886 2,847 5,055
Chicago Stars FC 2 5,182 3,376 1,806 2,591
Total 35 370,505 19,728 1,806 10,586

Updated through April 19, 2025

Highest attendances

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Statistical leaders

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As of April 19, 2025.[28]

Challenge Cup

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Main article: 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup
Orlando Pride1–1Washington Spirit
  • Souza 41'
 Report
Penalties
 2–4
Referee: Alex Billeter

References

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  1. ^ Goff, Steven (November 24, 2024). "In a breakout year for women's sports, the NWSL shows how far it has come". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Henderson, Cydney (November 9, 2023). "Historic: NWSL signs largest broadcast deal in women's sports, adds additional TV partners". USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  3. ^ Kassouf, Jeff (October 29, 2024). "Does the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup have a future?". ESPN. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  4. ^ "10 College Prospects to Watch This Offseason". National Women's Soccer League. December 17, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Osen, Avery (November 24, 2024). "Orlando Pride wins NWSL championship over Washington Spirit, giving Marta a long-awaited title". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Associated Press. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  6. ^ Montemurro, Meghan (October 23, 2024). "Chicago Red Stars unveil a new team name and crest for the 2025 season: 'We're re-upping our commitment to the city'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  7. ^ Gardner, Hayes (October 14, 2021). "'A world-class city': Next month's NWSL Championship game moves to Louisville". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Evans, Jayda (December 15, 2021). "OL Reign to play 2022 home games in Seattle at Lumen Field". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  9. ^ Carp, Sam (November 22, 2021). "NWSL's Nike extension is league's 'most substantial' sponsorship deal to date". SportsPro. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  10. ^ "Bay FC announces roster ahead of 2025 NWSL season opener". Bay FC. March 12, 2025.
  11. ^ FC, Houston Dynamo. "Houston Dash Open 2025 Season on Friday versus NWSL Challenge Cup Champion | Houston Dynamo". Houston Dynamo FC.
  12. ^ "Gotham FC Announces Leadership Group, Roster Ahead of 2025 Season | Gotham FC". www.gothamfc.com.
  13. ^ "Portland Thorns FC Announce Roster Ahead of 2025 Season - Portland Thorns". www.thorns.com.
  14. ^ "Portland Thorns FC and Ring Announce Landmark Multi-Year Sponsorship - Portland Thorns". www.thorns.com.
  15. ^ "Arin Wright named Racing captain for 2025 season".
  16. ^ Gonzalez, Rachel (March 12, 2025). "Who Are the NWSL Team Captains for the 2025 Season?". Girls Soccer Network.
  17. ^ Emerick, Tyler (November 18, 2024). "San Diego Wave FC Provide Update on Vacant Head Coach Position".
  18. ^ Grueskin, Birgen (January 7, 2025). "San Diego Wave FC Names Jonas Eidevall Head Coach".
  19. ^ FC, Houston Dynamo. "Houston Dash hire Angela Hucles Mangano as President of Women's Soccer | Houston Dynamo". Houston Dynamo FC.
  20. ^ FC, Houston Dynamo. "Houston Dash Announces Fabrice Gautrat as Head Coach | Houston Dynamo". Houston Dynamo FC.
  21. ^ "Angel City Parts Ways with Head Coach Becki Tweed". angelcity.com.
  22. ^ "Angel City Announces 2025 Preseason Roster and Technical Staff". angelcity.com.
  23. ^ "Angel City Names Alexander Straus as Head Coach". angelcity.com.
  24. ^ "2023 Competition Rules & Regulations" (PDF). National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  25. ^ Evans, Jayda (January 22, 2025). "Reign announce 2025 NWSL schedule and broadcast info". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  26. ^ "NWSL Announces 2025 Regular Season Schedule and Broadcast Details" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. January 22, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  27. ^ "2025 Competition Calendar" (PDF). National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  28. ^ "NWSL Stats". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
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