Women’s soccer is back and better than ever! On Friday, March 14, the first whistle blew to kick off the opening weekend of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season. Orlando Pride, the returning league champions, made a bold statement at home on Friday night by defeating the Chicago Stars FC 6-0. On Sunday, March 23, the Pride continued on to beat Gotham FC 2-0 on the road in New Jersey. The team is looking to defend their league title as the season progresses and their perfect record, thus far, is a feat only two teams have accomplished during the opening weeks. The other team to accomplish this is the Kansas City Current, who have defeated the Portland Thorns 3-1 and Washington Spirit by a 2-0 margin in their first two competitions.
Out of the fourteen total games in the 2025 season so far, five have ended in 1-1 draws. These matches reinforce the fact that the chaos is evident in the NWSL. The teams in the league all have extraordinary talent, meaning that during any given game, one team could defeat any other team. However, the NWSL’s elimination of the draft last summer should theoretically calm down some of the chaos in the league. This change is beneficial to players because it grants them a level of autonomy within the team and environment they are a part of rather than being selected to a certain team.
The abolishment of the draft also allows for greater separation in terms of the talent between teams in the league. Before, teams would have to take turns selecting the players they wanted in an order that was determined by the results from the previous season with a goal of preventing domination by any one team. Now, players and teams can sign with whomever they choose which encourages the separation of top-of-the-table teams and bottom-of-the-table teams.
The NWSL is continuing to transform into an even more exciting league. Gotham FC took advantage of the NWSL’s U-18 Entry Mechanism by signing 13-year-old McKenna “Mak” Whitman on July 26, 2024, making her the youngest contracted player in NWSL history. Mak made her professional debut on March 15, 2025 in the 93rd minute of Gotham’s 1-1 draw in their season opener against the Seattle Reign. Her appearance in this match officially made her the youngest player in NWSL history to play in a regular season game.
As the NWSL’s popularity continues to grow, the league itself is set to grow in number as well. During the 2024 season, the league expanded to fourteen teams as they welcomed Bay FC and Utah Royals FC. The league is set to expand yet again to sixteen teams in 2026 when teams based in Boston and Denver will join the action. The team based in Denver is working on creating the first stadium in Colorado built specifically for professional women’s soccer that is predicted to be ready for play in the spring of 2028. The stadium will have a capacity of 14,500 seats – 3,000 seats more than the Kansas City Current’s stadium in Missouri. Both stadiums are symbols of the movement towards equality in women’s sports, a huge milestone for female athletes.
The NWSL is attracting much more attention as it continues to undergo exciting developments and hit important milestones such as developing young talent and stadiums dedicated to their teams. You will not be disappointed if you follow the NWSL and its achievements over the season. It is inevitable that incredibly talented players will make history as they resume their thrilling battle to the top of the league.
The league is just getting started and the future of women’s soccer looks bright!
