USL Super League, a brand new women’s professional soccer league set to kick off this week, has made plenty of podcasters, analysts, and lovers of women’s soccer nervous. I listened to Sam Mewis of the Women’s Game podcast (one of my favorites I should add) share that she’s fearful of the competition with the NWSL from another Division One league. I do not blame her hesitation in welcoming another league into the fold. She practically bled through the years to secure the NWSL.

Women's soccer has been so tenuous for the past 25+ years that it felt as if one wrong move were made, the women’s leagues would come down like a house of cards on the fluttering of false eyelashes. Until the past few years, players, coaches, and anyone invested in the success of the NWSL worked cautiously hard to secure its position and longevity. History has demonstrated the previous women’s soccer leagues no longer exist after a strong start and a few years of playing. How many people are familiar with WPS and WUSA? NWSL has turned a corner, coming from the shadows into a Broadway-sized spotlight.

In this series, I am going to expand on why the USL Super League is a fantastic idea and should be embraced with a bear hug, and why there should be no fear of the NWSL folding with the rise of the Super League. The state of women’s soccer is in a very different place than it was 10+ years ago when the NWSL was just getting started. Different pieces exist now that will contribute to the strength of the Super League's future. An optimistic future.

Tampa Bay Sun have been finding fans in the preseason. *Image courtesy of Tampa Bay Sun*

The USL Super League will start with eight clubs in its first season: Brooklyn FC, Carolina Ascent FC, Dallas Trinity FC, DC Power FC, Fort Lauderdale United FC, Lexington SC, Spokane Zephyr FC, and Tampa Bay Sun FC. The schedule features 14 matches per club between August and December before the league breaks for the winter, following a traditionally European calendar. Vandervort pointed out, in the Athletic, “The United States has 12 professional (NWSL) women’s teams but is about the same footprint and population as all of Europe, and they have over 150 top-tier professional women’s teams.” There is plenty of space for more professional teams. This is the right time to begin the expansion on the women’s professional soccer front.

Establish Infrastructure

One of the biggest concerns with previous women’s professional leagues is creating a league and the infrastructure at the same time needed to support an enterprise of its proportion. Challenges came up that set back and crumbled these previous leagues: pay structure, HR, ownership, stadiums, etc. USL Super League (Women’s Division 1) is built on an already existing infrastructure through the USL. The USL is an established professional sphere with 4 existing leagues in its pyramid (USL Championship, USL One, USL Two, USL W-league) and a strong academy system. USL has a fully integrated pathway from youth to professional. Most leagues focus on the professional level, but this is a comprehensive structure and investment. USL CEO Alec Papadakis states, “The fully integrated women’s pathway we are building is transformational for the USL and for the game, providing thousands of additional opportunities for players, coaches, referees, executives, partners, and fans in professional women’s soccer and all the way through the American soccer pyramid. We have the committed ownership, infrastructure, and expertise to build a viable long-term business that brings the excitement of women’s soccer to more fans and more communities across the country.”

The Super League will be the USL’s first women’s league to have a full season spanning multiple months with professional players. Besides NWSL, all the women’s leagues (WPSL, UWS, and others) have been limited to 6-8 weeks in the summer. They’re best known as college leagues that players join on their summer break to stay sharp and fit. Pre-professional is the best category to define these leagues, giving competitive experience beyond the college landscape. Outside of NWSL, no other US Soccer-sanctioned women’s professional leagues exist. No Division Two. No Division Three. Space exists to develop the pyramid that currently exists on the men’s side for the women.

At the USL company headquarters in Tampa, FL, 18 departments and over 80 industry professionals serve the leagues. Corporate structures have already been in existence for years to support the teams and have the experience to support whatever arises. Growth has been patient and steady as the pieces have been assembled for a firm foundation to expand to professional women’s soccer.

For starters, USL W-League is a pre-professional regional league similar to WPSL and UWS calendar of 6-8 weeks in the summer. There are clear field and league requirements to qualify for a spot in the league. The requirement for seating capacity is a 1,000-seat stadium. This is a departure from other similar leagues where fans have to sit on the sidelines, bringing their own chairs or blankets, like a Saturday youth game. Not all of us are in parent mode to store seating in the trunk. A differentiation exists that shows this league is serious about being professional with high standards. Watching the USL-W championship matches one could see an elevated game-day operation and experience compared to other summer leagues’ championship games.

The attendance numbers are also to be applauded in the W-league. Minnesota Aurora FC set an attendance record in 2023 with 6,987 plus several sellout stadiums. That kind of success shows that this is the right time to bring in the Super League. The attendance numbers support this next phase.

Key Leadership

Amanda Vandervort is the President for the USL SuperLeague. Before coming to USL, Vandervort was Chief Women's Football Officer at FIFPRO, advocating the unified voice of women’s soccer players at the highest international levels. She has connections globally and has served as an instructor for FIFA for marketing and communications workshops and symposium speakers. Her experience at the highest spheres of soccer demonstrates the commitment to being a serious league from the start, not a slow burn with years to build up.

Amanda Vanderbort speaking to players during practice. *Image courtesy of Spokane Zephyr*

Vandervort worked at MLS for 8+ years in the areas of social media, CRM, and fan engagement. A key part of the explosive growth across the MLS's digital and media properties, her work was instrumental in the league winning Sports Business Journal’s 2018 “Best in Social Media” award. Amanda has been a featured speaker at several top sports business conferences and events, including Leaders in Football and SXSW, in addition to being honored as a Sports Business Journal Game Changer in 2016.

The Women’s Professional Soccer League is where Vandervort cut her teeth working for the Chicago Red Stars as Director of Online Marketing, Website, and Camps before moving to New Media Manager for the league. She is not a stranger to women’s soccer and sports marketing. She has seen the early years of NWSL as they struggled and the prime maturation time in MLS.

To be honest, she pops up everywhere: United Soccer Coaches Convention AGM, the cities with expansion sides, and everywhere in between. She is happy and passionate about the league. She clearly believes in it whole heartedly. Her likeablity flashes through the screen. She has become the personable face of the league. Seeing her on social media, one can’t help but like her.

The Partnerships

To have a solid league there needs to be a strong media outlet for fans to watch the league. Media rights deals are important to a league, not just to get eyeballs on the games, but money. Televising has been a big part of the dialogue surrounding MLS and Apple along with the NWSL and Paramount+. The media deal can also lend credibility to the league, large media outlets won’t invest unless there is data to support it.

From the Super League’s news release on their media and technology deal, “Starting with the USL Super League’s weekend August 17-18, every regular season and playoff match – 115 matches, combined – will be available to stream on Peacock for fans in the United States.” NBC and Peacock have established a reputation for the stellar coverage of Barclay’s English Premier League. Televising all the games on one platform is a luxury for the fans. To televise the league on a top network’s streaming arm, in its inaugural season, shows the level of commitment to this association. Peacock has coverage of the Olympics and the World Cup to dovetail with this additional soccer coverage. New audiences and new fans will be brought into the fold through this avenue. None of this would have been possible without being part of a larger league negotiating an expanded contract, which was initiated in 2021.

Seat Geek is the Super League’s ticketing partner, allowing mobile tickets and an easy fan-centric experience. USL Championship has 13 teams utilizing this platform and this league expands on that. It’s a well-known already downloaded app for many people, used for sports and concerts.

Super League has started off on the right foot with brand-name partners. They are going in for big-known partners that demonstrate a belief in the viability and strength of the league and women’s soccer. This first season they will be in a position of strength. Support of an established front office to lend infrastructure already puts them on a different level than all the professional leagues before including the NWSL. There is more than hope that this league will survive, but obvious signs of a foundation to thrive from.

- Danielle Gawronski