With all the excitement around the women’s game, now may be the best time for women’s professional soccer to expand. Today, the WPSL announced the initial 5 clubs planning to expand into WPSL PRO, a league that intends to launch in 2025 as a tier 3 professional women’s soccer league. Details are still sparse on the new league, but the announcement today highlights that the WPSL PRO season “will run from the Spring through to the Fall, beginning slightly after the NWSL season and ending shortly before as to maximize synergy within the overall women's soccer calendar.”

Today’s announcement gave the names of the first 5 teams that have signed a letter of intent to play in the league. Those teams are Oklahoma City FC, Sioux Falls City FC, Austin Rise FC, SouthStar FC and The Town FC. This will not be the full number of teams in the opening season of WPSL PRO, which the league expects to be between 8-12.

In the first announcement surrounding WPSL PRO, Sean Jones (WPSL President) was excited about the possibilities. “We are ecstatic to announce WPSL PRO and to further grow our commitment to women’s soccer through the launch of this new professional league. We have been in such awe and admiration for the continued growth of the women’s game in America and feel that our launch of a professional league at the DIII level can achieve massive success for the sport and for all the women and young girls who play and enjoy the world’s beautiful game.”

While the USL Super League intends to compete with the NWSL, WPSL PRO seems to be looking to find a productive entry point for their league. Given the challenges of funding a professional club, this may be a very strategic move. Protagonist will be speaking with these clubs in the coming months so keep an eye out for more content around WPSL PRO.

- Dan Vaughn