The NWSL regular season returns on Saturday, March 25, kicking off the league’s 11th campaign. This season will again feature 12 teams ahead of another round of expansion starting next year, but there will be a few significant new wrinkles in 2023 that will have an impact on the league.
Here we’ll cover some of the basics you need to know in order to follow along this season, plus a set of predictions from our resident NWSL writers, Meg Linehan and Steph Yang.
How to watch
In the U.S., matches will appear on CBS, CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ (to see which matches are where, go here). In Canada, matches will appear on TSN and TSN+. For international viewers, all matches will be streamed on NWSLsoccer.com for free.
What’s new
Perhaps the most noticeable change on day one of the new season will be the addition of VAR to NWSL play. The cost of implementing it was considered prohibitive by the league in the past, but the investment to add the minimum of six cameras necessary to implement video review at every match was approved ahead of this season.
Another change that will have a significant impact on the season comes to the Challenge Cup. Matches for the fourth edition of the tournament begin on April 19 and run through the majority of the regular season, with the…
