LOS ANGELES — National Women’s Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman said Friday that she believes the league could grow as big as the NFL, which has 32 teams.
“We have very ambitious plans for expansion,” Berman said on stage at U.S. Soccer’s SheBelieves Summit.
“Our board believes that we can be the size of the NFL, there is nothing that stands in the way of us doing that, other than having access to top talent. There’s certainly not a problem with the supply, given the size of our country and the level of talent that exists, we just need to figure out how to develop them strategically and intentionally.”
Berman said in January that she saw “no reason” why the NWSL could not eventually become a 30-team league. There are currently 14 teams in the league, with teams from Boston and Denver set to begin play in 2026 to bring the league to 16 clubs.
In a separate interview with ESPN on Friday, Berman said her vision is “a product of the size of our country and how many cities we believe could support a successful NWSL team.”
The league is not actively running an expansion process now but has “continued active conversations with interested groups,” she told ESPN. Berman said there is not currently a timeline for the next round of expansion beyond 16 teams.
