The 2025 NWSL season will begin on March 14 and crown a new champion on Nov. 22, according to the league’s schedule footprint released Monday.
Not much is changing from last season with expansion teams not joining the league until 2026, but the NWSL did provide further details on how roster mechanisms will work this year under the new collective bargaining agreement provisions for free agency and trades.
In addition to the CBA-mandated week-long break for the league in June (at the same time as a FIFA international window), the NWSL will again take a summer break for major tournaments. With a stacked calendar that includes the Women’s European Championship, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Copa América Femenina and Oceania’s Women’s Nations Cup, NWSL has taken the increased presence of international players in the league into consideration and paused play for the entirety of July.
These are the key details from the NWSL schedule footprint…
What does the schedule look like?
While there are still no firm dates for the U.S. women’s national team’s January camp (and Futures camp), the 14 NWSL clubs can start preseason as soon as Jan. 15 and must get them running by Feb. 5, per the CBA.
Before the regular season starts, the one-off Challenge Cup match format will…
