By Steph Yang, Meg Linehan and Jeff Rueter
U.S. Soccer has approved Division I sanctioning for the USL Super League, which is slated to begin play in August for the 2024-25 season, the governing body announced Friday after a vote at its Annual General Meeting.
USL Super League would be a professional league, as opposed to leagues like WPSL, UWS and USL’s W League, which carry amateur players on their rosters.
“This is a tremendous moment for the USL Super League and for women’s sports,” USL Super League president Amanda Vandervort said in a statement. “Receiving Division One sanctioning further showcases the work that our ownership groups, our clubs, and the league are doing to create a professional environment for top-level talent to compete.
“This is a crucial step toward realizing our vision to be a global leader in women’s soccer on and off the field. We cannot wait to see our clubs take the field when we kick off in August 2024.”
U.S. Soccer requires Division I women’s outdoor leagues to have a minimum of eight teams, 75 percent of clubs to play in metropolitan markets with populations of at least 750,000, and teams to have one principal owner with at least a 35 percent share with an individual net worth of at least $15 million, among other…
