NEW YORK — Next summer’s Women’s World Cup is shaking up the NWSL’s calendar, forcing the league to start its season earlier than ever.
The solution? Go to the Super Bowl.
On Wednesday, the league announced its 2027 regular season will kick off in Los Angeles on ESPN three days before the Big Game. Super Bowl LXI, which will also take place in Southern California, will be the first to air on ESPN (in addition to being simulcast on ABC).
“We have intentionally, again, seeing the success we’ve had about leaning into the halo of the men’s World Cup, using that same thesis for next year,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters Wednesday during a press conference at league headquarters in New York. “We will be working closely with ESPN to make sure that the NWSL is woven into the weekend’s stories.”
Berman’s comments come in reference to the strategy the league used amid the men’s World Cup in North America this summer. The NWSL returned from a break during the knockout rounds, and sold out the New York Mets’ Citi Field for a match between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit four days before the World Cup final in New Jersey.
