The National Women’s Soccer League has announced the competition framework for its 11th season. According to a press release from the league, the season will feature 176 games, including a reformatted Challenge Cup, now presented by UKG.
CBA and NWSL rules allow teams to choose when to start preseason—as early as January 23, but no later than February 6, meaning preseason will last between six and eight weeks. The 2023 regular season kicks off on Saturday, March 25, with the UKG Challenge Cup beginning in April.
For the first time, the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup will run concurrently with the regular season. The Cup will begin with three groups of four teams playing in a double round-robin format, for a total of six matches per team. The top four teams from the group phase will move on to semifinal matches on Wednesday, September 6; the winners will play in the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup Final on Saturday, September 9.
The tournament will be 'the first ever women’s professional soccer tournament to achieve pay equity with its U.S. peers in the men’s game,' according to the league. 'This is the result of the historic partnership between NWSL and UKG, a leading provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people,' the release continues.
For the 132-game regular season, each team will play a balanced 22-game schedule over 22 weeks, which will minimize schedule congestion. The schedule will also limit the number of regular-season games played during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, which will take place from July 20 to August 20.
The NWSL playoffs will begin in late October, again featuring the top six teams, with the top two seeds getting a first-round bye. The quarterfinal round will be October 22, followed by the semifinal round on November 4.
The 2023 NWSL Championship will be held on November 11.
A full schedule and broadcast information will become available at a later date.
Separately, the league announced that the 2023 NWSL Draft will be held Thursday, January 12 at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) during the United Soccer Coaches Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
