The NWSL dropped the framework for its 2027 season on Wednesday, and it's unlike any schedule the league has run before. To make room for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, the league is starting earlier and pausing longer in its 15th season.
The NWSL Challenge Cup will kick everything off on February 6. The season opener will follow in Los Angeles on Thursday, February 11, just days before the Super Bowl is played in the same city.
Here's what you need to know.
The earliest kickoff in league history
The 2027 regular season opens Thursday, February 11, with a game in Los Angeles at BMO Stadium. Super Bowl LXI is set for Sunday, February 14, at SoFi Stadium, just a few miles from where Angel City FC will open the season. In their press release, the league said this was done "to maximize the league's visibility during one of the biggest moments on the American sports calendar." The Super Bowl is airing on ABC, and the league is already in conversation with broadcast partner ESPN to capitalize on broadcast opportunities during the week.
"We have intentionally again, seeing the success we've had about leaning into the halo of the Men's World Cup, using the same thesis for next year," NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a press conference following the schedule footprint release. Berman noted that the NWSL Summer of Soccer, timed around the Men's World Cup this year, led to a significant increase in social media engagement — with a 300% jump on Instagram and 100% growth on YouTube.
The 2027 start is a full month earlier than any previous NWSL start. According to an ESPN article, teams will report for preseason between January 2 and January 7, which would come just six weeks after the 2026 NWSL Championship, marking the shortest offseason in the league's history.
Scheduling around the World Cup
The early start is primarily because of the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, which will take place in Brazil. The league already has to schedule around a CBA-mandated rest week starting June 7. Then comes the added complication of the World Cup, which runs from June 24 to July 25 and in 2023 featured 61 NWSL players. That's a seven-week break in NWSL play from June 7 to July 25.
As Jeff Kassouf at ESPN reported, the league's media deals require it to fill 26 broadcast weekends a year. FIFA's international match calendar doesn't leave much room to spare, as FIFA lengthened a few international windows, stacking two weekends together where it used to be one. NWSL VP of Strategy Carlin Hudson told ESPN the league is preparing to rewrite its competition structure once the current media rights deal and FIFA calendar come up for renewal. The league's broadcast deal runs through 2027, while FIFA's calendar is through 2029.
The Challenge Cup returns as a lead-in
The 2027 NWSL Challenge Cup will be on Saturday, February 6, a week before the season begins. It will continue to feature the reigning NWSL champion and the prior season's Shield winner, or a championship rematch if one club won both. The 2027 competition will be hosted at a neutral site still to be announced, with the league avoiding cold-weather locations, according to ESPN. Much like this year's Challenge Cup in Columbus, Ohio, the league might look to host the match in a city it's exploring for future expansion.
Key dates in another 30-match season
With the early start and pause in the summer, the league still plans to host a balanced schedule that will see each of the league's 16 teams play each other twice. Key dates and schedule notes include:
- 30 matches per club, each team playing every opponent home and away
- No matches scheduled during FIFA international windows so clubs should have access to full rosters more consistently
- Decision Day on October 31, closing out the regular season
- Playoffs begin November 5-7, semifinals November 13-14
- NWSL Championship on November 20 at a to-be-announced location
Alexa, set a reminder ⏰ The biggest dates of the 2027 NWSL season are here! Learn more: www.nwslsoccer.com/news/nwsl-an...
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 7:04 AM · Aug 5, 2026
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Same broadcast footprint
The 2027 season will mark the fourth and final year of the NWSL's current media rights agreements, with more than 120 matches airing across CBS Sports, ESPN, ION, and Prime Video, plus the rest on NWSL+.
The calendar debate isn't over
Earlier this year, the NWSL Board of Governors scheduled then scrapped a vote on flipping the league calendar to a late-summer-to-late-spring model, similar to what MLS is doing. The NWSL Players Association pushed back, citing concerns about training, facility issues, and playing through winter weather in current venues.
The league has committed to the existing calendar structure through at least 2030, but ESPN notes that NWSL clubs will still encounter scheduling issues. Many NWSL clubs are secondary tenants in MLS-owned stadiums, and MLS still has to sort out a 2027 spring "sprint season" and its full 2027-28 fall-to-spring season. Those dates might not be finalized before NWSL clubs need to lock in their own venues. Hudson told ESPN the league expects to release a schedule with the understanding that some dates could shift.
