Looks like the NWSL isn’t going to stop anytime soon. What began as a mere replacement for the WPS league to bring change for the better in 2013 has now grown so much that it has also raised expectations. And rightly so, they’ve been fulfilled, as by 2026, we’ll see double the number of teams competing compared to the initial eight. And, intending to keep up this momentum, it looks like the NWSL isn’t looking back anytime soon. Just a couple of days after announcing its 17th expansion team in Atlanta, there already seems to be a potential 18th team in the works.

At least that’s what NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman says, as she unveiled plans to launch another team around the time the Atlanta franchise, owned by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS’ Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank, officially begins its campaign in 2028 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “It is our intention to admit Team 18, and we are targeting a 2028 launch,” said Jessica Berman, as compiled by ESPN.

“We’re definitely working on expansion. It will likely always be, at least for the foreseeable future, going on in the background, and when and if we determine that a deal is ready to be presented to our board and move forward, we’ll be able to add Team 18,” added the Commissioner while speaking from the Atlanta boardroom alongside Arthur Blank on Wednesday’s media address.

It’s unclear which cities will make their case for the 18th expansion slot, but it is surely set to elevate the league. In recent years, until 2019, we witnessed the exact same number since the start of the league. After that, teams were constantly being added as couples. The 2022 season saw Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC make their way, and a couple of years later, Utah Royals made their return alongside Bay FC in 2024.

In the meantime, the next season will witness the official debut of the league’s 15th and 16th expansion sides, Denver Summit FC and Boston Legacy FC. Currently in the pipeline is Atlanta, which enters by paying a whopping $165 million expansion fee. Then again, one needs to understand how Berman and Co. are keeping their word of changing the NWSL’s landscape by tweaking their undeterred policies.

NWSL is entering a new phase!

Gone are the days when cities would bid competitively in order to gain the expansion rights. Enter the ad hoc process, a flexible approach that allows the league to approve expansion bids individually, rather than through its traditional scheduled system. Atlanta is the first team to join it with this method, and such will be the case for future sides moving forward.

“I think the philosophy around our shift in strategy as it relates to expansion remains true, which is that we will now admit teams as we and a potential bidder deem is ready and appropriate, and really use a slightly different filter so that we can make decisions more on a case-by-case basis,” added Berman in a similar talk.

For future expansions, factors like the right ownership, market, and stadium infrastructure are what Jessica Berman has always termed as non-negotiables. The reason Atlanta didn’t have to go through the typical grueling bidding process, unlike Denver, which beat out Cincinnati and Cleveland to clinch the 16th spot, is because of the Georgia-based city’s massive operations and strong presence both in and outside the game.

The state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Stadium was a key factor, along with the franchise’s solid foundation through its NFL and MLS projects. These were also the reasons why Atlanta had long been on the NWSL’s radar for expansion rights. Not to mention the $250 million Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayetteville, a 200-acre facility serving all U.S. national teams and the USSF’s new headquarters, to which the Blank family contributed $50 million.

Hence, whoever earns the best review from the NWSL on their project will automatically secure the expansion rights. Simply put, onwards and upwards!