1. History
     2013: Formation and original eight teams   Original expansion prospects   Connecticut    Los Angeles    FC Indiana    2014: First Expansion – Houston Dash    2016: Second Expansion – Orlando Pride    2017: First Relocation - Western New York Flash to Cary, North Carolina    2017: First Folding and Third Expansion - FC Kansas City effectively to Salt Lake City, Utah    2018: Second Folding - Boston Breakers disbanded  

2. Future expansion prospects
     Current interest    Atlanta    FC Barcelona    Minnesota    Status unknown or unlikely    California    Canada    Dallas    Indianapolis    New York City    Pittsburgh    Speculation on USL markets    Struggling existing teams    Reign FC  

3. References

The expansion of the National Women's Soccer League began with the league's sophomore season in 2014, when the league expanded to a ninth team in Houston, and is an ongoing process that currently has seen two expansions and one relocation. The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) was established as the top level of professional women's soccer in the United States in 2013 in the wake of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA, 2001-2003) and Women's Professional Soccer (WPS, 2009-2011). The league has seen two teams fold and one relocate. The 2016 champions Western New York Flash sold their NWSL franchise rights to North Carolina FC the following offseason, with the new owners relocating the NWSL side as the North Carolina Courage. During the next offseason, two-time champions FC Kansas City were sold back to the league and folded, followed immediately by the sale of a franchise slot to Real Salt Lake, and the Boston Breakers folded.

“We’re really concentrating on the quality of the ownership, the quality of the market, the quality of existing facilities – both the match venue, training facilities — staff, infrastructure and the support in that market for soccer and women’s soccer, in particular. So, the past year, we’ve been really trying to refine that process and refine what it is that we’re looking for and what is the pace that we want to grow as a league? Because we’re a strong league. We were strong at 10, we’re strong at nine.

“If we all of sudden next year end up at 16 teams, how does that impact the quality of our competition and is that a pace that is sustainable and that we can still continue to operate with on a broader scale? Our efforts are very focused and specific to certain areas that we want to be strong for any team that’s does come into the league that’s going to help propel us at the top and help to elevate the league."

Many interested ownership groups are associated with existing men's soccer teams, often from Major League Soccer. Five current NWSL ownership groups also run men's teams: original franchise the Portland Thorns FC (Portland Timbers), relocated original franchise North Carolina Courage (North Carolina FC), and the first three outright expansion teams the Houston Dash (Houston Dynamo), Orlando Pride (Orlando City SC), and Utah Royals FC (Real Salt Lake). Original franchise FC Kansas City was initially owned by the same group running the Missouri Comets, but was sold to new ownership in January 2017 before folding in November later that year.

History

2013: Formation and original eight teams

When the NWSL was first announced on November 21, 2012, by US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati, the number and location of the original teams was the only finalized detail (the name and logo of the league was not yet confirmed, for example). Gulati announced that the league would have teams in Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Western New York, New Jersey, Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C.^[3] Four of the teams - the Western New York Flash, Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC (in New Jersey) - moved to the new first-division NWSL from the now-defunct Women's Professional Soccer, while the other four teams were new franchises,^[4] though technically the Washington Spirit were a rebrand of the D.C. United Women. Two of the new teams had an established tie to a men's professional soccer team; Portland Thorns FC was affiliated with and owned by the same ownership group as Portland's MLS team, the Portland Timbers^[5] and FC Kansas City was affiliated with and owned by the same group running the Missouri Comets indoor soccer team.

Original expansion prospects

The eight teams chosen for the first season came from a pool of twelve interested ownership groups. Soon after launch, the league reportedly planned to expand to ten teams for 2014.^[6] Potential candidates included groups not accepted as part of the original eight; groups from the Los Angeles area^[7] and from Hartford, Connecticut^[8] were confirmed failed bids, as was one from the Seattle Sounders Women. After the 2014 NWSL season, none of these four ownership groups were still in the expansion picture.

There was speculation that the Vancouver Whitecaps Women could be logical candidates especially given the WWC 2015 in Canada; however, the Whitecaps cancelled their women's program (except for one U-18 academy team) in December 2012.^[9]

Connecticut

An ownership group, previously attempting to join Women's Professional Soccer for the 2012 season, had existed in Hartford, Connecticut for a year at the time of the announcement, and had been attempting to join the initial list of teams for the NWSL.^[8] The team was intended to be named the 'Connecticut Courage', a name still under consideration. Former General Manager of the WPS side Philadelphia Independence, Terry Foley, had accepted a position with the expected Connecticut team, whose owners have not been announced publicly.^[10]

Los Angeles

The original Los Angeles bid for an NWSL was a joint effort from the LA Strikers and Pali Blues, two of the strongest W-League teams - the LA Strikers had a working agreement with MLS side Chivas USA, and the Pali Blues were one of the winningest W-League team ever with (then) two titles and four playoff appearances in five seasons, having already included many future WPS, USWNT, and NWSL talent. While being a merger of two strong, already-semi-pro teams in the second-largest US market, the bid was declined reportedly for geographical concerns.^[7]

Pali Blues won the 2013 W-League championship, then officially merged with LA Strikers and won the 2014 title as well. However, after the 2014 season, the LA Strikers' MLS partner Chivas USA folded, and the Pali Blues ownership folded the W-League team shortly after to focus on the USL Pro side instead.

FC Indiana

Team owner (and Haitian WNT coach) Shek Borkowski later suggested that the CFU could subsidize an NWSL team similar to the subsidization already supplied by the USSF, CSA, and FMF.^[12]

FC Indiana moved from WPSL to United Women's Soccer in 2016, for that league's sophomore season.^[13]

2014: First Expansion – Houston Dash

During the inaugural season, there was confirmed interest from the WPSL side Houston Aces.^[14] However, the league announced during the 2013 NWSL playoffs in August that there would be no expansion for the league's second season.^[15]

During the 2013-2014 offseason, the Houston Dynamo added their name to the list of MLS teams interested in fielding a women's side, stating that they were "exploring the opportunity" of starting an NWSL side in 2014 or 2015,^[16] and in December 2013 they announced that the Houston Dash would join the NWSL in 2014.^[17] By early December, the NWSL approved the Dynamo-run Dash for expansion in 2014 despite their earlier statement that there would be no expansion for the league's second season.^[18]

2016: Second Expansion – Orlando Pride

After the media boom of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, MLS side Orlando City SC entered the expansion picture. A fan blog reported the owners openly discussing their inability to comment on the issue, essentially giving an answer "without an answer being given",^[19] which OCSC followed the next day with a press release supporting women's soccer and their Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) side while stopping short of stating positively or negatively about potential NWSL expansion.^[20]

On October 20, 2015, the NWSL announced that Orlando would host the 10th NWSL team, the Orlando Pride, due to start the 2016 season. At that announcement, the Pride announced that they had hired former U.S. National Women's Team coach Tom Sermanni.^[21]

Days later, the Pride traded with the Portland Thorns for U.S. national team forward Alex Morgan — Orlando City SC had previously acquired Morgan's husband, Servando Carrasco — and Canadian national team midfielder Kaylyn Kyle, in exchange for rights to U.S. national team defender Meghan Klingenberg (via the Houston Dash and Seattle Reign FC), the first overall pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft, an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and the rights to U.S. national team midfielder Lindsey Horan.^[22][23] This was the most notable trade in NWSL history at the time it was made,^[24] and it was speculated widely that the acquisition of Morgan was a condition for joining the league, or at least for doing so in 2016 rather than in a future season.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

2017: First Relocation - Western New York Flash to Cary, North Carolina

Instead of creating an expansion franchise in the NWSL, North Carolina FC acquired the rights to the 2016 NWSL championship-winning Western New York Flash.^[28][29] While the Flash's 2016 attendance was their second-best in their NWSL history and was fifth out of the ten 2016 NWSL teams, the Flash had much lower attendances their previous two seasons and were not close to filling Rochester Rhinos Stadium. Then-owner Joe Sahlen's familial connections to the team had eroded quickly over the previous year,{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}} and the Flash also had a public debacle in 2016 when they hosted the Seattle Reign FC in a baseball stadium on a pitch much narrower than FIFA guidelines, drawing negative national media attention to the league.^[30][31][32] The league subsequently fined the Flash, with Joe Sahlen and team president Alex Sahlen apologizing for the incident's damage to the league's reputation.^[33]

The Flash and North Carolina FC announced the sale and relocation on January 9, 2017, fewer than three months after the Flash won the 2016 NWSL championship, with the relocated team to be renamed the North Carolina Courage. In their official statement, the Sahlen family claimed that "the Western New York market is not the right fit for the NWSL and the future direction of the league".^[34][35] Malik had previously purchased the trademark for the original Carolina Courage franchise from the defunct Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA),^[36] and the lioness on the WUSA team's crest is featured on the NWSL team's crest.^[37]

2017: First Folding and Third Expansion - FC Kansas City effectively to Salt Lake City, Utah

At a press conference in September 2014, Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen mentioned RSL expanding the club to include professional minor league and women's teams, in addition to the pro major league and amateur women's teams they already had. RSL's interest in the NWSL was officially confirmed in November, with the NWSL team intended to share a new stadium (and likely a name) with the USL Pro side Real Monarchs SLC.^[38][39] While the stadium deal initially looked promising, it fell through at the original location of the Utah State Fairpark in early February 2015. The team chose a new stadium location in West Valley City by early March, with meetings between RSL and the NWSL moving forward.^[40] In 2016, the Real Salt Lake Women joined United Women's Soccer in 2016 for its inaugural season.^[41] While the organization still expressed interest in a future move up to NWSL, such a move no longer appeared to be imminent;^[42] in contrast, the USL Monarchs started play in 2015 with the team's training facility (which includes a 5,000-seat stadium) opening in August 2017,^[43] still with no overt interest from RSL or NWSL in pursuing a Utah franchise at the time.

Meanwhile, the original owners of NWSL two-time champions FC Kansas City got mired in an e-mail scandal during the 2016-2017 offseason, ultimately causing the ownership group to split up^[44] and the team to be sold to Minnesota-based businessman Elam Baer.^[45] However, Baer and his management team were largely absent, causing FCKC's attendance figures to dissolve, and at times the team did not meet league minimum requirements for roster payroll or away-game traveling contingents.^[44] This led to extensive behind-the-scenes discussions of selling FCKC once again, which led to five-year head coach Vlatko Andonovski finally leaving the club in October.

After previous talks with another Minnesota-based group and with Sporting KC both fell through,^[46] Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen rapidly changed positions from not wanting to "promote" the RSL Women from UWS to agreeing to purchase franchise rights for a new NWSL team over the course of just 15 days, heavily influenced by discussions with Timbers/Thorns owner Merrit Paulson.^[47] At the time of the announcement, there were no indications it was a direct relocation of FC Kansas City;^[48] later that week, it was officially announced that Baer had sold FCKC back to NWSL to fold the team, at which point franchise rights went to Hansen, with the league ultimately transferring all player contracts to Salt Lake City as well.^[49] Thus, while the team shuffle may appear to be a relocation, there was no direct sale of the team from Baer to Hansen. The new Salt Lake NWSL team, which did not replace the existing RSL Women, ultimately played in Rio Tinto Stadium.^[50] On December 1, the new name for the Salt Lake NWSL team was announced as Utah Royals FC.

2018: Second Folding - Boston Breakers disbanded

Prior to the sudden disbanding of FC Kansas City, it was the Boston Breakers that were in discussion for Real Salt Lake to take over. The team never had a truly viable long-term home stadium and only averaged over 3,000 fans for a full season once in their recent history. The collapse of the FCKC situation was thankfully coincident with the appearance of potential investors for Boston, though the investors were uncertain to be ready in time for the 2018 season.^[51] On Jan 28, the NWSL announced the Boston Breakers would fold, and players distributed to the other franchises through a dispersal draft on Jan 30th.^[52]

Future expansion prospects

In early 2015, six groups had expressed interest in gaining entry into NWSL, four of which were known - Real Salt Lake, the Indy Eleven, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and an independent group from Atlanta.^[56] The other two groups were rumored to be western MLS clubs.^[53][54] NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush stated that any potential expansion for 2016 would have to be announced soon after the April owners' meeting; the Atlanta group was the only publicly announced group interested in 2016 expansion, and when no announcement came from NWSL by May, it seemed 2016 expansion was dead.^[55] However, the success of the United States women's national soccer team in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup renewed expansion talks, with the number of interested groups ballooning to twelve - more than the current size of the league.^[56][57] The first result of this post-WWC boom was Orlando's expansion into the league for the 2016 season.

Several months after the NWSL announced the Orlando Pride's addition to the league, commissioner Jeff Plush also announced that the NWSL planned to expand by an additional four teams, to a total of 14 teams by 2020. At the time, Plush suggested that the league was in varying stages of talks with a dozen different potential expansion groups, many of whom were from MLS organizations. MLS commissioner Don Garber stated in April 2016 that half of MLS teams could be running NWSL teams in the near future.^[58]

Current interest

Atlanta

An investment group out of Atlanta went public in early January 2015 with its intent to bring an NWSL team to the city that has already seen two incarnations of professional women's soccer in WUSA and WPS - with a website already live and a stadium already decided.^[59] While there was initial fan interest, many objected to the initially proposed name of the Atlanta Vibe, prompting the investment group to open a poll for the name, as was a survey for team colors.^[60][56] The group eventually chose red and black for the team's identity, while the stadium was changed from Henderson Field at Grady Stadium to Silverbacks Park, but there had been no sign of any talk between the group and NWSL at that point, despite the fact that the group has been working toward NWSL expansion for over 18 months.^[61][60] After the early-summer NWSL owners' meeting, it appeared that Atlanta was rejected for 2016 and would have to continue trying for future expansion.

In December 2016, rumors surfaced of another group reportedly trying to bring both NASL and NWSL teams to Atlanta.^[62] The proposed team would play at a to-be-constructed facility in DeKalb County.^[63] The group revealed itself in February 2017 as First Team SC and announced their proposal to play in the just-announced Atlanta Sports City complex in DeKalb County.^[64] This included a scheduled announcement for April 2017, but First Team SC delayed that announcement indefinitely, citing "the landscape of American soccer changing dramatically."^[65] Fans reported receiving surveys via e-mail concerning the ongoing efforts in December 2017 with the aim of a 2019 launch.^[66]

FC Barcelona

In July 2016, FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu stated in an interview on Barça TV that he wanted to "create a team that can take part in the National Women's Soccer League".^[67] The Spanish club was reportedly interested in establishing a NWSL side in New York, Los Angeles, or the San Francisco Bay area.^[68] Barcelona's board approved plans to pursue an NWSL expansion team in May 2017, with a goal of launching the team as early as 2018 but no further details released to the public.^[69] The expansion effort was ultimately pushed back to a 2019 launch date, with Barça zeroing in on Santa Monica, California as a potential location.^[70] As of March 20, 2018, FC Barcelona and MLS expansion side Los Angeles FC will join forces to form an NWSL side for 2019 and will play at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, California.^[71]

Minnesota

Before NWSL bought FC Kansas City back from Minnesota-based Elam Baer, a second Minnesota-based group was in discussion for purchasing the team, though discussion about relocation was unsure.^[72] After the sale and disbanding of the team, Baer stated that he was interested in eventually rejoining NWSL ownership to bring a team directly to Minnesota as he believed the league to be "a good long-term investment".^[73]

Status unknown or unlikely

California

After MLS side Chivas USA folded, the league awarded a new team to the Los Angeles area in 2014, whose ownership group included USWNT legend Mia Hamm, her husband Nomar Garciaparra, and Lakers legend and Sparks co-owner Magic Johnson. This caused some criticism of Hamm{{From whom?|date=June 2017}} for investing in men's soccer before women's soccer, but mostly fueled speculation that the new MLS side would likely invest in an NWSL team as well, which Hamm commented "just makes sense".^[74]

Conflicting reports in 2014 and 2015 linked MLS's San Jose Earthquakes to a potential NWSL team.^[56] However, Earthquakes president Dave Kaval stated in May 2016 that the Earthquakes were interested in bringing an NWSL side to San Jose but were waiting for the approval and completion of a training and academy complex in order to be capable of hosting a NWSL or USL side.^[75] Kaval reiterated his previous comments on the NWSL in November, and added with regard to the training facility that "We’re in Week 20 in a 60-week process. Next summer they could certify the EIR (environmental impact report)."^[76]

USL side Sacramento Republic FC has also commented on Twitter several times in 2015 and 2016 that adding an NWSL side is part of their long-term plan.^{[77][78][79][80]} Kevin Nagle, a part of the Republic's ownership group, further confirmed their interest in a women's team in November 2016 after the NWSL's commissioner at the time, Jeff Plush, identified California as a priority market for the league.^[81]

Canada

On April 16, 2013, just after the NWSL's inaugural season began, The Equalizer interviewed NWSL Commissioner Cheryl Bailey about numerous topics, including expansion. She responded to a question focused on Toronto and Vancouver by noting that there was considerable interest in longer-term expansion, but also interest in getting in early, ostensibly for the 2014 season, and said that the NWSL would start looking at expansion potential in Canada toward the later portion of the 2013 season.^[82]

In July 2014, Peter Montopoli, general secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association, suggested that the upcoming 2015 Women's World Cup offered an opportunity for the NWSL to expand to Canadian cities, with speculation that the expansion could even occur in time for the 2015 NWSL season.^[83] However, in late August 2014, Bailey said there would be no expansion for 2015, citing the logistical challenges of scheduling the league around the Women's World Cup that might put off expansion until at least 2016.^[84]

With high fan interest in Canada during and following the World Cup, the Whitecaps reiterated that there was "nothing imminent" in terms of the Whitecaps organization joining NWSL, making it highly unlikely that they were one of the then-dozen groups in discussion with the league concerning expansion.^[85] At an end-of-season meeting with three Whitecaps supporters groups in 2016, the Whitecaps inquired about the prospect of a Vancouver NWSL team. Meanwhile, officials and spokespersons for Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact reiterated that their clubs had no intention of joining the NWSL.^[86]

Dallas

FC Dallas reinstated its WPSL team FC Dallas Women for the 2016 WPSL season, after having only fielded an ECNL side following a previous two-year stint in WPSL. While the team's coach Ben Waldrum suggested that an NWSL franchise should be a goal, he noted in June 2016 that there had been no directive from Hunt Sports Group to pursue one.^[58][87]

Indianapolis

New York City

Pittsburgh

Under new ownership in 2014 after having recently gone through bankruptcy,^[92] USL Pro side Pittsburgh Riverhounds also expressed interest in NWSL as an expansion on top of the youth structure already in place. As of 2015, the Riverhounds planned to expand their stadium capacity by 50%, and their target for an NWSL team was 2018.^[88]

Speculation on USL markets

In August 2018, Research Triangle TV station WRAL reported on remarks made by North Carolina Courage owner Steve Malik, also owner of the USL's North Carolina FC, to WRAL's sister radio station. He had been asked about rumors that the NWSL and USL were exploring a partnership, and chose to reframe the question to the issue of league expansion:

I just came from the USL meetings. Are there USL clubs that NWSL is talking to? Absolutely. There are some great fits where, if you build a 10,000- to 12,000-seat stadium in an urban area in a top 40 or top 50 market, particularly one that may not have Major League Soccer. If you own that stadium, do you want some dates? Yeah, you want some dates.

The WRAL-TV report speculated that at least five USL markets were potentially viable as NWSL expansion targets for 2020 and beyond—Hartford, Louisville, Phoenix, Sacramento, and San Antonio. In particular, two of these markets have connections to Amanda Duffy, then NWSL director of operations and now league president.^[93] Before joining the NWSL, Duffy was the original president of Louisville City FC, which is currently building a new 11,000-seat stadium set to open in 2020. She also previously worked under San Antonio FC managing director Tim Holt when he was the president of USL's parent organization.^[94]

Struggling existing teams

Similar to the situations that caused the Western New York Flash and FC Kansas City to (directly or indirectly) get sold and relocated and the Boston Breakers to fold, another current independently-owned NWSL team recently had various issues concerning its longevity before developments in early 2019 apparently secured that team's long-term future in its current market.

Reign FC

In late 2017, the US edition of the British soccer magazine FourFourTwo reported that Reign FC, then known as Seattle Reign FC, would be forced to move from Memorial Stadium after the 2018 season. The facility, built in the 1940s, does not meet league standards for playing surfaces set to be enforced in 2019, and the Seattle School District, which owns the stadium, has announced plans to build a new high school, with the stadium being the most likely site. More significantly, the Reign were seen as currently lacking viable options for a replacement—other possible venues in the region are problematic due to size, location, or ancillary facilities.^[95]

With financing for the high school project delayed in 2018, the school district presumably became more amenable to extending the team's lease, which had expired after the 2018 season. Reign owner Bill Predmore, in an exclusive interview with Seattle soccer blog Sounder at Heart, announced in August 2018 that the team would remain at Memorial for at least the 2019 season. He also addressed the issue of a new long-term venue once Memorial became unavailable, essentially acknowledging that FourFourTwo had accurately reported on the team's stadium-related issues.^[96]

However, the team's plans changed, with Predmore deciding instead to move the team to Tacoma for 2019 and beyond. The rebranded Reign FC will initially play at Cheney Stadium, primarily a baseball park for Minor League Baseball's Tacoma Rainiers but also serving as home to Tacoma Defiance, the USL Championship team previously known as Seattle Sounders FC 2. Defiance is operated by a joint venture between the Rainiers and Seattle Sounders FC, and as part of this move, the Rainiers ownership group purchased a minority interest in Reign FC. A separate minority interest in Reign FC was purchased by Adrian Hanauer, majority owner of Sounders FC, and his mother. The Rainiers were already planning to build a new soccer-specific stadium for the Defiance; when the new venue opens in 2021, it will also serve as home to Reign FC.^[97]

References

• Liliana Hernández
• Liliana Lozano
• Liliana Martinelli
• Liliana Mayo
• Liliana mayo
• Liliana Nastase
• Liliana Negre de Alonso
• Liliana Palihovici
• Liliana Popescu
• Liliana Porter
• Liliana Rojas-Suarez
• LiliAna Rose
• Liliana Rose
• Liliana Rose Andreano
• Lilian Astier
• Liliana Todorova
• Liliana Tomova
• Liliana Tomova-Todorova
• Lilian Baels
• Lilian Baylis Technology School
• Lilian Bond
• Lilian Bromley-Davenport
• Lilian Bryner
• Lilian Charlotte Barker
• Lilian Clarke