The 2024 National Women's Soccer League season was the twelfth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009âÂÂ2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001âÂÂ2003), it was the 18th overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. The league had 14 teams following the addition of expansion teams Bay FC and Utah RoyalsâÂÂthe latter being the revival of a team that had played in the league from 2018 to 2020.
The season began with the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup, a supercup match between the reigning playoff champion (NJ/NY Gotham FC) and NWSL Shield winner San Diego Wave FC, on March 15, 2024. The regular season began the following day and ran until November 3; it paused for a month between July 8 and August 18 for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Each team played 26 matches during the regular season, an increase of four from the 2023 season. The playoffs comprised the top eight teams and ran from November 9 to November 23. The Orlando Pride finished in first place during the regular season, accumulating a record 60 points, and also won the playoffs, defeating the Washington Spirit in the final.
In addition to league play, 2024 marked the debut of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, an international competition between clubs from the NWSL and Liga MX Femenil of Mexico. The inaugural edition was played from July to October and won by the Kansas City Current.
The 2024 season was the first under new broadcast agreements with CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps Sports; 118 of the total 182 matches were televised or streamed nationally. Attendance averaged 11,235 per game, a record, and total attendance for the year was just over two million, also a record.
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<small>Note: All teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer as part of a league-wide sponsorship agreement renewed in November 2021.</small>
The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams tie in total points total when determining rank, playoff qualification, and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker criteria, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
<small>Considering each week to end when the NWSL releases their weekly standing tweet</small>
<small>Legend: Gold = first place; green = playoff position; Red = last place.</small>
Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
The NWSL increased the number of teams eligible for the NWSL playoffs from the top six teams to the top eight in the 2024 season. In the semifinals, teams were not reseeded and the winners within each quarterfinals arm played each other.
In a change of format, the Challenge Cup will be played as a one-off super cup, contested by the winners of the previous season's NWSL Championship, NJ/NY Gotham FC, and NWSL Shield, San Diego Wave FC.
The inaugural Summer Cup was played from July to October. Kansas City Current defeated NJ/NY Gotham FC 2-0 in the final.
Best XI
Second XI