The Women's National Football Conference (WNFC) is a professional full-contact women's American football league in the United States. With teams across the United States, the WNFC had its first game in 2019 with fourteen regular teams and one exhibition team.
The Women's National Football Conference was founded in 2018, with their inaugural season in 2019. On their website, the WNFC is described as looking to create a standard of excellence and opportunities. The league's mission is to accelerate financial equity for women through the power of football, reshaping the landscape of sports and entertainment by demonstrating that women belong on the field, at the table, and in leadership.
On December 10, 2018, the WNFC announced a partnership with Adidas, as part of the latter's "She Breaks Barriers" initiative. As part of that partnership, Adidas serves as the WNFC's presenting sponsor, with all WNFC teams wearing custom-made Adidas uniforms.
The WNFC played their inaugural season in 2019 with fourteen regular teams and one exhibition team. Five teams came to the WNFC from the Independent Women's Football League (which folded after the 2018 season), three from the WFA, two from the USWFL, and five were teams playing their inaugural season in the WNFC.
The season began on April 6 and ended with the inaugural IX Cup (named in honor of Title IX) on June 29, which saw the Texas Elite Spartans defeat the Utah Falconz 19âÂÂ14.
In October 2019, The Women's National Football Conference launched the anti-bullying, girls empowerment program, Got Her Back.
The WNFC added seven teams for the 2020 season: three from the WFA, two from the USWFL and three expansion teams. No games were played due to COVID-19.
The WNFC returned to play on May 1, 2021. The league provided weekly COVID-19 testing for all its 20 teams. All games were streamed on the Vyre Network. The season ended with Texas Elite Spartans defeating the San Diego Rebellion 27âÂÂ6.
The WNFC played Week 1 of its 2022 season on April 2. All games were streamed on the Vyre Network. The season ended with the Texas Elite Spartans defeating the Utah Falconz 48âÂÂ12. The WNFC website reported that their broadcast viewership across all Vyre Network platforms had increased by 475% from 2021, throughout the course of the 2022 season.
The WNFC played Week 1 of its 2023 season on April 1. All games were streamed on the Vyre Network. The season ended with the Texas Elite Spartans defeating the Mississippi Lady Panthers 49âÂÂ7.
The WNFC played Week 1 of its 2024 season on April 6. All games were streamed on Caffeine TV and DAZN. The season ended with the Mississippi Lady Panthers defeating the Texas Elite Spartans 13âÂÂ6. The WNFC has reported that there were 10 million streams on Caffeine TV and 15 million paid subscriptions on DAZN.
The WNFC has announced that starting in the 2025 season, each tackle team will also be fielding a flag football team for women ages 18+.
On May 9, 2024, the WNFC announced a partnership with Gridiron Football.
On Nov 24, 2024, the WNFC announced that they raised $1 million in Seed Funding.
The IX Cup game was the first WNFC game broadcast on ESPN2.
The WNFC uses a modified version of the NCAA football rules. Specifically: