USL Super League Debuts With Sellouts. Can It Challenge the NWSL?

Whether the USL Super League ultimately will be able to coexist successfully with the NWSL remains to be seen. But the newly formed women’s pro soccer league made a strong first impression with fans, and in the marketplace. 

Nearly six months after receiving Division I sanctioning from the U.S. Soccer Federation—the same designation the NWSL has—the eight-team USL Super League began play this past weekend with three well-attended games, each marked by strong fan energy.

The Carolina Ascent (above) drew a sold-out crowd of 10,553 on Saturday for their 1–0 victory over DC Power FC at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. Spokane Zephyr FC similarly sold out the 5,000-capacity One Spokane Stadium for a 1–1 draw against Fort Lauderdale United FC. And the Tampa Bay Sun FC closed out the inaugural weekend by posting its own sold-out crowd of more than 5,200 on Sunday at Riverfront Stadium for a 1–1 draw against the Dallas Trinity. 

“[It was a] really, really great crowd. It was phenomenal to see the city show up and show out,” said Ascent head coach Philip Poole. “We’ve talked from Day One about having a connection to our community, and how our city repaid us tonight, it was phenomenal.”

Market Realities

As the USL Super League continued its preparations to start play, some industry chatter focused on the need to coalesce around a single women’s pro soccer league, not unlike how two competing women’s hockey leagues ultimately merged to form the Professional Women’s Hockey League. 

Despite that chatter and the NWSL’s own meteoric growth, the USL Super League has moved forward with its own plan, even striking a recent media-rights deal with Peacock.

“I commend the NWSL. They’ve come a long way. Obviously, they’re doing great. Now, that’s not the only option,” USL Super League president Amanda Vandervort told The Women’s Game podcast.  “Our goal is to build a long-term, sustainable professional women’s soccer league where players excel at the highest level, and it supports the development of our national team.”