Women's Soccer to Sacramento

Still riding the momentum from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the success of the 2020 Challenge Cup and Fall Series, the NWSL announced Sacramento will be the 12th team to join the league starting in 2022. This announcement comes just six months after Angel City FC (and its star-powered ownership group) were announced as the new club in Los Angeles, also joining in 2022. Few details, such as team name, colors, stadium, and coach, have been announced, but we can expect more information throughout the next year. This development is great news for California, as it has produced some of the all-time great USWNT players, such as Alex Morgan, Julie Foudy, and Michelle Akers, but it has gone nearly a decade without an NWSL team. In 2022, California will get not just one, but two teams.

At the moment, it is unclear how the additions of Los Angeles and Sacramento will affect the league structure. The NWSL could choose to split into an Eastern versus Western conference for playoffs similar to MLS, with each conference having 6 teams. With that, the Western conference would likely hold Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, OL/Seattle, Kansas City, and Houston, while the Eastern Conference would hold Orlando, North Carolina, Louisville, Chicago, Washington, and Sky Blue. The NWSL could also split into divisions similar to the 2020 Fall Series, which could help foster rivalries with more games between geographically-aligned teams. Regardless, this is nothing but exciting news for the growing league, and it is a testament to the continued investment in women’s soccer here in North America.