With 51 days until the season, the 2025 NWSL schedule is finally here.

The league released the full regular-season schedule on Wednesday, after teasing its framework earlier this month. This year’s 190-game calendar follows a similar format to last season while featuring a brand-new rivalry week and the return of Decision Day.

This will be the second year in NWSL’s new broadcast deal, which set up franchise nights across its various network partners. That setup will continue, with Prime Video airing Friday night games, ION airing Saturday night double-headers and CBS and ABC/ESPN televising matches on Saturdays and Sundays. In mid-June, there will be a rare triple-header on ION with games running from 5 p.m. ET to midnight.

Coordinating can be particularly time consuming, considering many NWSL teams must consider other conflicts, like those who share stadiums with MLS or NFL teams.

This year will also be another busy summer of soccer. While the U.S. women’s national team does not have qualifying or tournament games set, this summer will see global competition on several continents including the Women’s European Championship, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Copa America Femenina and Oceania’s Women’s Nations Cup. The NWSL will break from June 23 to June 29 per the league’s collective bargaining agreement, followed by a break in league action for all of July.

The season will be stretched across 26 weeks, to help mitigate the need for midweek matches and accommodate the return of the beloved Decision Day. The chaotic NWSL regular season finale will conclude with all teams playing on November 2.

Before diving into the 2025 schedule game-by-game, here are some highlights.

Key Matches

The Challenge Cup will once again mark the unofficial start of the NWSL season, with what’s sure to be a dramatic night in Orlando when the Pride and Washington Spirit play on Friday, March 7 at 8 p.m. ET. The 2024 NWSL championship rematch, airing on Prime Video, is sure to be a must-watch game, especially with Marta returning to the pitch fresh off her recent two-year extension with the Pride.

The Pride and Spirit kick off the official first day of the regular season the following week with games in their respective home stadiums on Friday, March 14.

The Spirit will play Houston Dash at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston at 8 p.m. ET, at the same time as the Pride take on the Chicago Stars at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando.

The Dash are entering the season with a “new year, new me” mindset, after finishing last in the league in 2024. They have a new coach (Fabrice Gautrat) and enjoyed some critical signings in the offseason, including Gotham’s Yazmeen Ryan and Delanie Sheehan, a dynamic duo whose familiarity on the pitch is a sure sign for the club.

The Chicago Stars, meanwhile, also have a new look this season, with this being their first full season since their mid-year rebrand. Their matchup against Pride will feature Marta, who many expected would retire after winning the 2024 NWSL championship. Her championship game heroics, though, landed her a two-year extension, giving fans lots to look forward to.

Some other games to pay attention to in the first few weeks of the season:

Saturday, March 15 – Seattle Reign vs. Gotham FC at 10 p.m. ET (ION)

Saturday, March 22 – Washington Spirit vs. Kansas City Current at 7:30 p.m. ET (ION)

Saturday, March 29 – Portland Thorns vs. NC Courage at 10 p.m. ET (ION)

Broadcast Breakdown

One of the success stories in the NWSL last year was the introduction of what its broadcast partners call “franchise nights.” For example, on Friday night, fans know there will be games aired on Prime Video, and, on Saturday nights, there are double-headers on ION. Compare it to the NFL’s years-long success of convincing fans to now be glued to their TVs on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays. The setup in the NWSL remains the same for 2025 – with a bonus triple-header on ION scheduled for June 14.

This consistency helps establish fans’ viewer habits and allows networks to establish themselves as a destination for games. The repetition makes it easier to navigate what seems like a complicated media landscape. The league also has NWSL+ to help ensure that the remaining games are available to its fans via streaming.

On a national network scale, the NWSL will have 11 games air on CBS Television and three games air on ABC, up from one broadcast on the network’s main channel last year. That slightly expands the league’s reach to a national audience, with dozens of games spread across other channels owned by those same networks. The league said any international distributors will be announced at a later date.

The 2025 season will also likely feature international club fixtures sprinkled between NWSL games, with tournaments like the CONCACAF W Champions Cup happening in the spring and others like the Summer Cup possibly making their return, too.

CBS Sports:

11 CBS Television Network matches

10 CBS Sports Network

39 Paramount+/NWSL simulcasts

ESPN 

3 ABC matches

10 ESPN matches

4 ESPN2 matches

Prime Video

25 matches on Friday nights

Scripps Sports

50 matches on ION

Double-header coverage on Saturdays

Triple-header coverage on Saturday, June 14

NWSL+

30 matches

Rivalry Week

One avenue for organic growth in the NWSL that’s often talked about is the promising potential for club rivalries. Look no further than last year’s nail-biting semifinals match between the Spirit and Gotham FC, which was decided by penalty kicks. This may be remembered as one of the most chaotic and entertaining games ever in the NWSL, a promising sign for what’s still to come for the growing league and a gift to its longtime fans who have waited so long for that moment to arrive.

That rematch will be one of the highlights of the NWSL’s new Rivalry Weekend, marked for August 8 – August 10. The league has dubbed these rivalries as the Cascadia Rivalry (Portland Thorns vs Seattle Reign), the SoCal Rivalry (San Diego Wave vs. Angel City FC) and, of course, the East Coast Rivalry (Gotham vs. Washington Spirit).

Will other rivalries be blossoming in 2025? Let’s hope.

Decision Day

The NWSL has also brought back the beloved Decision Day, after what felt like an unwanted hiatus last year.

On Sunday, November 2, every single team will play on this final day of the regular season. With how close the playoff margins tend to be in the NWSL, a win or draw could be all it takes to advance to the post-season. However, with the top four teams remaining fairly consistent in the 2024 season, anything can happen in the NWSL (especially After Dark).

We still won’t know the full broadcast distribution details for Decision Day. The league said those are “forthcoming.” It seems that games will be held either at 3 or 5pm ET.

Decision Day fixtures

Kansas City Current vs. San Diego Wave

Chicago Stars vs. Angel City

Racing Louisville vs. Bay FC

NC Courage vs. Gotham FC

Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign

Portland Thorns vs. Houston Dash

Utah Royals vs. Washington Spirit

And finally, the post-season format will feature the quarterfinals on November 7-9; the semifinals on November 14-16, and the NWSL Championship on November 22.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Portland Thorns, Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage, OL Reign, Orlando Pride, Gotham FC, Kansas City Current, Washington Spirit, Angel City, Racing Louisville FC, San Diego Wave, Utah Royals FC, Bay FC, Soccer, NWSL

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