NWSL expects to expand to 16 teams for 2026 season, commissioner says

The NSWL expects to expand to 16 teams for the 2026 season, commissioner Jessica Berman said in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

The Utah and Bay Area expansion teams are backed by big-name ownership groups.

The Royals’ ownership structure includes Real Salt Lake owners Ryan Smith and David Blitzer, via Smith Entertainment Group (which includes the Utah Jazz and RSL, among other properties) and Global Football Holdings (Blizer’s investment group, which has stakes in the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, Cleveland Guardians and multiple European soccer clubs).

Advertisement

Utah will also have additional investment from 42 Futbol Group, made up of five individuals largely from the business sector. Among them are Jessica Gelman, CEO of Kraft Analytics Group — who will be the team’s alternate on the NWSL board — 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and Netflix vice president of studio operations Amy Reinhard.

The Bay Area team, which is yet to be named or announce a specific location where it will play, has investment firm Sixth Street as its majority investor. Former USWNT players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner are partnered with Sixth Street, and will serve on the club’s board. That board will also include Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of Meta (who has also joined as a “strategic investor”), former NBA and WNBA executive Rick Welts and former San Francisco Giants executive vice president Staci Slaughter.

Berman added Tuesday that “Even though our valuations have increased in a meaningful way, to $53 million with the team we sold to the Bay Area, we’re still really early in our process in terms of our growth