LOS ANGELES — Nationwide Ladies’s Football League commissioner Jessica Berman mentioned Friday that she believes the league may develop as giant because the NFL, which has 32 groups.
“Now we have very bold plans for growth,” Berman mentioned on level at U.S. Football’s SheBelieves Summit.
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“Our board believes that we will be the dimensions of the NFL, there’s not anything that stands in the best way folks doing that, as opposed to gaining access to most sensible ability. There is in no way an issue with the availability, given the dimensions of our nation and the extent of ability that exists, we simply wish to work out methods to increase them strategically and deliberately.”
Berman mentioned in January that she noticed “no reason why” why the NWSL may no longer sooner or later develop into a 30-team league. There are these days 14 groups within the league, with groups from Boston and Denver set to start out play in 2026 to deliver the league to 16 golf equipment.
In a separate interview with ESPN on Friday, Berman mentioned her imaginative and prescient is “a made from the dimensions of our nation and what number of towns we imagine may fortify a a success NWSL staff.”
The league isn’t actively operating a variety procedure now however has “endured lively conversations with teams,” she advised ESPN. Berman mentioned there isn’t these days a timeline for the following spherical of growth past 16 groups.
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman speaks on the SheBelieves Summit in Los Angeles on Friday. Joe Scarnici/USSF/Getty Photographs for USSF
Boston was once licensed to go into the league in 2023 for a $53 million growth price. Denver was once formally introduced in January for a $110 million growth price. They’re going to be the primary growth groups to enroll in the NWSL for the reason that league’s new collective bargaining settlement eradicated all drafts, together with growth drafts.
A number of NWSL resources starting from technical body of workers executives to staff homeowners have expressed issues to ESPN in regards to the NWSL increasing too all of a sudden. Just one out of 14 common managers surveyed anonymously through ESPN remaining yr felt that 30 groups was once a just right quantity for the league to sooner or later achieve. 9 of 14 felt the league must persist with 24 groups or fewer.
A few of the issues expressed through more than a few league resources are the scaling down of the to be had participant pool in addition to to be had coaches and technical body of workers fortify.
Berman advised ESPN on Friday that she thinks the intensity of the participant pool “is the suitable query to invite,” however she does no longer view it as a priority.
“The explanation I believe it should not upward push to the extent of shock is that there is not any nation on the earth that has the get admission to to the quantity, the sheer quantity of tangible and possible avid gamers that we’ve got on this nation,” Berman mentioned.
“The problem and the chance that we’ve got, which must be a part of the method of long run growth, is how we are going to domesticate that pool of avid gamers in a much wider base than has traditionally been the case as a result of there hasn’t been a necessity for it — for the reason that league was once 10 groups.”
