The NWSL on Monday announced schedule details for its 2025 season, breaking down key dates for trades, roster compliance, the regular season, and the playoffs.
The 2025 NWSL regular season will begin on March 14, with the league’s Challenge Cup — a season-opening exhibition match that this year will be between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit — taking place one week earlier in Orlando, Fla. Between now and then, players have to report for preseason training, and clubs must go through multiple rounds of roster deadlines to be ready for its 13th season.
Here’s what to know about the NWSL calendar for 2025:
NWSL calendar 2025: Important dates for season footprint
Tuesday, Jan. 14: Final day to trade players under the terms of the old CBA.
Wednesday, Jan. 15: NWSL trade windows no longer exist, as mandated by the most recent CBA. Trades — which now require player consent — can happen at any point until the roster freeze deadline.
Wednesday, Jan. 15 to Wednesday, Feb. 5: NWSL clubs can begin their preseason anywhere within this window. Teams must submit preseason rosters with a maximum of 40 players to the NWSL league office on their chosen start date by 12 p.m. ET. Clubs are required to have a preseason of at least five weeks, and no longer than eight weeks.
Tuesday, Jan. 28: The primary transfer window opens. This applies to players leaving clubs from abroad or the USL Super League to join an NWSL team. The transfer window does not impact moves within the NWSL.
Wednesday, February 19: Teams must submit preseason rosters with a maximum of 32 players to the NWSL league office by 12 p.m. ET.
Friday, March 7: 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup will take place in Orlando.
Wednesday, March 12: Roster compliance deadline. All clubs must submit rosters to the league office by 12 p.m. ET. Rosters must include between 22-26 players. This does not include players with Season-Ending Injury designations, who can be activated later provided there are roster spots available.
Friday, March 14: Regular season begins.
Monday, March 24: Primary transfer window closes.
Monday, June 23 to Sunday, June 29: CBA-mandated week off for all players.
Monday, June 30 to Sunday, July 27: With national-team tournaments like Women’s Euro 2025 and the 2025 Copa América Femenina taking place in July, NWSL will take a summer break, with no regular-season play during this month. Clubs can schedule their own friendly games during this period.
Monday, June 30: Deadline to exercise contract options for 2026 on players whose contracts involve that mechanism. Teams must submit decisions to the NWSL league office by 12 p.m. ET.
Tuesday, July 1: 2026 Free Agency period begins. This means clubs can begin contacting players who will be free agents at the end of the 2025 season over future contracts.
Tuesday, July 1: Secondary transfer window opens.
Monday, Aug. 25: Secondary transfer window closes. Teams can still sign free agents between this date and the roster freeze, or make moves within the NWSL, but no further club-to-club transfers involving teams outside the league are possible until 2026.
Thursday, Oct. 9: Roster freeze deadline.
Sunday, Nov. 2: Regular season ends.
Friday, Nov. 7: NWSL playoffs begin.
Saturday, Nov. 22: 2025 NWSL championship game.
Tuesday, Dec. 23 to Monday, Dec. 29: League-wide transaction moratorium.
When does NWSL preseason start?
NWSL has allowed teams to customize when their preseasons begin. No clubs can require players to report before Wednesday, Jan. 15, and all clubs must start preseason by Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Teams are required to hold a preseason of at least five weeks, but cannot extend beyond eight weeks.
NWSL regular season schedule: Start date, details
The 2025 NWSL regular season will officially kick off on Friday, March 14, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 2. Each team will play 26 games, and will play each other NWSL team once at home and once away. The schedule will take place across a 25-week span, with the league saying that the schedule ‘has been formatted to avoid staging NWSL matches during FIFA windows to allow the league’s top players to compete for both club and country.’
The actual schedule has not been announced yet. The playoffs will run from Nov. 7-22, with the venue for the championship final still to be determined.
What is happening with the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2025?
After initially beginning as a tournament taking place in a Covid-19 pandemic bubble, the NWSL Challenge Cup has been in flux. The Challenge Cup was a glorified preseason tournament in 2021 and 2022, before running concurrently with the regular season in 2023.
Starting in 2024, the Challenge Cup has been stripped down, and functions as a ceremonial curtain-raiser game, akin to how English soccer holds a Community Shield match between the defending Premier League champions and the winners of the FA Cup (a knockout tournament involving teams from every level of English soccer that runs concurrently with league seasons).
In the case of the NWSL, that means the previous season’s champions facing the top team from the regular season. The Orlando Pride won the 2024 championship and also claimed the NWSL Shield (which is awarded to the team that finishes atop the regular-season standings).
As such, the Pride will host the 2025 Challenge Cup, with the Washington Spirit — the runners-up in both last year’s final and in the regular season — their opponent. The match will take place on March 7 at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando.
Watch the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup on Amazon Prime Video
Does NWSL have summer break in 2025?
Yes, the NWSL will have a month-long summer break. Owing to an international window that the USWNT is highly likely to schedule games in coming right before continental tournaments for national teams in Europe, South America, Africa, and Oceania, the regular season will pause from June 23 to July 27.
Teams can schedule friendly games from June 30-July 27, but there will be no competitive play in this window within the NWSL. Last year, the league joined forces with Mexico’s top flight (Liga MX Femenil) to hold the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup during and after the Olympics, but that tournament was not mentioned in Monday’s announcement.
How to watch NWSL in 2025: TV channel, live stream
NWSL games throughout 2025 will be shown on the league’s four broadcast partners: Amazon Prime Video, the ION Network, CBS/CBS Sports Network (including Paramount+), and the ABC/ESPN family of networks (including ESPN+).
Per the league, ‘more than 120 matches’ will be shown on one of its broadcast partners. All other games will be shown on NWSL+, a free direct-to-consumer streaming platform operated by the league.
Games on ION, CBS, and the ABC/ESPN family of networks can also be streamed on Fubo, which is offering a free trial for new subscribers.
Watch select 2025 NWSL matches on Fubo
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.