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NWSL Championship

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This article is about the championship game. For the tournament, see NWSL playoffs.

NWSL Championship
Founded2013
RegionNational Women's Soccer League (CONCACAF)
Current championsOrlando Pride
(1st title)
Most successful team(s)Portland Thorns FC
(3 titles)
Television broadcasters
Websitenwslsoccer.com
2024 NWSL Championship

The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the best record in the preceding regular season.

The NWSL uses a playoff tournament following the regular season to determine its annual league champion, similar to every other major North American sports league. This format differs from most soccer leagues around the world, which consider the club with the most points at the end of the season to be the champion; the NWSL honors that achievement with the NWSL Shield. Since 2024, the top eight teams in the regular-season standings earn a berth into the playoff tournament; previously, only the top four or top six teams qualified for the playoffs.

History

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The first NWSL Championship was held at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, New York, on August 31, 2013. Tobin Heath and Christine Sinclair helped lead Portland Thorns FC to a 2–0 victory over NWSL Shield winners Western New York Flash.[1] Seattle Reign FC won the Shield the following two seasons and appeared in both championship games, losing each time to FC Kansas City.[2] The North Carolina Courage became the first team to win the Shield and Championship in the same season, doing so in both 2018 and 2019.[3]

The 2021 NWSL Championship set an attendance record for the league final with 25,011 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California; in the retirement game of two legends of the sport, Megan Rapinoe's Reign lost 2–1 to Ali Krieger's NJ/NY Gotham FC.[4][5] The 2024 championship game was the most-watched game in NWSL history, drawing 967,900 viewers on CBS as the Orlando Pride defeated the Washington Spirit 1–0.[6]

Finals

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Key
† Match went to extra time
‡ Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
§ Team also won the NWSL Shield
NWSL Championships
Date Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance U.S. TV broadcasters U.S. TV viewership Ref.
August 31, 2013 Portland Thorns FC 2–0 Western New York Flash § Sahlen's Stadium, Rochester, New York 9,129 Fox Sports 2 [7]
August 31, 2014 FC Kansas City 2–1 Seattle Reign FC § Starfire Sports Stadium, Tukwila, Washington 4,252 ESPN2 156,000 [8][9]
October 1, 2015 FC Kansas City 1–0 Seattle Reign FC § Providence Park, Portland, Oregon 13,264 Fox Sports 1 167,000 [9][10]
October 9, 2016 Western New York Flash 2–2 ‡
(3–2 p) 		Washington Spirit BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas 8,255 Fox Sports 1 180,000 [9][11]
October 14, 2017 Portland Thorns FC 1–0 North Carolina Courage § Orlando City Stadium, Orlando, Florida 8,124 Lifetime 132,000 [9][12]
September 22, 2018 North Carolina Courage § 3–0 Portland Thorns FC Providence Park, Portland, Oregon 21,144 Lifetime [13]
October 27, 2019 North Carolina Courage § 4–0 Chicago Red Stars Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina 10,227 ESPN2 166,000 [14][15]
November 20, 2021 Washington Spirit 2–1 † Chicago Red Stars Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky 10,360 CBS 525,000 [15][16]
October 29, 2022 Portland Thorns FC 2–0 Kansas City Current Audi Field, Washington, D.C. 17,624 CBS 915,000 [15][17]
November 11, 2023 NJ/NY Gotham FC 2–1 OL Reign[a] Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, California 25,011 CBS 817,000 [18][19]
November 23, 2024 Orlando Pride § 1–0 Washington Spirit CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri 11,500 CBS 967,900 [6][20]

Results by team

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Portland Thorns FC celebrate winning the 2022 NWSL Championship.

As of 2024, 10 of the 17 teams that have played in the league have appeared in an NWSL Championship, and 7 have won a championship. Portland Thorns FC has appeared at and won the NWSL Championship the most times, with three championships in four appearances.

NWSL Championship appearances by team
Club Won Runner-up Years won Years runner-up
Portland Thorns FC
3
1
 2013, 2017, 2022 2018
North Carolina Courage
2
1
 2018, 2019 2017
FC Kansas City
2
0
 2014, 2015
Washington Spirit
1
2
 2021 2016, 2024
Western New York Flash
1
1
 2016 2013
NJ/NY Gotham FC
1
0
 2023
Orlando Pride
1
0
 2024
Seattle Reign FC[a]
0
3
 2014, 2015, 2023
Chicago Red Stars
0
2
 2019, 2021
Kansas City Current
0
1
 2022

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b Seattle Reign FC was previously known as Reign FC and OL Reign.
  1. ^ "Portland Thorns take inaugural NWSL championship with 2–0 win over Western New York Flash". Major League Soccer. September 1, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  2. ^ Grainey, Tim (October 2, 2015). "Reign fall short in NWSL Championship — again". The Equalizer. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  3. ^ Papich, Michael (October 28, 2019). "NC Courage Make History with Dominant Championship Win at Home". CaryCitizen. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "Gotham FC wins championship in front of record crowd at Snapdragon Stadium". KPBS-FM. November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  5. ^ Goff, Steven (November 10, 2023). "Megan Rapinoe and Ali Krieger are retiring. First, they have a final to play". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Anzidei, Melanie (November 26, 2024). "NWSL title match was most-watched game in league history: How media rights deal shaped its success". The Athletic. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Arnold, Geoffrey C. (August 31, 2013). "Thorns defeat Western New York 2–0 to win NWSL championship". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Wood, Terry (August 31, 2014). "FC Kansas City beats Seattle 2–1, wins National Women's Soccer League title". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Deitsch, Richard (July 8, 2019). "Media Circus: What is the broadcast future for women's soccer in the United States?". The Athletic. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  10. ^ Goldberg, Jamie (October 2, 2015). "FC Kansas City wins second consecutive National Women's Soccer League championship title". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  11. ^ Dart, Tom (October 9, 2016). "Western New York Flash win NWSL title on penalties after 124th-minute equalizer". The Guardian. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  12. ^ Goldberg, Jamie (October 14, 2017). "Portland Thorns win 2017 NWSL Championship with 1-0 victory over North Carolina Courage". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Goldberg, Jamie (September 22, 2018). "NC Courage shuts out Portland Thorns for NWSL championship, avenging 2017 title game". The News & Observer. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  14. ^ Mikula, Jeremy (October 28, 2019). "Chicago Red Stars get overpowered in their 1st-ever NWSL final, losing 4–0 to the North Carolina Courage". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c Shea, Bill (November 1, 2022). "What NWSL's big title game audience means, World Series up but struggling: Sports on TV". The Athletic. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  16. ^ Goff, Steven (November 20, 2021). "Washington Spirit defeats Chicago Red Stars to win first National Women's Soccer League title". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Goff, Steven (October 29, 2022). "Portland turns back Kansas City, wins its third NWSL title". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  18. ^ Rueter, Jeff (November 11, 2023). "Gotham FC hold on to defeat OL Reign, capture first NWSL Championship in franchise history". The Athletic. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  19. ^ Lucia, Joe (November 15, 2023). "NWSL Championship slips in primetime on CBS from last year". Awful Announcing. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  20. ^ Goff, Steven (November 24, 2024). "In a breakout year for women's sports, the NWSL shows how far it has come". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
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