My thoughts on the USL Super League officially sanctioned as a D1 Women's Professional Soccer League

Today, the USL Super League has announced that the league has received D1 sanctioning from U.S. Soccer, joining the NWSL as the second women's professional women's soccer league in a D1 status. This decision aligns with the league's commitment to the highest operational standards in bringing professional women's soccer closer to home for more players, fans, and communities across the United States. The inaugural season (2024-2025) will kick off in August with eight different markets across the United States. The full field of teams for the inaugural season includes:

• Brooklyn, NY

• Carolina (based in Charlotte, NC)

• Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

• Fort Lauderdale, FL

• Lexington, KY

• Spokane Zephyr FC

• Tampa Bay Sun FC

• Washington, D.C.

Eight additional markets will join the league in future seasons:

• Chattanooga, TN

• Indianapolis, IN

• Jacksonville, FL

• Madison, WI

• Oakland, CA

• Palm Beach, FL

• Phoenix, AZ

• Tucson, AZ

The league will play on the "Fall-to-Summer" calendar and operate a connected women's pathway from youth to professional and it prioritizes player welfare and performance. National partnerships, competition format, and additional information for the USL Super League's inaugural season will be announced in the coming weeks.

When it comes to the USL Super League, they're not trying to compete with the NWSL, but the D1 status makes them a much better option for players that would normally have to go to Liga MX Feminil or overseas to find playing time. This is huge for women's soccer in the United States. While NWSL has now a 12-year head start, the USL Super League can learn from NWSL's mistakes and make their league better. This could also end up as a merger down the road, but for now, may the best league win!

This will be interesting to see how this league can grow. It's still good for the further development of women's soccer in the U.S., which is good as the rest of the world is catching up, has caught up, or has surpassed the U.S. We saw the results of that at the Women's World Cup last summer. Other than that, I hope both leagues have what it takes to be the best women's professional soccer league in the United States.

As far as the competition format goes, it'll determine how many matches will each team play in the regular season and I hope we get a playoff format as well, but since there are eight teams for the inaugural season, no doubt they should do a four-team playoff, but once the expansion goes in the future, expand the playoff format to at least 6, 8 or maybe 10-team playoff.

Also, why not do regular-season shootouts? We see them in MLS Next Pro, so why not do it in the USL Super League?

Hopefully, I can call the USL Super League, because it's like college soccer, but on a professional level and I'm all here for it!