KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver are the three finalists to become the NWSL’s 16th team, commissioner Jessica Berman announced on Friday at CPKC Stadium.
The league is in the final stages of a yearlong expansion bidding process and a decision is expected in the coming weeks.
The team will begin play in 2026 alongside another expansion team from Boston.
“As we think about the geographic footprint of our country, we know that a 14-team league is not where we will end up,” Berman said.
“All the men’s leagues are 30-plus teams for a reason, and in order to build the kind of national exposure, visibility and media deals that we think this league deserves and our fans deserve, we know that we need to be in more markets.”
Multiple sources told ESPN that the expansion fee could approach $100 million for the team selected.
Boston and Bay FC, which began play this year, paid $53 million to enter the league last year. Cincinnati, led by MLS’ FC Cincinnati ownership, announced on Thursday that basketball star Caitlin Clark is part of the bidding group’s investors.
“Her accomplishments and contributions to women’s sports is incredible, historic,” Berman said. It’s changed the game for everyone and she’s amazing. Having her interest in the NWSL is an honor.”
Boston and the city that joins them will be the first expansion teams in league history to not have the benefit of an expansion draft to build their rosters.
Allocation money is being phased out of the NWSL; historically, expansion teams were given extra allocation money (effectively cash) to help them build out their roster.
Berman said that the league is developing mechanisms to help the expansion teams launch in spring 2026, but she declined to say what those are.
“We are developing mechanisms to ensure that those teams can be competitive, as we think about the value of expansion and the importance of setting those teams up for success both on and off the pitch,” Berman said.
Cleveland and Denver hope to build stadiums and play in temporary venues upon launching in 2026 if their bid is accepted, multiple sources said.
The group in Cleveland, which multiple sources also consider to have a strong bid, recently announced that it acquired the downtown land on which it intends to build a stadium.
