Five NWSL takeaways from Jessica Berman: Why 2027 will start on Super Bowl weekend, life after Victory+ and the salary cap debate

Just one day before Berman's press conference, Major League Soccer introduced Larry Berg as its new commissioner. One of the biggest themes of Berg's introductory remarks was MLS' relationship with U.S. Soccer, particularly how the two organizations worked together during the 2026 men's World Cup.

U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson attended Tuesday's MLS press conference and emphasized afterward that collaboration would be critical to the sport's continued growth in the United States.

“There’s a belief that America has the ingredients to be one of the world’s great soccer countries. We just have to put it together. And one of the reasons I’m here today is the only way we’re going to achieve our soccer dreams is by working together."

The same applies to the NWSL. The league and U.S. Soccer need to be in lockstep, particularly when it comes to strengthening the player pool and creating better development pathways. When asked about that relationship, Berman said the two organizations have made significant progress over the past year.

"I think this is one of the areas where I would say internally and anecdotally we've made the most progress over the last 12 months in terms of how closely we're working with U.S. Soccer," Berman said.

"I think there is a broad recognition through both U.S. Soccer and the NWSL that by working together, we can really set the agenda and move the needle in the broader pathway, which will inure both to U.S. Soccer's benefit and to our benefit. And aligning incentives around that has been a key area of focus. So that will surely continue, and hopefully there'll be fruits of all the discussions and labor and time, sweat equity that everyone's putting into that work in the months and years to come."

The 2027 NWSL schedule was designed to "position the NWSL at the center of one of the biggest years in the history of women's soccer," Berman said.

The season will begin in February, marking the earliest start in league history. The Challenge Cup will kick things off on Feb. 6, followed by the opening weekend of the regular season on Feb. 11. The first match will be played at BMO Stadium, home of Angel City FC, in Los Angeles - just days before the Super Bowl takes place nearby at SoFi Stadium.

That's no coincidence.

"For anyone who's tracking, that is the Super Bowl weekend," Berman said. "We have intentionally, again, seeing the success we've had about leaning to the halo of the men's World Cup using that same thesis for next year, and so next year, for those who don't know, it is an ABC Super Bowl, and because we share a broadcast partner, we will be working closely with ESPN to make sure that the NWSL is woven into the weekend stories, and we're very excited about that."

After its Super Bowl weekend kickoff, the NWSL will play its usual 30-game regular-season schedule with 16 teams. Berman emphasized that the Women's World Cup presents another opportunity for the league to capitalize on the increased attention around women's soccer.

"We know that major tournaments inspire millions of people to follow the sport," she said. "Our schedule allows us to be part of the lead-in and the lead-out of that big moment. Next year presents an opportunity to ensure that our players are ready and that the league is positioned to capitalize on that moment."

The NWSL abruptly parted ways with Victory+ last week, terminating a media rights agreement that didn't even make it through its first full season. According to reports, Victory+ failed to make required rights payments to the league amid broader financial problems that have affected several of the streaming platform's sports partnerships. All NWSL matches previously scheduled for Victory+ have since moved to NWSL+, where fans can continue to stream them for free.

It was a notable setback considering what Victory+ was supposed to provide. The NWSL announced the partnership last September as part of an effort to reach new audiences, with Victory+ slated to carry 57 games in 2026, including 25 Sunday night matches.

With that partnership now over, Berman was asked directly about the league's media strategy moving forward, particularly how it plans to reach new and younger fans through streaming.

"Fortunately, the safety net of NWSL+ provides us with a place that we can seamlessly broadcast games and ensure that there's complete continuity for fans across the country to never miss an NWSL moment," Berman said. "So, making that transition was relatively seamless, and we're proud that we've invested in that to be able to have that as a holding place. We're evaluating options for the remainder of this season and next season... We know that streaming and digital is a place where the next generation of fans live, and we're actively talking to the marketplace about what could make sense."

The NWSL has toyed with the possibility of a second division for quite some time, and with the emphasis on growing the talent pool and retaining players in the league, media members questioned what the status on creating a tier below is. In the U.S., there are two professional Division 1 leagues: The NWSL and the Gainbridge Super League.

"I think, just taking a step back, we've certainly identified that that layer just below the first division is the place that is in most need of structure and investment," Berman said. "We have, I think, as everybody knows, stated our view that we are evaluating and considering how and whether and when that should be stood up, and those conversations are still underway.

"But, no definitive update on timeline or structure."

If there's one thing that became clear during the men's World Cup, it's that hydration breaks are very much a part of the modern game.

The NWSL has its own protocols for extreme heat and other weather-related conditions, and Berman was pressed on whether the league's current policies go far enough. In particular, she was asked about air quality during a recent Washington Spirit match in which Trinity Rodman reportedly expressed concern about the conditions.

Berman pointed to the league's reliance on data and outside experts, while leaving the door open to adjusting its policies.

"I think history has shown us that we use the data from the season to evaluate all of our policies, and hydration breaks and our heat policy is one where that has been true and will continue to be true," Berman said. "So that will be some of the many data points we'll look at at the end of the season to determine whether we need to make any changes to the policy moving forward."

"I should also mention we work with world-renowned subject matter experts on that, in particular the Korey Stringer Institute and our medical team, to advise on the appropriate guardrails for safety measures to be able to play, whether it's air quality or heat."