Has the NWSL already been passed by the PWHL?

As another Olympic fortnight rolls on and names like Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky top the headlines, it is more apparent than ever that we are living through a boom time for women’s sports. Even beyond those whose sports reemerge in our psyche only every four years, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have helped make the WNBA nightly news.

Somewhere in this sphere of growth is the National Women’s Soccer League. Four years ago, when the last Olympics were pushed back a year because of the pandemic, the NWSL was at a tipping point. The loss of the 2020 regular season came with no guarantees about league survival, and a devastating series of abuse scandals that began popping up a year later threatened to turn away investors and advertisers. Fast-forward to today and the rise in attendance, sponsorship, ratings, and valuations across the NWSL has been astonishing.

A year ago, another major women’s sports entity came on the scene. After years of turmoil around the top flight of women’s hockey, a group financed by the Walters Group and fronted by power names such as Billie Jean King, consolidated assets and launched the Professional Women’s Hockey League. A league that first came to the public consciousness as a silent idea on the final day of June 2023, concluded a wildly successful inaugural season on May 29 of this year in a sold-out final game of the Walter Cup Finals.

Before waxing poetic about all the ways the PWHL outshone the NWSL in less than a year, it is important to note that the path laid out by the trailblazers is often made easier for those who follow. As much as MLS has boomed in the 17 years since the Beckham Effect began to turn the tide, many original clubs still struggle to capture the imagination of their cities. The PWHL came in hot but was also spared some of the earliest work convincing the sporting public the women’s leagues were worth their time and money. And the women’s hockey wars, while unfortunate and damaging, did allow the latest league to launch with players who had become established stars in the space.

Now to the nitty gritty. The PWHL arrived on the scene as a well-organized, professional operation, and quickly became its own best cheerleader. The rollouts were deliberate but sensible. Advisory Board member Stan Kasten served as the league’s affable face and always offered just enough information to keep folks interested. He often showed up at games and made himself available, formally or otherwise.

Contrast this with then U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati’s almost defiant stance about whether Nike was providing equipment to NWSL clubs—an announcement never officially made. Even today, the NWSL is so tightlipped on matters such as expansion finalists that it feels more like a state secret than something to be celebrated.

The PWHL also threw money into marketing and its web presence, both elements that helped create a successful launch. They played games at neutral sites, promoted the heck out of them both in market and to the broader audience watching on YouTube (and national television in Canada) and turned one March weekend into an epic celebration of the league. When the PWHL Boston team forced Game 5 of the Walter Cup Finals, they sold out the Tsongas Center in less than a half hour for a game three nights later. When that game ended there was a purple carpet and purple smoke to match the colors of the winners PWHL Minnesota. You can bet there were matching green props in the event Boston had prevailed.

In fairness, the experience of the NWSL Championship has been steadily improving. It could use a longer leadup and fewer exclusive events in the days before, but slowly the game is becoming a jewel event.

The digital arm of the PWHL clearly set new standards and has blown the NWSL out of the water. The website was up and running well ahead of the season opener and was not only thorough and easy to use, but included basic and easily accessible information such as sortable information, rosters, and boxscores. When the PWHL teams went to Urica for a series of preseason games, the stats reporting on the site was better than anything the NWSL has ever produced, for any match. Some of the early missing information like ice time was backfilled by the end of the season. Finding statistical leaders was easy as pie and player stats included an option to drop down team splits for anyone who had been with more than one team during the season.

Emails went out to media ahead of every game and always highlighted any changes to the rosters no matter how inconsequential as well as projected lineups (yes, a different animal than soccer where one lineup tweak could signal an entirely different philosophy.)

The NWSL website quietly relaunched into its third iteration earlier this year. At best it is messy. At worst it more resembles a series of unexplored caves than a carefully put together pathway to provide information. To be this far along into the league’s existence and still run a site that actively chases users away rather than provides the desired information is almost incomprehensibly incompetent.

The PWHL could not have had the early success it did without significant financial investment and a stable of more than 100 employees. At one time, NWSL owners could cry poor. That time has passed. There is more than enough money moving around and through the league to avoid some of the pitfalls that remain.

In an era when consumers have more choices and are more fleeting than ever there is no substitute for information. Think about planning a vacation and deciding to spend a day hiking in a place you have never been to. The two top trails you find both have websites. One is choppy with menus that are difficult to figure out and lead to vague pages that are more confusing then helpful. The other is chock full of information and a few minutes there makes it feel like you know exactly what to expect when you get there. Which hike are you going to choose?

For new fans of sports leagues—and neither the NWSL nor the PWHL can reach its ultimate goals without bringing in many new fans—which league are you more likely to invest in? The one that makes it easy to love or the one that makes it way more difficult than it should be?

NWSL, take heed. This boom is not forever.