The NWSL embarks on its 14th season with returning stars and 2 new teams

With two of its big stars back, two new teams joining the fold and an expanded broadcast presence, the National Women's Soccer League is embarking on its 14th season hoping to benefit from the surge in the popularity of women’s sports and from a summer focused on soccer.

The season begins Friday with the Portland Thorns playing at the Washington Spirit, which has been billed as a showdown between Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman.

The two players — two-thirds of the Triple Espresso trio with Mallory Swanson that helped the United States win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics — give the league a boost with their star power.

Wilson, who plays for Portland, was on leave all last season for the birth of her daughter. She signed a one-year contract extension with the Thorns for the 2026 season.

Swanson, who plays for the Chicago Stars, is still working her way back from maternity leave but is expected to rejoin the club at some point this season.

Rodman re-signed with the Spirit after drawn-out contract negotiations that called into question the league's salary cap and resulted in a new “High Impact Player” policy.

Rodman's return was a win for the league, which saw some of its high-profile players, including Naomi Girma, Alyssa Thompson and Sam Coffey, depart last year for European clubs.

There were fears that the salary cap would prevent teams from retaining top players. The HIP rule allows teams to go $1 million over the cap to sign certain players.

The league had the option of raising the salary cap, which stands at $3.7 million for 2026, instead of adopting the more complicated rule. Commissioner Jessica Berman stood by the decision in her preseason remarks this week.

“The mechanism of the High Impact Player rule actually rewards or creates an incentive for clubs to not only go out and sign elite players, but it creates space within the salary cap to surround that player with other top talent,” Berman said.

The league welcomes two new teams this season, the Denver Summit and the Boston Legacy, bringing the NWSL to 16 teams.

Denver opens the season Saturday at Bay FC. The Summit announced that it has sold over 50,000 tickets for the team's home opener against the Spirit on March 28 at Empower Field at Mile High, home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos.

The Legacy opens Saturday at Gillette Stadium against defending NWSL champion Gotham FC. Halftime will feature a performance by hometown group New Kids on the Block.

The league has awarded a 17th expansion team to Atlanta to begin play in 2028. Berman announced this week that another expansion club for 2028 will be awarded later this season.

The NWSL’s broadcast partners include CBS, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps-owned ION. The league expanded its media rights agreements last year, adding a new deal with Victory+ to air 57 games for free this season.

The league will also feature in ESPN's “Women's Sports Sundays” this summer.

“We will be working together with the WNBA to make sure that women's sports, and the NWSL and WNBA in particular, are showing up front and center to the way people think about and plan their weekend of sports content,” Berman said.

Berman said the league's viewership on traditional broadcast channels was up 20% last season, and up 30% on digital services.

The United States, Mexico and Canada are hosting the men's World Cup, soccer's premier tournament, this summer. The NWSL, which will pause play during a part of the tournament, faces logistical challenges in that two of its teams, the Seattle Reign and the Legacy, will be pushed out of home stadiums or otherwise impacted by the tournament.

The Reign will play three matches in Spokane, Washington, while the Legacy will play seven games in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

But the league also hopes to capitalize on the inevitable attention on soccer.

“I hope, when we look back on the season, that the challenges it created will dwarf in comparison to the opportunities it created because of the benefit and halo effect of the men's World Cup more broadly,” Berman said. “Our strategy around the summer of soccer is going to be a key area of focus for us.”

The Kansas City Current finished atop the standings in 2025 with a historic season and won the NWSL Shield, setting regular-season records for points (65), wins (21), home wins (11), road wins (10), shutouts (16) and fewest goals conceded (13).

Gotham FC, the eighth seed in the playoffs, eliminated Kansas City with a 2-1 quarterfinal victory. Gotham went on to defeat the Orlando Pride in the semifinals before a 1-0 victory over the Spirit for the NWSL title.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Portland Thorns FC forward Sophia Smith during an NWSL soccer match against the Kansas City Current at CPKC Stadium, Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

FILE - Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman (2) warms up before the NWSL women's championship soccer match against Gotham FC, Nov. 22, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Justine Willard, File)

ATLANTA (AP) — Cooper Rush will be the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback on Sunday at Pittsburgh after Tua Tagovailoa was ruled out on Friday with an oblique injury.

Falcons first-year coach Kevin Stefanski said Friday undrafted rookie Jack Strand will be the backup.

The late change in plans for the season opener came after Stefanski announced Monday that Tagovailoa will open the season as the starter and Michael Penix Jr. will be inactive. Penix did not play in a preseason game as he continues his recovery from a torn ligament in his left knee that ended his 2025 season.

Stefanski said Friday Penix was never an option for Sunday's game, even after Tagovailoa's injury.

“No. Mike will be ready when he's ready,” Stefanski.

The Falcons signed Rush on July 29 after Tagovailoa opened training camp with tightness in his lower back.

Rush, 32, has played in 42 NFL games, including 16 starts in eight seasons, seven with Dallas. The Cowboys went 4-4 in Rush's eight starts in 2024 and Baltimore was 0-2 in his two starts last season.

Rush will be asked to take over the offense after spending little time with the starters during training camp and the preseason.

“That’s the life of a backup quarterback,” Stefanski said. "There’s been great guys over the course of history that do an excellent job of staying ready so they don’t have to get ready and step in. The reason you’re able to do that is because you work so hard in the meeting room and on the practice field to stay up to speed.

“Now, in an ideal world, would you love to have gotten every rep? Of course. That’s a no-brainer. But, I do think there’s examples of guys that come in with no reps, and sometimes it’s after the first play, sometimes it is on play 59, whatever it is. And you’re expected to compete, and you’re expected to hold the standard of the room, in this case, the quarterback room. So Cooper’s been a backup in his career. He’s been the starter. He knows how to prepare.”

Tagovailoa bent over in obvious discomfort after throwing a pass during a portion of Thursday's practice open to media and grabbed his right side. He dropped to the ground for a few seconds before getting up and trying to shake off the injury. He was listed as a limited participant.

Stefanski wouldn't characterize the severity of Tagovailoa's injury or speculate if he might miss multiple games or Penix might be ready next week.

“Disappointed for him, obviously,” Stefanski said of Tagovailoa. “He’s a very competitive person, so disappointed. But he’s gonna rally behind Coop and do everything he can to help Coop.”

Stefanski said he couldn't remember having two top quarterbacks inactive for the opening game of a season. When a reporter suggested the scenario was unbelievable, Stefanski said “Not for me.”

Tagovailoa’s injury robs him of the opportunity to make his Falcons debut at Pittsburgh, the same spot where he made the last start of his rocky final season with Miami.

The Falcons also ruled out cornerback Billy Bowman (Achilles) and offensive tackle Cameron Williams (ankle). Defensive end Za’Darius Smith (shoulder) was listed as questionable.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa speaks at a news conference after an NFL preseason football game against the Miami Dolphins, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)