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The '''National Women's Soccer League''' ('''NWSL''') is a professional [[Women's association football|women's soccer]] league at the top of the [[United States soccer league system#Women's leagues|United States league system]]. Headquartered in [[New York City]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2022/07/13/NWSL-moving-headquarters.aspx |title=NWSL moving HQ to N.Y. from Chicago |date=July 13, 2022 |access-date=May 8, 2023 |work=[[Sports Business Journal]] |first=Alex |last=Silverman}}</ref> it is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the [[United States Soccer Federation]].<ref name="ussf_out" />
The NWSL was established in 2012 as the successor to [[Women's Professional Soccer]] (WPS; 2007–2012), which was itself the successor to [[Women's United Soccer Association]] (2001–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of WPS (Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue FC, and Western New York Flash).<ref>{{cite web|title=Will NWSL be a success? Well ...|url=http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9161421/espnw-latest-women-professional-soccer-league-success|work=espnW| date=April 11, 2013 |access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Women's pro soccer league to debut in U.S. next year|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2012/11/21/new-womens-soccer-league-to-debut-next-year/1720343/|work=USA Today|access-date=September 21, 2013|first1=Kelly|last1=Whiteside|date=November 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Seattle will have team in new women's professional league owned by Bill Predmore|first=Joshua |last=Mayers|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/soundersfcblog/2019731392_seattle_will_have_team_in_new.html|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=September 21, 2013}}</ref>
Through the 2023 season, six teams (one now defunct) have been crowned NWSL Champions, awarded to the playoff winner; five teams (one defunct) have claimed the [[NWSL Shield]], awarded to the team in first place at the end of the regular season; and three teams have been champions of the [[NWSL Challenge Cup]], an annual [[League Cup|league cup]] tournament that began in 2020, but was changed ahead of the 2024 season to be a single [[Super cup|supercup]] match between the previous season's NWSL Shield holder and NWSL Champion.<ref name="nwsl-2024">{{cite web |url=https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-2024-schedule-footprint-competition-calendar |title=National Women's Soccer League Announces 2024 Schedule Footprint, Competition Calendar |date=December 7, 2023 |website=www.NWSLSocer.com |publisher=National Women's Soccer League |access-date=December 7, 2023}}</ref> The current (2023) NWSL champions are [[NJ/NY Gotham FC]], and the current shield winners (2023) are [[San Diego Wave FC]]. The current (2024) Challenge Cup champions are San Diego Wave FC.
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