Columbus’ new National Women’s Soccer League team will begin play in 2028, and the league is committed to keeping its season calendar from spring to fall.
Though the MLS is planning to adopt a calendar switch to a summer-to-spring season starting in 2027, the NWSL will keep its current spring-to-fall calendar through 2030, the league announced on April 29.
“Following extensive evaluation and close collaboration with key stakeholders, we have made the deliberate decision to maintain our existing competition calendar for this period,” the league said in a statement. “This decision reflects our confidence in the strong momentum and growth the league has achieved under its current structure, and our commitment to providing stability for everyone invested in the NWSL’s success.”
Though a calendar switch was on the radar for NWSL, the league board of governors tabled a vote on the topic after it was expected to be held last week, according to Front Office Sports. The NWSL Players Association heavily opposed a calendar switch earlier in the month, citing a lack of infrastructure to play through cold-weather months and a lack of control most teams have over the stadiums in which they play.
In 2025, the MLS voted to switch the calendar to a summer-to-spring format, matching top leagues such as the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A. The 2027 MLS season will begin in July and observe a midwinter break from mid-December through early February. The first MLS season with the calendar switch will conclude in May 2028.
As a result, the 2027 MLS schedule was shortened to 14 games lasting from February to May.
The 2026 NWSL regular season began on March 13 and will conclude in November. The league did not shut the door to a schedule change in the future.
“We remain thoughtful about the long-term evaluation of our calendar — and will continue to assess future opportunities with the same rigor and broad stakeholder alignment that guided this decision,” the league said. “Any change of that magnitude would be communicated with ample notice. For now, our focus is on continuing to deliver a world-class season as we build toward the future.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How NWSL calendar decision will affect new Columbus franchise
Reporting by Dan Aulbach, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
