September 3 – The 2025 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season is painting a picture of contrasting fortunes. While television viewership has dipped, the league has just smashed its all-time attendance record.
According to the Sports Business Journal, national TV audiences are averaging 189,000 viewers across ESPN, ION, and CBS, which is down roughly 8% from last year’s mark of 205,000 at the same point.
The dip in TV viewing has been blamed in part on the absence of star power. Chicago’s Mallory Swanson and Portland’s Sophia Wilson are both sidelined due to pregnancy, while Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman and Gotham FC’s Rose Lavelle have missed significant stretches with injuries.
“We have the most moms playing in any sports league in the world, and they’re going to come back,” said NWSL SVP of Broadcast Brian Gordon. “So, the things that we can control, we control this year with our schedule. And the things we can’t control jumped up and hurt us.”
Yet while broadcasters juggle numbers, the league is booming at the turnstiles. Bay FC recently set a new NWSL crowd record, drawing over 40,000 fans to Levi’s Stadium. For a league still in just the second year of its rights deal, the mix of strong in-person demand and variable TV metrics reflects a league still trying to find its feet with the wider American public.
With August traditionally the league’s strongest month and the playoffs looming on CBS, the NWSL has every chance to turn the narrative. If the television numbers can start to mirror the scenes witnessed in San Francisco, where Bay FC’s breakthrough night signaled what’s possible, the league may yet end 2025 stronger than it began.
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