From expansion to to broadcast rights to VAR technology, changes are coming to the NWSL.

League commissioner Jessica Berman provided updates ahead of Thursday’s draft on these and more key topics. Here’s everything NWSL fans need to know to kick off 2023.

Expansion

Two teams are expected to join the league in 2024, with one in Utah and another in one of three locations (Boston, the Bay Area or Tampa, Florida).

Berman did not have any information to share about the second location or the logistics of the new teams joining the NWSL. But she will provide more details soon, she said, likely in “weeks.”

“When we have news to share, we will,” she said. “I think what I can say is that I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities we have in front of us. And I think when we have news to share, you will all agree that, number one, it was worth waiting for. And number two, it will be a moment where we can all really recognize that the NWSL is a business worth investing in, and will really demonstrate and validate the value that we all know these players and this league deserve.”

Salary cap

The salary cap for the upcoming season has been raised by 25% to $1.375 million, and allocation money has been upped to $600,000.

Teams also are increasing their individual investments in coaching staffs, facilities and “other areas that we know our players need and deserve in order to perform at the highest level,” Berman said. Those investments are doubling and tripling from last year, she said.

Broadcast rights

With the NWSL’s broadcast rights deals set to expire at the end of the 2023 season, Berman and the league are interested in seeing what the market can offer.

That could include re-signing with CBS or reaching deals with other networks. The three factors that could influence a deal are term, reach and dollars, Berman said.

“We have not yet made a decision about what’s the primary driver, because it will depend on the market,” she said. “And the market will tell us whether and how we should balance those three, and oftentimes competing initiatives.”

The league’s current deals — with CBS, worth $4.5 million, and with Twitch, worth more than $1 million — appear to be undervalued compared to other sports broadcast deals. For example, MLS signed a deal with Apple TV in 2022 worth $250 million per season.

Up 71% from last season's championship.

(via @NWSL) pic.twitter.com/RJ4XdvnyX4

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 1, 2022

Rebranding

In addition to signing a broadcast deal and increasing salaries, the NWSL will focus in 2023 on renewing its brand and continuing to grow the league’s identity, Berman said. The NWSL will focus on investment into the league, whether that comes from sponsorship, expansion, media deals or “any other perspective.”

“Smart investment, future investment is an indication that the business is worth investing in, and that smart people have determined that it’s an area of growth,” Berman said.

VAR implementation

Video assistant referee (VAR) technology is coming to the NWSL, Berman reiterated Thursday. The league first announced in July that it would introduce VAR in 2023, and the process is already underway.

The investment has been approved by the NWSL board, Berman said, and VAR will be in place for the start of the season.

Still, it’s a challenging undertaking, as it takes extensive resources and training, Berman said. The process will take several months, and in order to properly implement VAR, at least six cameras are needed for each game.

🖥️// With @NWSL implementing video review in the 2023 season, a new cohort of video match officials are being trained to meet the demand.

Find out more >> https://t.co/hrhIM6RGKf.#PRO | #NWSL pic.twitter.com/zdLCrviXBf

— PRO (@PROreferees) November 26, 2022

The Women's Super League (WSL) is growing, with the UK league's top two flights deciding in a Monday expansion vote to enlarge its top tier from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The number of matches played each season will also balloon from 22 to 26 games to accommodate the incoming clubs, as will established cup competitions.

Monday also saw the WSL vote down a prior proposal to temporarily suspend the relegation and promotion process to accommodate this expansion, deciding instead to adopt a "two up, one down" model for the second-tier WSL2 next season.

As such, the top two finishers of the 2025/26 WSL2 season will automatically join the higher-tier WSL, while the WSL's last-place team will battle the WSL2's third-place club in "a high-profile, high stakes match" for the final spot in the top flight.

After reaching 14 teams, both leagues will return to relegating the last-place WSL finisher while promoting the WSL2's top team for the following season.

Along with the increased investment in club infrastructure, a 14-team WSL keeps pace with the global women's game — most notably, the NWSL, which will become a 16-team league in 2026.

"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction, and incentivize investment across the board," said WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet.

With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.

While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.

Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.

Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.

In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.

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Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.

To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.

Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.

The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.

The 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup will wrap up its conference play on Tuesday, as both Eastern and Western teams battle for a ticket to the in-season competition's championship game — and a cut of the $500,000 prize pool.

With 12 of the league's 13 teams facing off across Tuesday's WNBA courts, the results will set the stage by minting the two squads who will battle in the July 1st final showdown.

Reigning Commissioner's Cup champs Minnesota have the West's easiest path, as a win over the Las Vegas Aces will send the Lynx to a second straight final.

Should the Lynx fall to the Aces, however, Seattle can grab the Western Conference berth by beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

Meanwhile in the East, a surging Atlanta could land a trip to the final by topping New York, while the Liberty need both a win over the Dream plus a loss by the Indiana Fever to clinch their own return ticket to the Cup's grand finale.

If New York does take down Atlanta, the Fever could advance to the team's first-ever Commissioner's Cup final by beating the struggling Connecticut Sun.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

All of Tuesday's six WNBA games count toward the 2025 Commissioner's Cup tally.

The action begins with the Atlanta Dream tipping off against the New York Liberty while the Indiana Fever battles the Connecticut Sun at 7 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made headlines this week, with the second-year WNBA forward announcing that she has trademarked word "mebounds" — a slang term opposing fans use to describe Reese rebounding her own missed shots.

"Whoever came up with the 'mebounds' thing, y’all ate that up, because mebounds, rebounds, keybounds...anything that comes off that board, it's mine," Reese said in a TikTok video on Saturday.

"And a brand? That's six figures right there," she continued, referencing her trademark application. "The trolling — I love when y'all do it because the ideas be good!"

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Currently averaging 11.9 boards per matchup, Reese is leading the WNBA in rebounds for the second straight season.

Her rookie campaign saw Reese average 13.1 boards per game, a rate that set a single-season league record. She also blasted through the WNBA's consecutive double-double record last season, claiming it with 10 straight before extending it to an impressive 15 games.

Along with the average rebounds record, Reese also broke the single-season total rebounds record previously held by retired Minnesota Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles — a mark that was later surpassed by 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson following Reese's season-ending wrist injury.

"Statistically, all the rebounds that I get aren't always just mine," Reese added in her Saturday social media post. "They're the defense's, too, or somebody else on my team."