The 2022 NWSL regular season has come to a close, with six clubs punching their tickets to the postseason.

The NWSL playoffs kick off on Oct. 16. The league’s top two teams earned byes, while the remaining four clubs face off in the first round for the two other spots in the semifinals.

NWSL playoff seeds

1. OL Reign

OL Reign punched their ticket to the postseason with a 2-0 win over the Houston Dash on Sept. 24.

“I don’t think it was very pretty at times but to win on the road in this league, sometimes it is that way,” OL Reign coach Laura Harvey said after her team’s playoff-clinching win. “To get nine points on this three-game road trip just says a lot about this group of players and their mentality. They showed again tonight just how much they are willing to give to try to get somewhere this season.”

OL Reign capped off an impressive regular season, clinching the NWSL Shield following an emphatic 3-0 win over the Orlando Pride. The Seattle club’s No. 1 seed earns OL Reign a first-round bye and home-field advantage for their semifinal matchup.

2. Portland Thorns

With a 3-0 win over Racing Louisville on Sept. 21, the Portland Thorns became the first team to clinch a spot in the NWSL playoffs.

Portland fell to second in the standings following a 3-3 draw with Gotham FC in the club’s season finale, leaving the door open for OL Reign to claim the NWSL Shield. The Thorns, despite losing the Shield, salvaged a second-place finish to clinch a first-round bye and a home semifinal.

3. San Diego Wave FC

San Diego made history, becoming the first expansion club in NWSL history to clinch a playoff spot in its inaugural season with its 2-2 draw against Orlando.

“We’re in mixed emotions at the moment,” Wave coach Casey Stoney said following the draw. “I had to remind the team the point took us to the playoffs. We set such high standards and we want to maintain such high standards that, to come in here and perform like that and not get all three points is the disappointment. I’m sure when the dust has settled and we get back to San Diego and we reflect on what we’ve been able to do, I’m sure there’ll be a moment of pride.

“But I have to be extremely proud of how far we’ve come in a short space of time.”

4. Houston Dash

The Houston Dash clinched its first NWSL playoff berth in club history, locking up its postseason spot behind the San Diego Wave’s Sept. 30 scoreless draw with the North Carolina Courage.

“These players have left everything day in and day out, believing in the staff, in order to create unforgettable memories for our fans and make the city of Houston proud,” Houston Dash interim head coach Juan Carlos Amoros said in a Twitter post following the news.

The Dash have been dominant on the road all year, logging seven away victories to secure a gritty 10-6-6 regular-season record.

5. Kansas City Current

With a 3-0 win over the Washington Spirit on Sept. 25, the Kansas City Current clinched their spot in the NWSL playoffs.

It’s a huge turnaround for the club, which finished last in the NWSL standings a year ago and is now headed to the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

6. Chicago Red Stars

The Chicago Red Stars clinched the sixth and final playoff spot in the last matchup of the NWSL regular season.

Chicago downed Angel City FC 2-0 to move on point clear of the North Carolina Courage in the standings, to secure a postseason spot for the seventh straight year.

NWSL playoff schedule

Sunday, Oct. 16

• No. 4 Houston Dash vs. No. 5 Kansas City Current, 5 p.m. ET on Paramount+
• No. 3 San Diego Wave vs. No. 6 Chicago Red Stars, 10 p.m. on CBS Sports Network

Sunday, Oct. 23

• No. 2 Portland Thorns vs. Winner of Wave/Red Stars, 5 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network
• No. 1 OL Reign vs. Winner of Dash/Current, 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network

Sunday, Oct 29 

• NWSL Championship, 8 p.m. ET on CBS

The 2025 WNBA Finals tipped off with a bang last week, with Friday's Game 1 averaging 1.9 million viewers on ESPN to become the most-watched championship opener since 1997.

The Friday matchup between the No. 2 seed Las Vegas Aces and the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury peaked at 2.5 million viewers, a 62% increase over the 2024 Finals opener between the Minnesota Lynx and eventual champion New York Liberty.

That Game 1 viewership ranked second only to the inaugural WNBA season championship 28 years ago — a single-elimination title game in which 2.8 million fans watched the Houston Comets take down the New York Liberty on NBC.

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Game 2 continued the record breaking, with Sunday's broadcast averaging 1.2 million viewers on ABC.

With an average of 1.5 million fans tuning in, the first two 2025 WNBA Finals games boast the best viewership numbers in 25 years, nearly matching the 1.54 million average claimed by the opening two clashes between the New York Liberty and Houston Comets on NBC and Lifetime in 2000.

The record-breaking ratings underscore significant viewership growth across the WNBA postseason, with Game 1 Finals ratings increasing by nearly 700% since 2019 while this year's average postseason viewership is already up 16% over 2024.

The NWSL just added another high-profile minority owner, with Chicago Bears star Caleb Williams buying into the ownership group of 2026 expansion team Boston Legacy FC on Thursday.

Via his strategic investment firm 888 Midas, the NFL quarterback joins fellow big-name athletes Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and Olympic gold medal-winning US gymnast Aly Raisman as Boston Legacy investors.

"Women's sports is a movement, and I admire and respect the work that the team and the NWSL continues to do to grow the sport and empower future generations of athletes," the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner said in the club's Thursday announcement. "Boston Legacy FC is building something special, and we're proud to be a part of what's next."

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Boston Legacy controlling owner Jennifer Epstein also noted that the investment from Williams "highlights the powerful momentum of women's professional soccer."

"It symbolizes a new era of cross-league support and recognition," said Epstein. "With best-in-class athletes, a rapidly growing fan base, and undeniable energy around the NWSL, we are proud to welcome Caleb as a partner as we prepare for the 2026 inaugural season."

Athlete investment in women's sports continues to grow, with many teams now following the micro-ownership model made famous by Angel City FC in 2022.

The Houston Dash are on the brink of a $120 million sale, with Sportico reporting on Wednesday that owner Ted Segal is in advanced talks on a deal that would sever the NWSL club's ties to their MLS counterpart, the Segal-owned Houston Dynamo.

Any agreement is likely to face extensive reviews, however, with questions arising about the funding sources of the buyer, RHC Group.

Namely, RHC Group founder Richard Hsiao is the 24-year-old US-born son of Chinese billionaire Jianhua Xiao, who's currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for what the Chinese government described as financial crimes.

According to Sportico sources, RHC's funds do not have ties to Hsiao's father, but instead originate from "the independent wealth of Hsiao's mother, Zhou Hongwen."

While the NWSL traces the proposed deal's funding, Hsiao is already going through the league's standard background check, a process he reportedly began months ago.

Characterizing the league's "due diligence process" as "ongoing," the NWSL said, "As with all such matters, the NWSL Board of Governors retains full authority to approve or deny any ownership change based on the league's governance standards."

Should the Dash sale go through, the prospective new owners reportedly intend to invest in club infrastructure while keeping the team in Houston.

The WNBA released its 2025 All-Defensive Teams on Wednesday, delaying the announcement more than a week amid the fallout from the viral takedown of league leadership by Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier.

Collier herself headlines the First Team, with Lynx teammate Alanna Smith, Phoenix Mercury standout Alyssa Thomas, Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams, and the Las Vegas Aces' four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson joining the Minnesota star on the 2025 WNBA All-Defensive roster.

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Second Team honors went to Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston, the Golden State Valkyries' 2025 WNBA Most Improved Player Veronica Burton, Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor, and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.

The WNBA's first-ever co-Defensive Player of the Year award-winners Wilson and Smith put up leading individual stats throughout the 2025 season, with Wilson averaging a league-high 2.3 blocks along with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game while Smith averaged a team-high 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.

Collier averaged 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, contributing to Minnesota's league-best 97.5 defensive rating, while Williams tied for the second-most single-season steals with 99 — just one short of WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon's 1998 record.

In her debut year with the Mercury, Thomas became the first-ever WNBA player to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 9+ assists, and 1+ steals per game while shooting over 50% from the field.

This year's Second Team featured three first-ever selections, with Boston, Burton, and Howard all making their All-Defensive Team debuts.