The average NWSL team is worth $66 million. To derive the market value of the current franchises, Sportico calculated each team’s revenue, relying on publicly available information and financial records—and interviews with those knowledgeable of team finances, including sports bankers, attorneys and investors actively involved in NWSL transactions. We did not include the three expansion franchises, set to start play in 2024 (Utah, San Francisco) and 2026 (Boston).

Below are definitions of some major metrics.

2023 Valuation: The sum of the current market value of an NWSL franchise, derived from metrics by which soccer team transactions typically occur, including aggregating local and national revenues and factoring in a team-specific multiplier. Revenue multiples ranged from 5.5 to 12 with an average of 7.1. For comparison, the average MLS revenue multiple is 10.2.

2023 Team Revenue: Estimated revenue for the 2023 regular season; it does not include potential playoff revenue for teams or distributions from expansion proceeds. NWSL team revenues are almost entirely generated on the local level. The league has a TV contract with CBS worth $1.5 million per year, but none of that money filters down to the teams. That is expected to change with the next TV deal that begins in 2024. Local revenue is primarily derived from stadiums, sponsorships and merchandise. Stadium revenue includes ticket sales, premium seating (luxury suite leases and club seating), parking, concessions and, in rare cases, non-soccer (third-party) events. Most NWSL teams do not operate their own stadiums, and their lease situations vary greatly.

Among the 12 current NWSL franchises, nine teams participated with Sportico by validating at least some financial information, while others did not respond.