The league was (and is) operated by the United States Soccer Federation and received major financial backing from that body.
The last regular season matches were played on August 18, with the Western New York Flash topping the standings to win the NWSL Shield.
[2] In the final, Portland Thorns FC defeated the Western New York Flash 2–0 to win the inaugural NWSL Championship.
The Portland Thorns received an allocation with a notably strong offensive record including Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair, the 2012 U.S. and Canadian Players of the Year and leading scorers for their national teams respectively, as well as a U.S. allocation (Morgan, Tobin Heath, and Rachel Buehler) that accounted for 1/3 of their national team's assists in 2012.
[12] [13] Scores listed as home-away The top four teams from the regular season qualified for the championship playoffs.