[1] The team fired championship-winning Kris Ward after a 1–6–9 start and allegations of misconduct toward players, leaving Albertin Montoya to finish the season as interim head coach.

The team debuted the kits and crest to premium season ticket holders, supporters' group members, and sponsors at the Penn Social event space on March 1, 2023.

[12] The Spirit went undefeated in its first five league matches and did not trail an opponent during that span,[13] but lost its 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup opener to NJ/NY Gotham FC 1–0 on April 19.

[19] On May 13, Olympique Lyon won the Coupe de France féminine 2–1 over Paris Saint-Germain, its 10th victory in the competition, on a brace by Ada Hegerberg.

OL Groupe would retain a 48% stake in the resulting new entity, and Kang would become the club's majority owner and CEO, pending regulatory approval.

[27] On June 14, the Spirit lost to North Carolina Courage 2–1 at home in a Challenge Cup match, conceding the losing goal in second-half stoppage time.

The team played without starters Hatch, Rodman, Sanchez, and Andi Sullivan, while Kingsbury remained out while recovering from the head injury sustained against Angel City.

[35] On July 6, the Spirit signed French defender Annaïg Butel, formerly of Paris FC, to a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.

[37] With the regular season paused until late August, the Spirit still had their last three Challenge Cup group stage games left to play, the first of which was against familiar rivals North Carolina Courage.

[38] They'd end their Challenge Cup campaign in winning fashion against the Pride a week later on a goal from distance by national team replacement player (NTRP) Mariana Speckmaier, who was in her second stint with the Spirit.

[44] However, the Spirit would lose their next two games by an 0-2 scoreline, at home to Chicago and away at NJ/NY Gotham, and after being firmly in playoff position for the first three quarters of the season, that began to slip.

Dorian Bailey and Rodman both saw chances saved by Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, the latter coming deep into second-half stoppage time, and the points would ultimately be shared.

The Spirit bench was issued a yellow card in the 44th minute, which was attributed to head coach Mark Parsons, giving him a 1-match ban for his third booking of the season.

For the rest of the match, the Spirit would struggle to create chances down a player, and would ultimately lose 1-0, which combined with other results dropped them out of playoff contention and ended their season.

Under newly appointed head coach Mark Parsons, the Spirit deployed a 4–4–2 diamond formation and a fast-paced, direct style of play that relied in the first half of the season on shorter passing sequences than any other team in the NWSL.

The Spirit moved its training to a temporary facility shared with Major League Soccer franchise D.C. United at Segra Field.