The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of WPS (Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Sky Blue FC, and Western New York Flash).

[20] The first NWSL game was held on April 13, 2013, as the Portland Thorns visited FC Kansas City, playing to a 1–1 draw in front of a crowd of 6,784 fans at Shawnee Mission District Stadium.

Instead the league played the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, a special competition hosted in the Salt Lake City region with no spectators.

[48][49] Despite this, it was announced during the playoffs that there would be no expansion for the league's second season,[50] though the Red Bulls and Sky Blue FC confirmed that they were in discussions for cooperation.

During the second offseason, expansion talk grew rapidly, with three established men's teams (Real Salt Lake of MLS, the Indy Eleven of NASL, and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL Pro) expressing interest in joining NWSL, as well as an unattached group from Atlanta.

[65] The team's ownership group, who call themselves "Angel City", is led by president and founder Julie Uhrman, a media and gaming entrepreneur; co-founders Natalie Portman, an Oscar-winning actress, and venture capitalist Kara Nortman; venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian as lead founding investor;[66] and additional investors including fourteen former USWNT members, most with ties to Southern California; actresses Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner, and Eva Longoria; talk show host Lilly Singh; and Ohanian's wife, tennis great Serena Williams.

[68][69][70] On October 21, 2020, the ownership group announced that the expansion club would be called Angel City FC and announced more group members, among them tennis great Billie Jean King, WNBA star Candace Parker, alpine skiing great Lindsey Vonn and her fiancé at the time, NHL star P. K. Subban, actress and activist Sophia Bush, Latin music pop star Becky G, actor and TV host James Corden, and former US men's soccer international Cobi Jones.

[71] On December 7, 2020, the NWSL announced that an expansion team in Kansas City would join the league in 2021 and take over player-related assets from Utah Royals FC.

The highest single-game attendance in the league's history was on June 8, 2024, for a game between the Chicago Red Stars and Bay FC at Wrigley Field which drew 35,038.

[84] This broke the league previous single-game attendance record of 34,130 from an October 6, 2023 game between Seattle Reign FC and the Washington Spirit, which was Megan Rapinoe's final regular season appearance.

[94][95] On August 25, 2022, the NWSLPA filed a grievance against the NWSL after the league announced the omission of 22 players from a list of 26 who would become eligible to negotiate free-agent contracts for the 2023 season.

[98] Later in 2024, the league and the NWSLPA entered into a new CBA, running through the 2030 season, that ESPN journalist Jeff Kassouf called "radical by American sports standards".

The new CBA eliminated all forms of player drafts—both entry drafts and expansion drafts—thus setting the NWSL apart from all of the major men's leagues and the WNBA.

[101] As of February 2022,[update] the NWSLPA is led by civil rights attorney and former WPS players' union organizer Meghann Burke.

This was a non-issue for Utah Royals FC, which won no trophies before folding and having its player-related assets transferred to the franchise now known as the Kansas City Current.

Instead the league played the newly announced Challenge Cup, a tournament-style competition starting in late June, with all teams in a protective bubble in Salt Lake City.

[145][146] The Equalizer noted that the app was prone to crashing, did not have the same wide device support as YouTube,[147] and that the telecasts themselves suffered from their own technical problems (such as poor camera angles and glitches with graphics), but that the streams were good when they worked.

League operations director Amanda Duffy subsequently announced that the NWSL Game of the Week matches, many of which were slated for the hottest parts of the day in humid cities such as Houston, Orlando, and Cary, North Carolina, would be rescheduled to allow for longer hydration breaks.

Some Game of the Week matches changed to other venues, and teams not scheduled for television were granted more flexibility in rescheduling kickoffs for player safety.

[150][151] On June 6, 2018, it was announced that six Game of the Week matches through the remainder of the season would move to evening kickoffs and air on ESPNews (which is owned by a sister venture to A&E Networks), in an effort to ensure the safety of players, as well as improve attendance.

[152] Go90 shut down in July 2018; the remaining games not aired on television were moved back to the NWSL website for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.

NWSL president Amanda Duffy said the changes would give the league and its teams finer control over its media and sponsorship agreements, and expected to announce a new television rights deal soon.

[156] In July 2019, the NWSL announced that ESPN had acquired a 14-match package for the remainder of the season divided among ESPNews and ESPN2, including the semifinals and championship match.

[160][161] In September 2021, players publicly complained about the 2021 NWSL championship match's announced the 9 a.m. PDT kickoff time in the neutral-site host city of Portland, Oregon, which was required for the league's noon EDT broadcast slot provided by CBS.

At the end of each season, the league presents seven annual awards for outstanding achievements, six of which are voted on by players, owners, general managers, coaches, media, and fans.

[198] On January 6, 2015, Jeff Plush, managing director of Colorado Rapids and a former MLS board member, was named as Bailey's successor.

[200] During his tenure, former Louisville City FC president Amanda Duffy was hired in December 2016 as the NWSL's managing director of operations.

[201] Plush resigned as commissioner on March 2, 2017, and the position remained vacant until 2020, although Duffy served as the public face of league management.

[204] On February 27, 2020, the NWSL announced that Lisa Baird, chief marketing officer of the New York Public Radio, would become the league's commissioner on March 10, 2020.

[207] The NWSL has undergone many allegations and reports of sexual harassment, misconduct, and emotional abuse by coaches and staff over the years, and has received a significant amount of criticism.