The 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft was an

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

held by the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

(NWSL) on December 15, 2023, for two expansion teams,

Bay FC Bay Football Club (Bay FC) is an American professional women's association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. They are set to begin play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) as an expansion team in th ...

and

Utah Royals Utah Royals FC is an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played its first stint in the National Women's Soccer League ( ...

, to select players from existing teams in the league.

Format

will select first in the expansion draft, followed by

. The expansion draft will alternate between both teams across 12 rounds, allowing each team to select up to 12 players. Each of the NWSL's 12 current teams is permitted to protect nine players, making them ineligible for selection. Furthermore, it is permitted to protect one additional player after the first expansion team selects a player from its roster.

Draft results

* ''Italics'' indicate players who are not under contract but whose NWSL playing rights remain with the team

Protected lists by team

The following teams acquired expansion draft protections: * On November 14, 2023,

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to the l ...

traded for roster protection from

. * On November 15, 2023,

Kansas City Current Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Kansas. It began play as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021. History Establishment Kansas City last had an NWS ...

traded for roster protection from Bay FC and Orlando Pride traded for roster protection from

. * On November 17, 2023,

Racing Louisville FC Racing Louisville Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League team based in Louisville, Kentucky. It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team is owned by Soccer Holdings LLC, which also owns Louisville City FC of the USL Champ ...

traded for roster protection from Bay FC. * On November 20, 2023,

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York F ...

and

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle. The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...

both traded for roster protection from Utah Royals. * On December 12, 2023,

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in Los Angeles, California, and was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including Becky G, Natal ...

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

and

NJ/NY Gotham FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

all traded for roster protection from Utah Royals FC and Bay FC. Also,

traded for roster protection from Utah Royals FC. On December 13, 2023, the NWSL released the protected lists from teams participating in the draft. * Bold indicates players selected in the

Expansion Draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

* ''Italics'' indicate players who are not under contract but whose NWSL playing rights remain with the team

References

{{NWSL drafts National Women's Soccer League drafts Bay FC Utah Royals FC NWSL Expansion Draft

Format

Draft results

Protected lists by team

See also

References