New Women’s League Reveals Identity

Following months of mystery, the U.S. Soccer-sponsored women’s league set to launch in the spring finally has an identity.

The eight-team, first-division league will be called the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). The name and logo was revealed during halftime of Saturday’s friendly between the United States women and China.

“We are working on finalizing a number of league items, but we now have a name and a logo that we think the fans will identify with and enjoy,” said NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey. “This is a league we have to build from the bottom up and we have a group of dedicated owners and talented support staff at U.S. Soccer to keep this process moving in a positive direction while slowly growing the brand.”

The Boston Breakers are among the eight teams slated to play in the league’s inaugural season. In addition to the Breakers, the Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Sky Blue FC, Washington Spirit, Western New York Flash and Seattle, which has yet to announce its team name, will be part of the NWSL.