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Prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada

February 07, 2023

The prominent women's sports leagues in the United States and Canada represent the elite level of women's sports competition for women athletes in North America. The majority of professional women's leagues are found in the United States. Top women's leagues in North America include both team sports and individual athletes.

Women playing professional soccer in the United States in 2011
Montreal Stars supporters.

Some leagues involve paid professional women athletes while others do not and operate at a semi-professional level. Some sports are played by individual players while others are team sports. Top women's leagues in North America include the team sports of soccer (a.k.a. association football), basketball, fastpitch softball, ice hockey, ringette, women's gridiron football (full contact), flat track roller derby, and lacrosse. Professional individual sports featuring women are also popular in North America, including tennis, bowling and golf, with women's tennis in the United States proving to be particularly successful.

Record attendances recorded by women's professional sports leagues have been dominated by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the now defunct Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league.

Professional women's leagues

See also: List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada

There are several professional women's sports leagues in North America where women athletes are paid to play a sport, though most exist in the United States. Women's professional sports leagues in North America include the following.

Professional team sports

Professional women's team sports leagues in North America
Sport Country Pro league Began play Teams Avg. Attendance
Fastpitch softball   USA Women's Professional Fastpitch
(WPF) 		2022
Women's gridiron football
(full contact)

See also:
Women's leagues 		  USA Women's Football Alliance (WFA) 2009
  • 2022:
    64 active
 [1]
Ice hockey
(no body checking) 		  USA
  Canada 		Premier Hockey Federation (PHF)
Formerly called the:
"National Women's Hockey League" 		2015 7 954
(2018-19)[2]
Soccer   USA National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) 2013 12 7,337
(2019)[3]
Basketball   USA Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 1997 12 6,535
(2019)[4]
Rugby union   USA Women's Premier League Rugby (WPL Rugby) 2009 10
Lacrosse   USA Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse[5] 2021

Professional individual sports

See also: Women's tennis in the United States

(*) = variable: can include singles or doubles

Professional women's individual sports leagues in North America
Sport Country Pro league Began play Players Avg. Attendance
Golf   USA Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) 1950
Tennis   USA Women's Tennis Association (WTA) 1973
Bowling   USA Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) 1950
*Pickleball   USA
1965

Semi-professional women's leagues

Semi-professional team sports

Semi-professional women's team sports leagues in North America
Sport Country Amateur league Began play Teams Avg. Attendance
Women's gridiron football
(full contact)

See also:
Women's leagues 		  USA Women's National Football Conference (WNFC) 2019 18
Roller Derby International International Women's Flat Track Derby Association Championships
(WFTDA Championships) 		2004
Ringette   Canada National Ringette League (NRL) 2004 13
(2022-23)

Women's gridiron football

In North America, women's gridiron football is more commonly known by different names including: "women's tackle football", "women's American football", "women's Canadian football", or simply as "women's football". The term "football" in North American sport should not be confused with the European use of the word which refers a different sport known by North Americans as soccer.

Women's National Football Conference (WNFC)

Main article: Women's National Football Conference

The Women's National Football Conference (WNFC) is an amateur[6] full-contact Women's American football league in the United States and was founded in 2018. Their inaugural season was in 2019. On their website, the WNFC described themselves as looking to create a standard of excellence and opportunities. The (WNFC) does not charge teams of players a fee for entry into the league; rather, teams are invited into the league based on quality of market, teams, players and ownership.[7]

On December 10, 2018, the WNFC announced a partnership with Adidas, as part of the latter's "She Breaks Barriers" initiative.[8] As part of that partnership, Adidas serves as the WNFC's presenting sponsor, with all WNFC teams wearing custom-made Adidas uniforms.

2022 Women's National Football Conference

See also: Women's National Football Conference § 2022

The WNFC played Week 1 of its 2022 season on April 2. All games were streamed on the Vyre Network. The season ended with the Texas Elite Spartans defeating the Utah Falconz 48-12. The WNFC website reports that their broadcast viewership across all Vyre Network platforms has skyrocketed by 475% from 2021, throughout the course of the 2022 season.[citation needed]

Women's basketball

Early history

Professional women's basketball has been played in the United States since 1978. The first professional league was the Women's Pro Basketball League. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981.[9]

The second women's professional league to be created in the United States was the Women's Basketball Association. The league played three seasons (from 1993 to 1995) with plans to play as a 12-team league in 1997 but disbanded before 1997 season. In 1996, two professional women's leagues were started in the United States: American Basketball League and WNBA. The American Basketball League was founded in 1996 during an increase in the interest in the sport following the 1996 Summer Olympics. The league played two full seasons (1996–97 and 1997–98) and started a third (1998–99) before it folded in December 1998.

Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

Main article: Women's National Basketball Association
 
Sue Bird in an WNBA game in Seattle

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is the top competition in women's basketball. The WNBA was formed in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association, and league play began in 1997.

The WNBA regular season runs June to September (Northern Hemisphere spring and summer), which is directly opposite to the traditional basketball season throughout the world. Most WNBA teams play at the same venue as their NBA counterparts and most team names are also very similar to those of NBA teams in the same market, such as the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx.

Attendance

The league's attendance has fluctuated over the last several seasons.[when?] It had an average per-game attendance of 8,039 in 2009 and 7,834 in 2010.[10] Total attendance was 1,598,160 in 2010.[10] In 2007, the league signed a television deal with ESPN that would run from 2009 to 2016. This deal is the first to ever pay rights fees to women's teams. In 2009 it had a total television viewership of 413,000 in combined cable and broadcast television.[11]

The 2000 WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix on July 17, 2000 attracted a crowd of 17,717 supporters.[12] The West All-Stars defeated the East All-Stars with a score of 73–61.

In 2009, 23 million American professional basketball fans, 92.3% of those fans were the audience of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the remaining 7.7% attended WNBA games.[13] Mark J. Perry found from the Center for Feminist Research[14] of University of Southern California's "Gender in Televised Sports" found that in 2009 the media coverage for the NBA was 77.8% and WNBA was 22.2%.[15]

Game 1 of the 2011 WNBA Finals on October 2, 2011, took place at the Target Center in Minneapolis and attracted 15,258 supporters when the Minnesota Lynx scored an 88-74 victory over the Atlanta Dream.[16] Game 2 of the 2011 WNBA Finals on October 5, 2011,[17] attracted 15,124 supporters.[citation needed]

The 2017 WNBA All-Star Game on July 22, 2017, at KeyArena in Seattle had a crowd of 15,221 fans. The West All-Stars defeated the East All-Stars 130–121.[18]

Women's ice hockey

Premier Hockey Federation

Main article: Premier Hockey Federation
 
A National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) All-Star Game in 2018. The league has since been rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF)

In 2015, the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was established as the "National Women's Hockey League (NWHL)" with the purpose of being the first professional women's ice hockey league in North America that paid its players.[19][20]

The league launched its inaugural season in 2015–16 with four teams in the Northeastern United States: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and New York Riveters, with all franchises owned by the league. The league initially had a $10,000 minimum salary per season for the players,[21] however, the player's salaries were reduced up to 50% part-way through the league's second season.[22]

In October 2017, the NWHL teams began partnering with established National Hockey League (NHL) teams with an branding agreement between the New York Riveters and the New Jersey Devils.[23] In December 2017, the Buffalo Beauts' franchise was purchased by the NHL's Buffalo Sabres ownership, Pegula Sports and Entertainment, and became the first NWHL franchise to not be owned by the league.[24] The NWHL expanded for the first time in 2018 when the Minnesota Whitecaps, a former member of the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) that had been operating independently since 2011, joined the league.[25] More recently, the league added the Toronto Six prior to its 2020–21 season,[26] and renamed itself as the Premier Hockey Federation after that season.[27] A second Canadian team, the Montreal Force, started play in 2022–23.[28]

Women's soccer

 
Penalty kick for the Seattle Reign of America's National Women's Soccer League

Women's soccer is well developed in the United States but has been developed to a lesser extent in Canada. The United States women's national soccer team was established in 1985, while the Canada women's national soccer team was established in 1986. In the United States, the first continental women's league was formed in 1995, then a professional league in 2001.[29]

In 1980 the number of women players in 1980 was recorded to be roughly about 900,000. In 1985 that number had grown to 1.5 million then reached 2 million in 1990. Those numbers peaked at 3 million in 1995 only to fall again by 2000 when registrations fell to 2.7 million.[29]

The success of the women's American national team has not translated into consistent success for women's professional soccer in the United States. The current top professional league, the National Women's Soccer League, is the country's third (and longest-lasting) attempt to establish such a competition.

USL W League

Main article: USL W League

The USL W League began operating in 2022 and should not be confused with the now defunct USL W-League which was a developmental organization which operated from 1995–2015.

National Women's Soccer League

Main article: National Women's Soccer League

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in spring 2013 with eight teams; four of them were former members of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), which had been the top women's league in the United States soccer pyramid before its folding in 2012.

Fox Sports had a deal to broadcast nine games in 2013, six in the regular season and the three from the playoffs.[30] ESPN2 and ESPN3 had a similar deal for the 2014 season.[31] Prior to the 2017 season, the NWSL and A&E Networks signed a three-year deal which calls for A&E's Lifetime network to broadcast a weekly Saturday afternoon game; the deal also saw A&E take an ownership stake in the league.[32][33]

The league expanded to 10 teams in 2016 and 2017 before dropping to 9 for the 2018 season; it returned to 10 teams for 2021, and expanded further to 12 in 2022. It became the first women's professional league to play a fourth season in 2016.

Attendance

The overall record attendance for the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is 32,000, set on September 17, 2022 at San Diego Wave FC's opening match in the new Snapdragon Stadium against regional rival Angel City FC.[34]

Portland Thorns FC averaged more than 13,000 attendance at Providence Park in each of the NWSL's first seven seasons, with an all-time high of 20,098 in the 2019 season.[3]

Women's Premier Soccer League

Main article: Women's Premier Soccer League

The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is a national women's soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico, and is on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside United Women's Soccer. The WPSL started as the Western Division of the W-League, before breaking away to form its own league in 1997. The league is sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association as an affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

There are both "professional"/senior teams and amateur teams in the WPSL. An organization has to choose to be one or the other due to NCAA regulations, since collegiate players cannot play on "pro" teams.

United Women's Soccer

Main article: United Women's Soccer

United Women's Soccer, variously abbreviated as UWS and UWoSo, shares second-level status with the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). It is a pro-am (professional–amateur) women's soccer league in the United States which combines both professional career athletes and amateurs in competition. The league was formed in 2015 as a response to turmoil within the WPSL and the folding of the USL W-League. The first season in 2016 saw 11 teams participate, all in the U.S.; two Canadian teams initially planned to play that season but were not approved by the country's national federation. Three of the original 11 teams did not return for the league's second season, but UWS still nearly doubled in size for that season, with one Canadian team and 12 American teams entering the league. UWS defines itself as a "pro-am" organization.

USL Super League

Main article: USL Super League

The USL Super League is a fully professional second-level women's soccer league which will begin its inaugural season in 2024. In September 2021, the United Soccer League, which operates a system of lower-level leagues for men, women, and youth, announced that it would launch the "USL Super League" for the 2023 season.[35] The Super League's launch has since been put off to 2024. Unlike most other U.S. soccer leagues, the Super League will play a fall-to-spring schedule, in line with the FIFA international calendar and most European leagues.[36]

Women's softball

Women's professional softball has existed in the United States since 1997.[citation needed] Currently the major professional league is Women's Professional Fastpitch.

Women's Professional Fastpitch

Main article: Women's Professional Fastpitch

Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF) is the newest league for women's professional softball in the United States and launched its inaugural season in June 2022. The WPF league is unrelated to the defunct league that used the names National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL) and the initial "Women's Professional Fastpitch" from the 1980s.

Women's roller derby

Women's Flat Track Derby Association

Main article: Women's Flat Track Derby Association

The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues in the United States. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition (ULC)[37] but was renamed in November 2005.[37][38]

The WFTDA Championships are the leading competition for roller derby leagues. The Championships are organised by the WFTDA. They originated in 2006 as the National WFTDA Championship. Full WFTDA members are eligible for ranking in one of the association's four regions. Each region holds a tournament contested by its top ten leagues: the Eastern, North Central, South Central and Western Regional Tournaments. The top three leagues from each of these four tournaments qualify for the Championships. Together, the qualifying tournaments and Championships are termed the "Big 5".[39] Since 2008, the winner of the National Championships has been awarded the Hydra Trophy.[40]

In January 2009, Montreal Roller Derby became the first Canadian league admitted as a member. The league was WFTDA's 66th member, and was placed in the East region.[41] In June 2010, the WFTDA announced the first round of Apprentice league graduates, and formed two new regions ( Canada and Europe) outside of the United States (Leagues in those regions will compete in the closest US region until they develop more fully).[42]

Ringette

National Ringette League

Main article: National Ringette League
 
National Ringette League game in 2012

The National Ringette League (NRL) is Canada's premiere league for the sport of ringette in North America but exists exclusively in Canada. To date, American NRL teams have never been created nor entered the league, though some NRL players have originally come from America and Finland. The league is semi-professional and also acts as a showcase league for the sport of ringette as well as a place for those scouting for ringette talent.

Ringette is a Canadian sport created for girls by Canada's Sam Jacks and Red McCarthy in 1963 in Northern Ontario in the cities of North Bay and Espanola, Ontario.[43] Developed for female players, ringette is a fast-paced team sport on ice in which players use a straight stick to pass, carry, and shoot a rubber ring to score goals. For ten years, play centred in Ontario and Quebec, however the sport quickly spread across Canada and is now played by 50,000 girls internationally.[44] In Canada, ringette is one of the most popular sports played by females and the country regularly records the highest number of annual registrations among all participating nations.

The creation of the National Ringette League followed the success of the 2002 World Ringette Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where Canada won the gold medal and the Sam Jacks Trophy, the premiere trophy for the sport. The first NRL season began in November 2004 with 17 teams. The NRL entered its eighth season in 2011–12 season with 19 teams playing in two conferences across Canada – a Western Conference with 6 teams and an Eastern Conference with 13 teams.

By 2008, the budget of each NRL team oscillated between $15,000 and $20,000.[45] The teams and the league contribute to cover all the transportation spending, accommodation and rent of arenas. The players however have to find their own financiers to pay their equipment and their personal spending and aren't paid to play.[45] The audience for several NRL teams is limited to hundreds of spectators. For a time the NRL benefited from a cover broadcast thanks to a partnership with Webchannel SSN-Canada[46] with the championship final game broadcast on Rogers TV.

In the 2010–11 season, a NRL Championship Tournament replaced the Championship qualifying rounds; this tournament takes place in just one city. This allows the league to create a media event and to hold attention. From March 27 till April 2, 2011, the NRL Championship Tournament took place in Cambridge, Ontario. In the Final, the Edmonton WAM! triumphed over the Cambridge Turbos.[47]

The NRL maintains a collaboration with the lower Ringette leagues in regards the development of the young girls players. Several NRL teams have affiliated development teams with athletes in the Under 19 year (U19) and Under 16 year (U16). The Canadian Ringette Championships for U16 and U19 usually takes place annually in April and also takes place in the same place as the NRL playoff tournament.[48][49]

Player salaries

 
Abby Wambach, U.S. Women's National Soccer, 2011

Despite often claiming professional status, only a few women's leagues pay their players, such as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Many of the professional leagues pay less than a livable wage,[50] while also offering other incentives in order to claim professional status.[51]

With the approval of the most recent Women's National Basketball Association collective bargaining agreement in 2020, the minimum salary in the 2020 season was $57,000 for players with less than 3 seasons of league experience and $68,000 for all other players. The maximum salary for most players in that season was $185,000, with players meeting specified criteria for league service having a higher maximum of $215,000.[52]

The annual average salary in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was $32,000 in 2009.[53] Players salaries can vary (i.e. Marta would have received a salary of $400,000 during the last three seasons 2009–2011).[54]

The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was established in 2015 in order to be the first professional women's ice hockey league to pay players a salary. In 2015, the salaries started at a minimum of $10,000 per season,[21] however, the salaries were reduced up to 50% in 2016.[55] The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) began as a professional league in name only, giving other benefits to its players, but started paying stipends in 2017 with a minimum of $2,000 and up to $10,000 per season financed by the league's addition of teams in China.[56] However, the CWHL ceased operations in 2019 citing the professional status to be financially infeasible.

Player development

Generally, all major sports leagues possess an amateur system for the development of young players development. Certain women's leagues develop links privileged with minor league amateurs of lower and junior levels. With the growth of women's sports at the NCAA and Canada's U Sports levels in the last decades, athletes are more likely to choose a university education (along with competing at the university level), and then proceed to compete in a top-level major league.[citation needed]

Television broadcasting

As of December 2021, the Women's National Basketball Association,[57] National Women's Soccer League[58], National Pro Fastpitch,[59] Premier Hockey Federation,[60] and Women's Flat Track Derby Association[61] have television broadcasting contracts.[62] The Canadian Women's Hockey League had a TV contract before it folded after the 2018–19 season.[63]

Defunct leagues

Women's United Soccer Association

Main article: Women's United Soccer Association

The Women's United Soccer Association, often abbreviated to WUSA was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States. The league suspended operations on September 15, 2003, shortly after the end of its third season.

Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)

Main article: Women's Professional Soccer
 
Women's Professional Soccer All-Star team in 2009

Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States.[64] It began play on March 29, 2009 and folded in 2012. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season. The league hoped to have ten teams for the 2012 season,[65] most of the new groups potentially coming from the western half of the country, but ultimately no ownership groups were ready to join in time. The beginning of the league's was marked by two things: low attendance (2009: 4,684, 2010: 3,588 [66] and 2011: 3,518 [67] ), problems with (ex-Freedom) magicJack owner Dan Borislow.[68][69]

Former WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci said that unlike WUSA which had higher expectations and employed a top-down model, WPS would take "a slow and steady growth type of approach", citing WUSA's losses of close to $100 million.[70] She said the new league would have a closer relationship with Major League Soccer, the top men's professional league in the United States, to cut costs on staff and facilities, and for marketing. The team budgets for the inaugural season was $2.5 million.[70]

Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español with Samuel Jacobo and Jorge Caamaño will air weekly Sunday night matches & the WPS All-Star Game with Fox Sports Net to air the semifinal and league championship contests. The national television contract will be in effect through the 2011 season with an option for 2012.[71]

On January 30, 2012, the WPS announced suspension of operations for the 2012 season, citing several internal organization struggles as the primary cause.[72] Some of these issues included an ongoing legal battle with magicJack owner Dan Borislow and the lack of resources invested into the league.

There were 14,832 supporters who attended its inaugural match in 2009 at the Home Depot Center (now Dignity Health Sports Park) in Carson, California on March 29, 2009.[73] Los Angeles Sol 2 - 0 Washington Freedom.

The 2011 WPS Championship game at Sahlen's Stadium (now Marina Auto Stadium) in Rochester saw 10,461 supporters in attendance on August 27, 2011.[74] The game saw the Western New York Flash claim a 1-1 (5-4, PK's) victory over the Philadelphia Independence.

Women's Premier Soccer League Elite

Main article: Women's Premier Soccer League Elite

The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was established in 2012 by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL), responding both to an increased interest in professionalism by existing WPSL teams and the desire of WPS teams for a continuing competitive outlet. The league defined itself as semi-professional, but five of its eight charter teams were to be fully professional. Three of these—the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, and Western New York Flash—previously played in WPS.

United Soccer League Women's League (USL W-League)

Main article: USL W-League (1995–2015)

The USL W-League (1995–2015), was a North American women's soccer developmental organization[75] and should not be confused with the existing third-level USL W League which launched in 2022. The former USL W-League was an open league, giving college players the opportunity to play alongside established international players while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The league was administered by the United Soccer League system, which now oversees the men's USL Championship, USL League One (launched in 2019) and USL League Two (Premier Development League before 2019), as well as the current USL W League and the upcoming USL Super League.

Canadian Women's Hockey League

Main article: Canadian Women's Hockey League
 
Caroline Ouellette with Clarkson Cup on March 27, 2011

The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CHWL) was a women's hockey league in Canada for top female hockey players.[76] The CWHL helped women's professional hockey rebound from the demise of the original National Women's Hockey League (NWHL)[77] in 2007.[78] Following the collapse of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in 2019, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) was formed. While over 150 players, including most North American ice hockey Olympians, were exclusively affiliated with one of the organisation's regional hubs and a number of games are organized between them, the PWHPA is not organized under a formal league structure.

In the 2017–18 season, the CWHL grew to seven teams: two in the Greater Toronto Area, Les Canadiennes de Montreal, the Calgary Inferno, the Worcester Blades, and the Chinese Kunlun Red Star WIH and Vanke Rays. The Chinese teams served to jump-start that nation's development in women's hockey, as the country is set to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.[56]

The CWHL allowed elite level players to play after college and continue to work toward Olympic and national team success.[79] Prior to the 2017–18 season, the players were not paid and only received incentives.[56] Apart from ice rink time, hotels, transportation (mostly by bus[79]), and some items covered by the league, players paid for all other expenses related to playing at this level (equipment, training, insurance, health services, etc.), and all staff (coaches, general managers, communications workers) served as volunteers.[80] As a result, most players and personnel had jobs outside of hockey.[81]

 
Game between the Toronto Furies and Montreal Stars

In 2010, the Toronto Star reported that the cost of running the league was about $1.7 million.[80][82] For the 2010–11 season, income was $800,000.[83] Any league profits were then redistributed among the teams as the league was registered as non-profit amateur organization,[84] resulting in insufficient funds to pay players.[85][84] In 2017, the league began paying the players a stipend up to $10,000 per season,[56] reportedly coming from the increased revenue through the China expansion,[86] while maintaining its amateur registration.[87] The stipends added about $600,000 to the annual expenses.[87]

League attendance is very low in the regular season,[88] but increases during the playoffs.[89] On March 27, 2011, the Championship Final game drew 2,300 fans at Barrie Molson Centre in Barrie, Ontario.[90][91] Several CWHL matches are broadcast online[92] and TSN broadcasts the Clarkson Cup championship match.

On March 31, 2019, the CWHL announced the league would discontinue operations effective May 1, 2019.[93] The league's expansion and added cost of travel and player stipends had caused operation costs to grow to $4.2 million in the 2017–18 season.[87]

International Women’s Professional Softball Associations

Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour member Janie Blaylock, softball legend Joan Joyce, and tennis icon Billie Jean King were the founders of the International Women’s Professional Softball Associations (IWPSA) in 1976.[citation needed] There were ten teams in the league from Meriden, Connecticut, to San Jose, California. During the first season the teams played 120 games in a schedule season. The league ran for four years and was closed due to lack of funds and high travel and facility costs.

Women's Pro Softball League

Main article: Women's Pro Softball League

The Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL) was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001. The league was started by former Utah State University softball player, Jane Cowles and her collegiate coach, John Horan in February 1989. After eight years of research and planning, combined efforts resulted in the launch of the first women's professional softball league in United States history in May of 1997, the "Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) league.

In 1986 and 1987 the United States women's national softball team won gold medals in the Pan American Games. Jane Cowles formulated a plan for a women's professional softball league. In February 1989 she showed her parents, John and Sage Cowles, owners of Cowles Media Company the ideas who agreed to help with the financial make up of the league. Eight years later n 1997, the Cowles family and AT&T Wireless Services launched the Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF) league. After one full year and two seasons of play the league's name was changed to the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) which had four teams located in Eastern United States in 2000: the Akron Racers, Florida Wahoos, Ohio Pride and Tampa Bay FireStrix. The Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) was founded in 1997 and ran until 2001, lasting four seasons before lack of funds, high travel costs and inadequate facilities led to its closure.

In 2001, the "Tour of Fastpitch Champions" enabled the WPSL to expand. From this the league traveled around to eleven different cities to find different candidate for the WPSL teams to play. They played against All-Star teams and Canada teams; they televised many of them on ESPN2 or ESPN. After all these games they decided to suspend the 2002 season so they could get organized and have more time to find other teams to be able to play. Even though the league was suspended, the WPSL All-Star team competed against the Tennessee All-Star team, as well as put together two clinics. In 2002 the league changed its name again and became National Pro Fastpitch with Major League Baseball partnering with them to continue the MBL's efforts to connect with female athletes.

National Pro Fastpitch

Main article: National Pro Fastpitch

National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The (WPSL) was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revived the league in 2004.[94] However, a new softball league began in 2022, the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF) league, and the NPF was disbanded.[95] The WPF league is unrelated to the defunct league that used the names National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) and Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL) and the initial "Women's Professional Fastpitch" from the 1980s.

The National Pro Fastpitch league was revived in 2004 and was an official development partner of Major League Baseball in the women's fastpitch softball. In 2004 a new season began within six markets: Stockton, California; Tucson, Arizona; Houston, Texas; Akron, Ohio; Lowell, Massachusetts; Montclair, New Jersey. Having more teams allowed the league to participate in more games with 178 league-wide games, involving 96 female softball players. In 2006, the Philadelphia Force, the Connecticut Brakettes, the Chicago Bandits, and the New England Riptide joined the league, expanding the season, and competition.

In 2009, after winning a silver medal, several Olympians returned to the NPF: Monica Abbott for Washington, Jennie Finch for Chicago, and Cat Osterman for Rockford. There are now[when?] four teams that participate in 50 regular season games: Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Florida Pride and Tennessee Diamonds.

The 2011 highlights of the NPF, the USSSA Florida Pride took the Ringer Cup Title with a league record of 30–9, and Colwes Cup was won by the Chicago Bandits. Over 500,000 household viewers watched this game on ESPN2. For the second year in a row the NPF All-Stars performed a tour playing 19 college teams across the United States. The NPF played against the 2009 NCAA Champions the Washington Huskies to a crowd of 3,000 at the home of the Seattle Mariners, in a game which ended in a 1–0 score.[clarification needed] This was the first fastpitch game to be held at a Major League Baseball stadium. 2011 also marked the Akron Racers' tenth university.[clarification needed][96]

See also

Further reading

  • M. Ann Hall, Immodest and Sensational: 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sport, James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Toronto 2008. 96 pages. ISBN 978-1-55277-021-4
  • Eileen McDonagh, Laura Pappano, Playing with the boys: why separate is not equal in sports, Oxford University Press, 2008. 349 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-538677-6.
  • Rachel Elyachar, Lauren Moag, , December 2002.

References

  1. ^ "About the WFA".
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External links

  • The official site of U Sports
  • The official site of Canadian Women's Hockey League
  • The official site of Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC) League
  • [Usurped!]
  • The official site of NCAA Division I women ice hockey
  • The official site of NCAA Division III women ice hockey
  • The official site of National Ringette League
  • The official website of Women's National Basketball Association
  • The official website of Women's Flat Track Derby Association

February 07, 2023
prominent, women, sports, leagues, united, states, canada, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, pl. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Prominent women s sports leagues in the United States and Canada news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The prominent women s sports leagues in the United States and Canada represent the elite level of women s sports competition for women athletes in North America The majority of professional women s leagues are found in the United States Top women s leagues in North America include both team sports and individual athletes Women playing professional soccer in the United States in 2011 Montreal Stars supporters Some leagues involve paid professional women athletes while others do not and operate at a semi professional level Some sports are played by individual players while others are team sports Top women s leagues in North America include the team sports of soccer a k a association football basketball fastpitch softball ice hockey ringette women s gridiron football full contact flat track roller derby and lacrosse Professional individual sports featuring women are also popular in North America including tennis bowling and golf with women s tennis in the United States proving to be particularly successful Record attendances recorded by women s professional sports leagues have been dominated by the National Women s Soccer League NWSL Women s National Basketball Association WNBA and the now defunct Women s Professional Soccer WPS league Contents 1 Professional women s leagues 1 1 Professional team sports 1 2 Professional individual sports 2 Semi professional women s leagues 2 1 Semi professional team sports 3 Women s gridiron football 3 1 Women s National Football Conference WNFC 3 1 1 2022 Women s National Football Conference 4 Women s basketball 4 1 Early history 4 2 Women s National Basketball Association WNBA 4 2 1 Attendance 5 Women s ice hockey 5 1 Premier Hockey Federation 6 Women s soccer 6 1 USL W League 6 2 National Women s Soccer League 6 2 1 Attendance 6 3 Women s Premier Soccer League 6 4 United Women s Soccer 6 5 USL Super League 7 Women s softball 7 1 Women s Professional Fastpitch 8 Women s roller derby 8 1 Women s Flat Track Derby Association 9 Ringette 9 1 National Ringette League 10 Player salaries 11 Player development 12 Television broadcasting 13 Defunct leagues 13 1 Women s United Soccer Association 13 2 Women s Professional Soccer WPS 13 3 Women s Premier Soccer League Elite 13 4 United Soccer League Women s League USL W League 13 5 Canadian Women s Hockey League 13 6 International Women s Professional Softball Associations 13 7 Women s Pro Softball League 13 8 National Pro Fastpitch 14 See also 15 Further reading 16 References 17 External linksProfessional women s leagues EditSee also List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada This section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 There are several professional women s sports leagues in North America where women athletes are paid to play a sport though most exist in the United States Women s professional sports leagues in North America include the following Professional team sports Edit Professional women s team sports leagues in North AmericaSport Country Pro league Began play Teams Avg AttendanceFastpitch softball USA Women s Professional Fastpitch WPF 2022Women s gridiron football full contact See also Women s leagues USA Women s Football Alliance WFA 2009 2022 64 active 1 Ice hockey no body checking USA Canada Premier Hockey Federation PHF Formerly called the National Women s Hockey League 2015 7 954 2018 19 2 Soccer USA National Women s Soccer League NWSL 2013 12 7 337 2019 3 Basketball USA Women s National Basketball Association WNBA 1997 12 6 535 2019 4 Rugby union USA Women s Premier League Rugby WPL Rugby 2009 10Lacrosse USA Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse 5 2021Professional individual sports Edit See also Women s tennis in the United States variable can include singles or doubles Professional women s individual sports leagues in North AmericaSport Country Pro league Began play Players Avg AttendanceGolf USA Ladies Professional Golf Association LPGA 1950Tennis USA Women s Tennis Association WTA 1973Bowling USA Professional Women s Bowling Association PWBA 1950 Pickleball USA Professional Pickleball Association Association of Pickleball Professionals 1965Semi professional women s leagues EditSemi professional team sports Edit Semi professional women s team sports leagues in North AmericaSport Country Amateur league Began play Teams Avg AttendanceWomen s gridiron football full contact See also Women s leagues USA Women s National Football Conference WNFC 2019 18Roller Derby International International Women s Flat Track Derby Association Championships WFTDA Championships 2004Ringette Canada National Ringette League NRL 2004 13 2022 23 Women s gridiron football EditIn North America women s gridiron football is more commonly known by different names including women s tackle football women s American football women s Canadian football or simply as women s football The term football in North American sport should not be confused with the European use of the word which refers a different sport known by North Americans as soccer Women s National Football Conference WNFC Edit Main article Women s National Football Conference The Women s National Football Conference WNFC is an amateur 6 full contact Women s American football league in the United States and was founded in 2018 Their inaugural season was in 2019 On their website the WNFC described themselves as looking to create a standard of excellence and opportunities The WNFC does not charge teams of players a fee for entry into the league rather teams are invited into the league based on quality of market teams players and ownership 7 On December 10 2018 the WNFC announced a partnership with Adidas as part of the latter s She Breaks Barriers initiative 8 As part of that partnership Adidas serves as the WNFC s presenting sponsor with all WNFC teams wearing custom made Adidas uniforms 2022 Women s National Football Conference Edit See also Women s National Football Conference 2022 The WNFC played Week 1 of its 2022 season on April 2 All games were streamed on the Vyre Network The season ended with the Texas Elite Spartans defeating the Utah Falconz 48 12 The WNFC website reports that their broadcast viewership across all Vyre Network platforms has skyrocketed by 475 from 2021 throughout the course of the 2022 season citation needed Women s basketball EditEarly history Edit Professional women s basketball has been played in the United States since 1978 The first professional league was the Women s Pro Basketball League The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981 9 The second women s professional league to be created in the United States was the Women s Basketball Association The league played three seasons from 1993 to 1995 with plans to play as a 12 team league in 1997 but disbanded before 1997 season In 1996 two professional women s leagues were started in the United States American Basketball League and WNBA The American Basketball League was founded in 1996 during an increase in the interest in the sport following the 1996 Summer Olympics The league played two full seasons 1996 97 and 1997 98 and started a third 1998 99 before it folded in December 1998 Women s National Basketball Association WNBA Edit Main article Women s National Basketball Association This section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 Sue Bird in an WNBA game in Seattle The Women s National Basketball Association WNBA is the top competition in women s basketball The WNBA was formed in 1996 as the women s counterpart to the National Basketball Association and league play began in 1997 The WNBA regular season runs June to September Northern Hemisphere spring and summer which is directly opposite to the traditional basketball season throughout the world Most WNBA teams play at the same venue as their NBA counterparts and most team names are also very similar to those of NBA teams in the same market such as the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx Attendance Edit The league s attendance has fluctuated over the last several seasons when It had an average per game attendance of 8 039 in 2009 and 7 834 in 2010 10 Total attendance was 1 598 160 in 2010 10 In 2007 the league signed a television deal with ESPN that would run from 2009 to 2016 This deal is the first to ever pay rights fees to women s teams In 2009 it had a total television viewership of 413 000 in combined cable and broadcast television 11 The 2000 WNBA All Star Game in Phoenix on July 17 2000 attracted a crowd of 17 717 supporters 12 The West All Stars defeated the East All Stars with a score of 73 61 In 2009 23 million American professional basketball fans 92 3 of those fans were the audience of the National Basketball Association NBA and the remaining 7 7 attended WNBA games 13 Mark J Perry found from the Center for Feminist Research 14 of University of Southern California s Gender in Televised Sports found that in 2009 the media coverage for the NBA was 77 8 and WNBA was 22 2 15 Game 1 of the 2011 WNBA Finals on October 2 2011 took place at the Target Center in Minneapolis and attracted 15 258 supporters when the Minnesota Lynx scored an 88 74 victory over the Atlanta Dream 16 Game 2 of the 2011 WNBA Finals on October 5 2011 17 attracted 15 124 supporters citation needed The 2017 WNBA All Star Game on July 22 2017 at KeyArena in Seattle had a crowd of 15 221 fans The West All Stars defeated the East All Stars 130 121 18 Women s ice hockey EditPremier Hockey Federation Edit Main article Premier Hockey Federation This section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 A National Women s Hockey League NWHL All Star Game in 2018 The league has since been rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation PHF In 2015 the Premier Hockey Federation PHF was established as the National Women s Hockey League NWHL with the purpose of being the first professional women s ice hockey league in North America that paid its players 19 20 The league launched its inaugural season in 2015 16 with four teams in the Northeastern United States the Boston Pride Buffalo Beauts Connecticut Whale and New York Riveters with all franchises owned by the league The league initially had a 10 000 minimum salary per season for the players 21 however the player s salaries were reduced up to 50 part way through the league s second season 22 In October 2017 the NWHL teams began partnering with established National Hockey League NHL teams with an branding agreement between the New York Riveters and the New Jersey Devils 23 In December 2017 the Buffalo Beauts franchise was purchased by the NHL s Buffalo Sabres ownership Pegula Sports and Entertainment and became the first NWHL franchise to not be owned by the league 24 The NWHL expanded for the first time in 2018 when the Minnesota Whitecaps a former member of the Western Women s Hockey League WWHL that had been operating independently since 2011 joined the league 25 More recently the league added the Toronto Six prior to its 2020 21 season 26 and renamed itself as the Premier Hockey Federation after that season 27 A second Canadian team the Montreal Force started play in 2022 23 28 Women s soccer EditThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 Penalty kick for the Seattle Reign of America s National Women s Soccer League Women s soccer is well developed in the United States but has been developed to a lesser extent in Canada The United States women s national soccer team was established in 1985 while the Canada women s national soccer team was established in 1986 In the United States the first continental women s league was formed in 1995 then a professional league in 2001 29 In 1980 the number of women players in 1980 was recorded to be roughly about 900 000 In 1985 that number had grown to 1 5 million then reached 2 million in 1990 Those numbers peaked at 3 million in 1995 only to fall again by 2000 when registrations fell to 2 7 million 29 The success of the women s American national team has not translated into consistent success for women s professional soccer in the United States The current top professional league the National Women s Soccer League is the country s third and longest lasting attempt to establish such a competition USL W League Edit Main article USL W League The USL W League began operating in 2022 and should not be confused with the now defunct USL W League which was a developmental organization which operated from 1995 2015 National Women s Soccer League Edit Main article National Women s Soccer League The National Women s Soccer League NWSL is the top level professional women s soccer league in the United States It began play in spring 2013 with eight teams four of them were former members of Women s Professional Soccer WPS which had been the top women s league in the United States soccer pyramid before its folding in 2012 Fox Sports had a deal to broadcast nine games in 2013 six in the regular season and the three from the playoffs 30 ESPN2 and ESPN3 had a similar deal for the 2014 season 31 Prior to the 2017 season the NWSL and A amp E Networks signed a three year deal which calls for A amp E s Lifetime network to broadcast a weekly Saturday afternoon game the deal also saw A amp E take an ownership stake in the league 32 33 The league expanded to 10 teams in 2016 and 2017 before dropping to 9 for the 2018 season it returned to 10 teams for 2021 and expanded further to 12 in 2022 It became the first women s professional league to play a fourth season in 2016 Attendance Edit The overall record attendance for the National Women s Soccer League NWSL is 32 000 set on September 17 2022 at San Diego Wave FC s opening match in the new Snapdragon Stadium against regional rival Angel City FC 34 Portland Thorns FC averaged more than 13 000 attendance at Providence Park in each of the NWSL s first seven seasons with an all time high of 20 098 in the 2019 season 3 Women s Premier Soccer League Edit Main article Women s Premier Soccer League The Women s Premier Soccer League WPSL is a national women s soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico and is on the 2nd level of women s soccer in the United States soccer pyramid alongside United Women s Soccer The WPSL started as the Western Division of the W League before breaking away to form its own league in 1997 The league is sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association as an affiliate of the United States Soccer Federation USSF There are both professional senior teams and amateur teams in the WPSL An organization has to choose to be one or the other due to NCAA regulations since collegiate players cannot play on pro teams United Women s Soccer Edit Main article United Women s Soccer United Women s Soccer variously abbreviated as UWS and UWoSo shares second level status with the Women s Premier Soccer League WPSL It is a pro am professional amateur women s soccer league in the United States which combines both professional career athletes and amateurs in competition The league was formed in 2015 as a response to turmoil within the WPSL and the folding of the USL W League The first season in 2016 saw 11 teams participate all in the U S two Canadian teams initially planned to play that season but were not approved by the country s national federation Three of the original 11 teams did not return for the league s second season but UWS still nearly doubled in size for that season with one Canadian team and 12 American teams entering the league UWS defines itself as a pro am organization USL Super League Edit Main article USL Super League The USL Super League is a fully professional second level women s soccer league which will begin its inaugural season in 2024 In September 2021 the United Soccer League which operates a system of lower level leagues for men women and youth announced that it would launch the USL Super League for the 2023 season 35 The Super League s launch has since been put off to 2024 Unlike most other U S soccer leagues the Super League will play a fall to spring schedule in line with the FIFA international calendar and most European leagues 36 Women s softball EditThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 Women s professional softball has existed in the United States since 1997 citation needed Currently the major professional league is Women s Professional Fastpitch Women s Professional Fastpitch Edit Main article Women s Professional Fastpitch Women s Professional Fastpitch WPF is the newest league for women s professional softball in the United States and launched its inaugural season in June 2022 The WPF league is unrelated to the defunct league that used the names National Pro Fastpitch NPF and Women s Pro Softball League WPSL and the initial Women s Professional Fastpitch from the 1980s Women s roller derby EditThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2022 Women s Flat Track Derby Association Edit Main article Women s Flat Track Derby Association The Women s Flat Track Derby Association WFTDA is an association of women s flat track roller derby leagues in the United States The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition ULC 37 but was renamed in November 2005 37 38 The WFTDA Championships are the leading competition for roller derby leagues The Championships are organised by the WFTDA They originated in 2006 as the National WFTDA Championship Full WFTDA members are eligible for ranking in one of the association s four regions Each region holds a tournament contested by its top ten leagues the Eastern North Central South Central and Western Regional Tournaments The top three leagues from each of these four tournaments qualify for the Championships Together the qualifying tournaments and Championships are termed the Big 5 39 Since 2008 the winner of the National Championships has been awarded the Hydra Trophy 40 In January 2009 Montreal Roller Derby became the first Canadian league admitted as a member The league was WFTDA s 66th member and was placed in the East region 41 In June 2010 the WFTDA announced the first round of Apprentice league graduates and formed two new regions Canada and Europe outside of the United States Leagues in those regions will compete in the closest US region until they develop more fully 42 Ringette EditNational Ringette League Edit Main article National Ringette League This section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information December 2021 National Ringette League game in 2012 The National Ringette League NRL is Canada s premiere league for the sport of ringette in North America but exists exclusively in Canada To date American NRL teams have never been created nor entered the league though some NRL players have originally come from America and Finland The league is semi professional and also acts as a showcase league for the sport of ringette as well as a place for those scouting for ringette talent Ringette is a Canadian sport created for girls by Canada s Sam Jacks and Red McCarthy in 1963 in Northern Ontario in the cities of North Bay and Espanola Ontario 43 Developed for female players ringette is a fast paced team sport on ice in which players use a straight stick to pass carry and shoot a rubber ring to score goals For ten years play centred in Ontario and Quebec however the sport quickly spread across Canada and is now played by 50 000 girls internationally 44 In Canada ringette is one of the most popular sports played by females and the country regularly records the highest number of annual registrations among all participating nations The creation of the National Ringette League followed the success of the 2002 World Ringette Championships in Edmonton Alberta Canada where Canada won the gold medal and the Sam Jacks Trophy the premiere trophy for the sport The first NRL season began in November 2004 with 17 teams The NRL entered its eighth season in 2011 12 season with 19 teams playing in two conferences across Canada a Western Conference with 6 teams and an Eastern Conference with 13 teams By 2008 the budget of each NRL team oscillated between 15 000 and 20 000 45 The teams and the league contribute to cover all the transportation spending accommodation and rent of arenas The players however have to find their own financiers to pay their equipment and their personal spending and aren t paid to play 45 The audience for several NRL teams is limited to hundreds of spectators For a time the NRL benefited from a cover broadcast thanks to a partnership with Webchannel SSN Canada 46 with the championship final game broadcast on Rogers TV In the 2010 11 season a NRL Championship Tournament replaced the Championship qualifying rounds this tournament takes place in just one city This allows the league to create a media event and to hold attention From March 27 till April 2 2011 the NRL Championship Tournament took place in Cambridge Ontario In the Final the Edmonton WAM triumphed over the Cambridge Turbos 47 The NRL maintains a collaboration with the lower Ringette leagues in regards the development of the young girls players Several NRL teams have affiliated development teams with athletes in the Under 19 year U19 and Under 16 year U16 The Canadian Ringette Championships for U16 and U19 usually takes place annually in April and also takes place in the same place as the NRL playoff tournament 48 49 Player salaries Edit Abby Wambach U S Women s National Soccer 2011 Despite often claiming professional status only a few women s leagues pay their players such as the Premier Hockey Federation PHF National Women s Soccer League NWSL and Women s National Basketball Association WNBA Many of the professional leagues pay less than a livable wage 50 while also offering other incentives in order to claim professional status 51 With the approval of the most recent Women s National Basketball Association collective bargaining agreement in 2020 the minimum salary in the 2020 season was 57 000 for players with less than 3 seasons of league experience and 68 000 for all other players The maximum salary for most players in that season was 185 000 with players meeting specified criteria for league service having a higher maximum of 215 000 52 The annual average salary in Women s Professional Soccer WPS was 32 000 in 2009 53 Players salaries can vary i e Marta would have received a salary of 400 000 during the last three seasons 2009 2011 54 The Premier Hockey Federation PHF was established in 2015 in order to be the first professional women s ice hockey league to pay players a salary In 2015 the salaries started at a minimum of 10 000 per season 21 however the salaries were reduced up to 50 in 2016 55 The Canadian Women s Hockey League CWHL began as a professional league in name only giving other benefits to its players but started paying stipends in 2017 with a minimum of 2 000 and up to 10 000 per season financed by the league s addition of teams in China 56 However the CWHL ceased operations in 2019 citing the professional status to be financially infeasible Player development EditGenerally all major sports leagues possess an amateur system for the development of young players development Certain women s leagues develop links privileged with minor league amateurs of lower and junior levels With the growth of women s sports at the NCAA and Canada s U Sports levels in the last decades athletes are more likely to choose a university education along with competing at the university level and then proceed to compete in a top level major league citation needed Television broadcasting EditAs of December 2021 update the Women s National Basketball Association 57 National Women s Soccer League 58 National Pro Fastpitch 59 Premier Hockey Federation 60 and Women s Flat Track Derby Association 61 have television broadcasting contracts 62 The Canadian Women s Hockey League had a TV contract before it folded after the 2018 19 season 63 Defunct leagues EditWomen s United Soccer Association Edit Main article Women s United Soccer Association The Women s United Soccer Association often abbreviated to WUSA was the world s first women s soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals Founded in February 2000 the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States The league suspended operations on September 15 2003 shortly after the end of its third season Women s Professional Soccer WPS Edit Main article Women s Professional Soccer Women s Professional Soccer All Star team in 2009 Women s Professional Soccer WPS was the top level professional women s soccer league in the United States 64 It began play on March 29 2009 and folded in 2012 The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season The league hoped to have ten teams for the 2012 season 65 most of the new groups potentially coming from the western half of the country but ultimately no ownership groups were ready to join in time The beginning of the league s was marked by two things low attendance 2009 4 684 2010 3 588 66 and 2011 3 518 67 problems with ex Freedom magicJack owner Dan Borislow 68 69 Former WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci said that unlike WUSA which had higher expectations and employed a top down model WPS would take a slow and steady growth type of approach citing WUSA s losses of close to 100 million 70 She said the new league would have a closer relationship with Major League Soccer the top men s professional league in the United States to cut costs on staff and facilities and for marketing The team budgets for the inaugural season was 2 5 million 70 Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol with Samuel Jacobo and Jorge Caamano will air weekly Sunday night matches amp the WPS All Star Game with Fox Sports Net to air the semifinal and league championship contests The national television contract will be in effect through the 2011 season with an option for 2012 71 On January 30 2012 the WPS announced suspension of operations for the 2012 season citing several internal organization struggles as the primary cause 72 Some of these issues included an ongoing legal battle with magicJack owner Dan Borislow and the lack of resources invested into the league There were 14 832 supporters who attended its inaugural match in 2009 at the Home Depot Center now Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson California on March 29 2009 73 Los Angeles Sol 2 0 Washington Freedom The 2011 WPS Championship game at Sahlen s Stadium now Marina Auto Stadium in Rochester saw 10 461 supporters in attendance on August 27 2011 74 The game saw the Western New York Flash claim a 1 1 5 4 PK s victory over the Philadelphia Independence Women s Premier Soccer League Elite Edit Main article Women s Premier Soccer League Elite The Women s Premier Soccer League Elite WPSL Elite was established in 2012 by the Women s Premier Soccer League WPSL responding both to an increased interest in professionalism by existing WPSL teams and the desire of WPS teams for a continuing competitive outlet The league defined itself as semi professional but five of its eight charter teams were to be fully professional Three of these the Boston Breakers Chicago Red Stars and Western New York Flash previously played in WPS United Soccer League Women s League USL W League Edit Main article USL W League 1995 2015 The USL W League 1995 2015 was a North American women s soccer developmental organization 75 and should not be confused with the existing third level USL W League which launched in 2022 The former USL W League was an open league giving college players the opportunity to play alongside established international players while maintaining their collegiate eligibility The league was administered by the United Soccer League system which now oversees the men s USL Championship USL League One launched in 2019 and USL League Two Premier Development League before 2019 as well as the current USL W League and the upcoming USL Super League Canadian Women s Hockey League Edit Main article Canadian Women s Hockey League Caroline Ouellette with Clarkson Cup on March 27 2011 The Canadian Women s Hockey League CHWL was a women s hockey league in Canada for top female hockey players 76 The CWHL helped women s professional hockey rebound from the demise of the original National Women s Hockey League NWHL 77 in 2007 78 Following the collapse of the Canadian Women s Hockey League CWHL in 2019 the Professional Women s Hockey Players Association PWHPA was formed While over 150 players including most North American ice hockey Olympians were exclusively affiliated with one of the organisation s regional hubs and a number of games are organized between them the PWHPA is not organized under a formal league structure In the 2017 18 season the CWHL grew to seven teams two in the Greater Toronto Area Les Canadiennes de Montreal the Calgary Inferno the Worcester Blades and the Chinese Kunlun Red Star WIH and Vanke Rays The Chinese teams served to jump start that nation s development in women s hockey as the country is set to host the 2022 Winter Olympics 56 The CWHL allowed elite level players to play after college and continue to work toward Olympic and national team success 79 Prior to the 2017 18 season the players were not paid and only received incentives 56 Apart from ice rink time hotels transportation mostly by bus 79 and some items covered by the league players paid for all other expenses related to playing at this level equipment training insurance health services etc and all staff coaches general managers communications workers served as volunteers 80 As a result most players and personnel had jobs outside of hockey 81 Game between the Toronto Furies and Montreal Stars In 2010 the Toronto Star reported that the cost of running the league was about 1 7 million 80 82 For the 2010 11 season income was 800 000 83 Any league profits were then redistributed among the teams as the league was registered as non profit amateur organization 84 resulting in insufficient funds to pay players 85 84 In 2017 the league began paying the players a stipend up to 10 000 per season 56 reportedly coming from the increased revenue through the China expansion 86 while maintaining its amateur registration 87 The stipends added about 600 000 to the annual expenses 87 League attendance is very low in the regular season 88 but increases during the playoffs 89 On March 27 2011 the Championship Final game drew 2 300 fans at Barrie Molson Centre in Barrie Ontario 90 91 Several CWHL matches are broadcast online 92 and TSN broadcasts the Clarkson Cup championship match On March 31 2019 the CWHL announced the league would discontinue operations effective May 1 2019 93 The league s expansion and added cost of travel and player stipends had caused operation costs to grow to 4 2 million in the 2017 18 season 87 International Women s Professional Softball Associations Edit Ladies Professional Golf Association LPGA tour member Janie Blaylock softball legend Joan Joyce and tennis icon Billie Jean King were the founders of the International Women s Professional Softball Associations IWPSA in 1976 citation needed There were ten teams in the league from Meriden Connecticut to San Jose California During the first season the teams played 120 games in a schedule season The league ran for four years and was closed due to lack of funds and high travel and facility costs Women s Pro Softball League Edit Main article Women s Pro Softball League The Women s Pro Softball League WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001 The league was started by former Utah State University softball player Jane Cowles and her collegiate coach John Horan in February 1989 After eight years of research and planning combined efforts resulted in the launch of the first women s professional softball league in United States history in May of 1997 the Women s Pro Fastpitch WPF league In 1986 and 1987 the United States women s national softball team won gold medals in the Pan American Games Jane Cowles formulated a plan for a women s professional softball league In February 1989 she showed her parents John and Sage Cowles owners of Cowles Media Company the ideas who agreed to help with the financial make up of the league Eight years later n 1997 the Cowles family and AT amp T Wireless Services launched the Women s Pro Fastpitch WPF league After one full year and two seasons of play the league s name was changed to the Women s Professional Softball League WPSL which had four teams located in Eastern United States in 2000 the Akron Racers Florida Wahoos Ohio Pride and Tampa Bay FireStrix The Women s Professional Softball League WPSL was founded in 1997 and ran until 2001 lasting four seasons before lack of funds high travel costs and inadequate facilities led to its closure In 2001 the Tour of Fastpitch Champions enabled the WPSL to expand From this the league traveled around to eleven different cities to find different candidate for the WPSL teams to play They played against All Star teams and Canada teams they televised many of them on ESPN2 or ESPN After all these games they decided to suspend the 2002 season so they could get organized and have more time to find other teams to be able to play Even though the league was suspended the WPSL All Star team competed against the Tennessee All Star team as well as put together two clinics In 2002 the league changed its name again and became National Pro Fastpitch with Major League Baseball partnering with them to continue the MBL s efforts to connect with female athletes National Pro Fastpitch Edit Main article National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch NPF formerly the Women s Pro Softball League WPSL was a professional women s softball league in the United States The teams battled for the Cowles Cup The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001 the NPF revived the league in 2004 94 However a new softball league began in 2022 the Women s Professional Fastpitch WPF league and the NPF was disbanded 95 The WPF league is unrelated to the defunct league that used the names National Pro Fastpitch NPF and Women s Pro Softball League WPSL and the initial Women s Professional Fastpitch from the 1980s The National Pro Fastpitch league was revived in 2004 and was an official development partner of Major League Baseball in the women s fastpitch softball In 2004 a new season began within six markets Stockton California Tucson Arizona Houston Texas Akron Ohio Lowell Massachusetts Montclair New Jersey Having more teams allowed the league to participate in more games with 178 league wide games involving 96 female softball players In 2006 the Philadelphia Force the Connecticut Brakettes the Chicago Bandits and the New England Riptide joined the league expanding the season and competition In 2009 after winning a silver medal several Olympians returned to the NPF Monica Abbott for Washington Jennie Finch for Chicago and Cat Osterman for Rockford There are now when four teams that participate in 50 regular season games Akron Racers Chicago Bandits Florida Pride and Tennessee Diamonds The 2011 highlights of the NPF the USSSA Florida Pride took the Ringer Cup Title with a league record of 30 9 and Colwes Cup was won by the Chicago Bandits Over 500 000 household viewers watched this game on ESPN2 For the second year in a row the NPF All Stars performed a tour playing 19 college teams across the United States The NPF played against the 2009 NCAA Champions the Washington Huskies to a crowd of 3 000 at the home of the Seattle Mariners in a game which ended in a 1 0 score clarification needed This was the first fastpitch game to be held at a Major League Baseball stadium 2011 also marked the Akron Racers tenth university clarification needed 96 See also Edit Sports portalWomen s sports Women s professional sports List of professional sports teams in the United States and CanadaFurther reading EditM Ann Hall Immodest and Sensational 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sport James Lorimer amp Company Ltd Toronto 2008 96 pages ISBN 978 1 55277 021 4 Eileen McDonagh Laura Pappano Playing with the boys why separate is not equal in sports Oxford University Press 2008 349 pages ISBN 978 0 19 538677 6 Rachel Elyachar Lauren Moag The Growth of Women s Sports December 2002 References Edit About the WFA 2018 19 Season Sets New Highs for Attendance Archived from the original on April 5 2019 Retrieved May 10 2019 a b 2019 NWSL Attendance Soccer Stadium Digest October 12 2019 Retrieved October 13 2019 Levin Andrew Broughton David September 10 2019 WNBA Turnstile Tracker Attendance Down At End Of Regular Season Sports Business Daily Retrieved October 18 2019 Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse auprosports com 2022 Retrieved 13 October 2022 ABOUT About Women s National Football Conference WNFC Retrieved 2020 07 23 About Us WNFCFootball com ADIDAS KICKS OFF INITIATIVE TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS FACED BY WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SPORT Adidas com 2018 12 10 Retrieved 2019 08 13 Porter Karra 2006 Mad Seasons The Story of the First Women s Professional Basketball League 1978 1981 Bison Books ISBN 0 8032 8789 5 a b WNBA Attendance Down 2 5 But Eight Clubs See Gains From 09 Sports Business Daily August 24 2010 Retrieved December 17 2010 WNBA Closes Regular Season Up in Attendance TV Ratings and Web Traffic WNBA com Archived from the original on 2011 05 25 Retrieved 2011 02 19 History of the WNBA Wnba com Retrieved 2013 03 01 Sports Feminists vs The Market Mjperry blogspot com 2010 08 12 Retrieved 2013 03 01 Home gt Center for Feminist Research gt USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences Dornsife usc edu Retrieved 11 March 2019 Mark J Perry 2010 08 12 Sports Feminists vs The Market Blog american com Archived from the original on 2011 11 21 Retrieved 2013 03 01 Target Center Minneapolis MN 2011 10 02 ESPN Recap Espn go com Retrieved 2013 03 01 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Target Center Minneapolis MN 2011 10 05 Box score Espn go com Retrieved 2013 03 01 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Seattle shines as host for WNBA All Star Game The Seattle Times 2017 07 22 Retrieved 2017 10 23 NWHL first paid women s pro hockey league drops puck on first season CBSSports com Retrieved 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August 30 2022 a b Women s Soccer History in the USA An Overview Homepages sover net Archived from the original on 18 September 2016 Retrieved 11 March 2019 Ltd Simplestream National Women s Soccer League Nwslsoccer com Retrieved 11 March 2019 NWSL AND ESPN ANNOUNCE NATIONAL BROADCAST AGREEMENT Archived from the original on August 26 2014 Lifetime To Air National Women s Soccer League Games As A E Networks Kicks In For Equity Stake Deadline com 2 February 2017 Retrieved February 3 2017 a b A E Networks National Women s Soccer League Ink Major Deal Variety com 2 February 2017 Retrieved February 3 2017 Match Recap San Diego tops Angel City in front of capacity crowd for first win at Snapdragon Stadium National Women s Soccer League September 18 2022 Retrieved September 18 2022 USL Announces New Professional Division II Women s Soccer League uslsoccer com USLSoccer com Staff September 21 2021 Retrieved September 21 2021 United Soccer League Unveils Step Up the Bold Next Phase in the USL s Women s Soccer Strategy Press release United Soccer League January 10 2023 Retrieved January 27 2023 a b A Short History of the Sport of Roller Derby Sin City Rollergirls Archived from the original on 2007 12 08 Retrieved 2007 07 09 Later histories recall the original name as United Leagues Committee WFTDA 2011 Big 5 Tournament Schedule Announced Archived from the original on October 5 2011 The Hydra Archived from the original on November 14 2010 Women s Flat Track Derby Association Members Archived from the original on 2008 12 16 Retrieved 2009 01 27 WFTDA adds 11 new members Latest News Women s Flat Track Derby Association Archived from the original on 2012 07 22 Retrieved 2013 10 10 History of Ringette Ringette ca Archived from the original on 6 February 2012 Retrieved 11 March 2019 About Ringette Archived from the original on February 1 2012 a b in French Le Fusion de Gatineau lance sa saison inaugurale SSNCanada Canada s Home for University Sport Archived from the original on 2012 01 17 Retrieved 2012 01 15 Edmonton WAM capture Canadian ringette title Edmontonexaminer com Archived from the original on 31 July 2012 Retrieved 11 March 2019 2011 Tim Hortons Canadian ringette championships underway in Cambridge Nationalringetteleague ca Archived from the original on 2 February 2017 Retrieved 11 March 2019 Alberta U16 Quebec U19 and Edmonton WAM golden at Canadian ringette championships Nationalringetteleague ca Archived from the original on 2 February 2017 Retrieved 11 March 2019 The NWHL Has Its Problems But Not As A National Team Stepping Stone Hartford Courant January 7 2018 Cleary Martin September 30 2007 Dreaming of a league of her own Ottawa Citizen Archived from the original on October 23 2007 Article V Sections 7 and 8 Minimum Player Salary Maximum Player Salary PDF Women s National Basketball Association Collective Bargaining Agreement Women s National Basketball Players Association January 14 2020 pp 36 37 Retrieved October 15 2020 Published February 16 2009 2009 02 16 WPS sets salary cap U S team guarantees Sportsbusinessdaily com Retrieved 2013 03 01 Where will Marta Go Salary may hinder her move Lasoccernews com 2010 01 29 Archived from the original on 2014 08 26 Retrieved 2013 03 01 NWHL hit with bad news The Fourth Period November 18 2016 Archived from the original on November 19 2016 a b c d Canadian Women s Hockey League will begin paying its players The Globe and Mail 1 September 2017 ESPN To Broadcast 16 Regular Season WNBA Games Entire Postseason WNBA com Official Site of the WNBA WNBA com Official Site of the WNBA Retrieved 2017 11 21 Fox Sports broadcast the league s inaugural season while ESPN did it in 2014 Both were one year contracts The league s current broadcast contract with A amp E Networks effective in 2017 calls for one weekly Saturday afternoon broadcast on A amp E s Lifetime channel 33 National Pro Fastpitch Reaches 16 Game Deal with ESPN Six Games to Air on ESPN2 Additional 10 Games Streamed Live on ESPN3 Profastpitch com Archived from the original on May 16 2013 Retrieved 2017 11 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link NWHL Announces First Television Deal with NESN NWHL Retrieved 2017 11 21 WFTDA Brings Roller Derby Back to Network Television Signs Deal with ESPN2 to Televise 2017 WFTDA Championship Game WFTDA Wftda com 25 September 2017 Retrieved 2017 11 21 Indiana University School of Journalism 2010 06 08 Archive Continued apathy by sports media toward women s sports a bigger problem than first meets the eye National Sports Journalism Center Sportsjournalism org Archived from the original on 2013 01 29 Retrieved 2013 03 01 CWHL coverage coming to Sportsnet this season Sportsnet ca Sportsnet ca Retrieved 2017 11 21 WPS Womensprosoccer com Archived from the original on 20 February 2010 Retrieved 11 March 2019 More on the Independence playing at PPL Park Philly com July 31 2011 Retrieved August 30 2011 Final WPS Attendance Numbers 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Fitzgerald Part 1 http www allwhitekit com p 746 May 6 2010 About the Candian Women s Hockey League Archived from the original on 2011 11 15 Retrieved 2012 01 16 Sharing the hockey dream Canada com Retrieved 11 March 2019 Players form new Canadian Women s Hockey League The Star Thestar com 27 September 2007 Retrieved 11 March 2019 a b Women s hockey league searches for recognition Theglobeandmail com Retrieved 11 March 2019 a b Women s pro league could help grow hockey Power play Hour Community Hour ca Archived from the original on 12 August 2011 Retrieved 11 March 2019 Hockey feminin loin des millionnaires de la LNH Archived from the original on October 6 2013 Inside the CWHL Tmlfans ca Archived from the original on 3 January 2011 Retrieved 11 March 2019 La CWHL une ligue pas comme les autres Exruefrontenac com Archived from the original on 13 October 2013 Retrieved 11 March 2019 a b La CWHL une ligue pas comme les autres Archived from the original on October 13 2013 Burse Mike Possible NHL and CWHL Partnership in the Works Bleacher Report Retrieved 11 March 2019 CWHL announces it will pay players in 2017 18 Sportsnet 1 September 2017 a b c Final Public Communication PDF CWHL 2 July 2019 CWHL Canadian Women s Hockey League Archived from the original on 2011 08 14 Retrieved 2012 01 16 Canadian Women s Hockey League Home Page Pointstreak Sites Archived from the original on 2014 10 27 Retrieved 2012 01 16 Simcoe County News Latest Daily Breaking News Stories Simcoe com Retrieved 11 March 2019 St Pierre backstops Montreal to Clarkson Cup title Cbc ca Retrieved 11 March 2019 For the Live Play by Play of Your Favorite Team s Game Call 1 800 846 4700 Teamline cc Retrieved 11 March 2019 The Canadian Women s Hockey League to Discontinue Operations Canadian Women s Hockey League 2019 03 31 Archived from the original on 2019 05 02 Retrieved 2019 03 31 Pitcher Monica Abbott signs 1 million contract with National Pro Fastpitch expansion team espnW Retrieved 2017 10 23 Women s Professional Fastpitch Kicks Off In June 2022 National Fastpitch Coaches Association 2021 09 30 Retrieved 2021 10 16 National Pro Fastpitch Archived from the original on July 5 2008 Retrieved April 17 2013 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link External links EditThis article s use of external links may not follow Wikipedia s policies or guidelines Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references March 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message The official site of U Sports The official site of Canadian Women s Hockey League The official site of Women s National Football Conference WNFC League The official site of National Pro Fastpitch Usurped The official site of NCAA Division I women ice hockey The official site of NCAA Division III women ice hockey The official site of Ringette Canada The official site of National Ringette League The official website of Women s National Basketball Association The official website of Women s Flat Track Derby Association The official site of National Women s Soccer League The official site of Women s Premier Soccer League Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Prominent women 27s sports leagues in the United States and Canada amp oldid 1135984513, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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