2017 National Women's Soccer League season
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The 2017 National Women's Soccer League season will be the fifth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it will be the eleventh overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. The league is operated by the United States Soccer Federation and receives major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing is expected to be provided by the Canadian Soccer Association. Both national federations pay the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations.
The reigning champions Western New York Flash will not defend their title under that name; the franchise was sold, relocated to North Carolina and rebranded as the North Carolina Courage.
After schedule disruptions caused by the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, teams will once again have 24 games this year, a schedule last played during the 2014 season.
Two teams, the Dash and Reign, do not make their stadiums' entire capacity available for home games, instead restricting ticket sales at a lower level. The full capacities of their venues are included in parentheses and italics.
Note: All of the teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer.
The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams tie in point total, when determining rank and playoff qualification and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker rules, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
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