Is the NWSL schedule out? YES!

Our yearly struggle with the National Women’s Soccer League over the schedule is finally over. With the season starting on May 15, the league has finally released the schedule with 17 days to go. Of course, making a schedule is never easy. There’s always moving parts between stadium availability, coordinating with broadcast partners, having to hit certain dates at home or away, etc. etc. And perhaps in terms of people needing the schedule in order to make travel schedules, this year it was fine to delay all that anyway for obvious reasons. But leaving it this late still engenders a bit of the spirit invoked by the eyes looking to the side emoji.

This will be a 24-game regular season for each team - 12 home, 12 away. No broadcast details yet, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be similar to the Challenge Cup, where select games are on CBS and CBS Sports Network, while the rest stream on Paramount Plus and Twitch. As a reminder, if you got CBS All Access last year to watch the Challenge Cup, your account should have automatically switched over to Paramount Plus using the same login.

There’s also no Olympic break this season; for frame of reference, the Olympics will run from July 23 to August 8 and the soccer portion tends to start a little early to allow for all the games, so expect internationals to be gone in a window around those weeks. However there are a few weekends off scattered throughout where teams and fans can catch their breath. Conversely there are some big four-game weekends, and June 26 is a doozy, with all 10 teams playing on the same day.

Anyway, here’s a link to download the schedule to sync with your Google cal or device, and here’s some fun matchups below. (Google FAQ on syncing calendars here)

Opening weekend:

May 15
Racing Louisville vs Kansas City, 5 PM ET
Gotham FC vs Houston Dash, 7 PM ET
OL Reign vs NC Courage, 10 PM ET

May 16
Orlando Pride vs Washington Spirit, 6 PM ET
Portland Thorns vs Chicago Red Stars, 7 PM ET

Likely Olympic sendoff games:

June 26

Chicago Red Stars vs Racing Louisville, 2 PM ET
OL Reign vs Gotham FC, 4 PM ET
NC Courage vs Portland Thorns, 7 PM ET
Houston Dash vs Orlando Pride, 8:30 PM ET
Kansas City vs Washington Spirit, 8:30 PM ET

Strong NWSL After Dark vibes games:

June 26
Houston Dash vs Orlando Pride, 8:30 PM ET

July 18
Portland Thorns vs Orlando Pride, 10:30 PM ET

August 21
OL Reign vs Gotham FC, 10 PM ET

September 25
Chicago Red Stars vs Portland Thorns, 8 PM ET

October 9
Houston Dash vs NC Courage, 8:30 PM ET

What are you most looking forward to this season?