The National Women’s Soccer League might be days away from its monthlong pause for the start of the men’s World Cup, but the league already has plans to join the action.
The league on Thursday unveiled its “Summer of Soccer” initiative, a multi-week campaign that will embed the league into the heart of the international buzz around the tournament. The initiative centers on a summer trip anchored by a league-branded bus tour that will position the league in communities across the U.S. during key moments of the tournament.
The tour will coincide with some of the biggest matches of the NWSL regular season, once matches resume during the first week of July.
“As the global soccer community comes together in the United States and across North America this summer, we see a major opportunity to showcase the NWSL as a central part of that broader soccer culture and conversation,” NWSL chief marketing officer Rachel Epstein said in a statement. “This initiative is about meeting fans where they are, elevating our players and clubs and creating new entry points into the league during one of the biggest soccer moments the country has ever hosted.”
The tour will feature fan experiences and live content in various cities, including Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Mo.; Portland, Ore.; Denver; Los Angeles; Seattle and New York. There will be live creator coverage, community events and amplified coverage around certain NWSL matches. The league said it will also position itself, players and its partners across the broader tournament landscape through appearances and similar integrations throughout the competition.
The road trip begins in Columbus, home to the league’s 18th expansion side, which debuts in 2028. The city will also host this year’s Challenge Cup on June 26, pitting the 2025 NWSL Shield-winning Kansas City Current against the 2025 NWSL champions, Gotham FC.
The NWSL hopes to attract interest in its games when there will be “millions of people paying attention to soccer in this country and globally.” (William Purnell / Imagn Images)
The tour includes a stop at Kansas City for a FIFA Fan Festival, before heading to Denver for the July 3 match between the Current and Denver Summit. This coincides with the return of regular-season NWSL games and the highly anticipated arrival of U.S. women’s national team captain Lindsey Heaps, who will join Denver after her season at Lyon.
The bus then heads to San Diego for the July 4 game between the San Diego Wave and Gotham, before pivoting to Los Angeles, where the league will host culture-focused creator experiences across the city during the World Cup round of 16. The bus will also make stops in Portland and then Seattle for the Cascadia Rivalry on July 12, before driving cross-country to New York City.
Once on the East Coast, the bus will stop by the Queens Classic between Gotham and the Washington Spirit on July 15. The sides are set to become the first women’s professional teams to play a game at Citi Field, with the clubs eyeing to beat the record for the largest attendance for a women’s sporting event in the city limits. The bus will also have a presence around Fanatics Fest in Manhattan and the men’s World Cup at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 19.
The campaign makes good on initiatives NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman alluded to at the start of the season. She stressed in March the significance of the opportunity the men’s World Cup presents for a league actively searching for ways to bring in new audiences.
“Our specific focus for the 2026 season is to make sure that our games are in front of and our product are in front of people who love elite soccer, agnostic to whether it is men or women, knowing that the NWSL is the best league in the world,” Berman told reporters at the time. “If you love the best soccer in the world, you will love the NWSL.
“The Men’s World Cup is a pivotal moment … and we will use that as an opportunity to create discoverability for the NWSL. The ways we’re going to do that, the tactics around that are, No. 1, through tentpole events.”
Berman referenced how the Challenge Cup was timed to be played during the World Cup and in Ohio, a neutral location not hosting any games. The league also will intentionally resume play during the knockout rounds.
“There will be less games that are happening on the men’s World Cup side,” Berman said, “(giving) us an opportunity to occupy some of that space when there are still going to be millions of people paying attention to soccer in this country and globally.”
The hope is that the NWSL can capitalize on the World Cup buzz to bring in new fans during one of the biggest summers for soccer in North America.
