2024 NWSL Season Opens With UKG NWSL Challenge Cup, Featuring Clash of Champions, Start of Prime Video Coverage

The National Women’s Soccer League opens its 12th campaign next weekend as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup returns for the 2024 season.

Newly formatted as a single-match showdown featuring the league’s most accomplished stars from the previous season, reigning NWSL Champion NJ/NY Gotham FC will host San Diego Wave FC, winner of the 2023 NWSL Shield, presented by CarMax, Friday, March 15, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET with the match streaming live on Prime Video.

In recognition of the efforts of players from both clubs to reach the pinnacle of success on the pitch, UKG will provide each player from this year’s Challenge Cup-winning team with $3,500 in prize money, while players on the opposing team will each receive $2,200. The UKG NWSL Challenge Cup Most Valuable Player will be awarded an additional $2,000.

In addition to the Challenge Cup player bonuses, UKG will be funding the launch of a career development program designed to support all NWSL players. Full details regarding the program will be released in the coming weeks.

Now in its fifth year as part of the league’s competition framework, the 2024 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup will serve as the league’s official return to the pitch ahead of the highly anticipated 2024 regular season which will also see the additions of expansion sides Bay FC and Utah Royals FC and the beginning of the league’s landmark domestic media distribution deals.

Following the Challenge Cup, the 2024 regular season kicks off Saturday, March 16 as the Kansas City Current host Portland Thorns FC in the inaugural match at CPKC Stadium, the first purpose-built stadium for a women’s professional sports team. The regular season opener, set for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday, March 16, will air live on ABC.