Those Division 1 sanctioning standards were what we believed was right for the Super League, and so that's what we set forth. It was never about anything other than what's right for us for the long-term sustainability of this league.
It's just two leagues. We're in different markets, and we're both competing at the highest level. The Super League's first-division status is the same as the NWSL, and the Super League launched with an approach designed to make it stand out from its predecessors.
The Super League is the first women's professional soccer league in the United States to align with the "global" (read: European) calendar, meaning its season begins in August and ends in late spring.
Many Super League teams have existing academies and amateur adult teams, creating pathways to professionalism that NWSL clubs lack. The Super League is trying to do something that has never been done before: create a second successful top-flight women's soccer league in a country that already has one.
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