The National Women's Soccer League will grow to a fourteen-team league next season. Bay FC and Utah Royals FC will compete in the 2024 season but before they take the pitch the two newest clubs need to fill out their rosters. They'll do so via the 2024 NWSL expansion draft, set to take place on Dec. 15, and fans can watch the entire event on CBS Sports Network.
Existing NWSL clubs will have until Dec. 12 to finalize their list of protected players, with each team able to protect nine players. Utah head coach Amy Rodriguez and Bay Area head coach Albertin Montoya will welcome up to 12 new players into their roster as they alternate between selections. The two expansion franchises settled on an asset distribution order, with Utah's option for the top pick in the NWSL Entry Draft and Bay FC receiving the first selection in the expansion draft.
Let's take a look at the rules for this upcoming draft:
2024 expansion draft rules
A total of 24 players may be selected over 12 rounds in the expansion draft with each team making selections during the rounds. The picks are not compulsory, so each team may not use the total of their 12 picks. Expansion draft selections cannot be traded between teams and both expansion sides will have three minutes between each round for player picks. Both clubs will be permitted two, five-minute, timeouts during the event.
Here are additional rules for the event:
- Existing teams are permitted to protect a total of nine players. All other players must be unprotected.
- An existing team is permitted to protect one additional player after the first expansion team selects a player from its roster.
- Unsigned unrestricted and restricted free agents are not eligible to be selected.
- Under-18 players are not eligible to be selected.
- Individuals on the Discovery List of any team are not eligible to be selected.
- Players with a "no trade" clause are required to be protected by their current club.
- Existing teams are required to disclose to the league, along with the protected/unprotected designation, any players who a team believes will be unavailable to play by January 1, 2024, due to injury, retirement, loan, or any other reason. This information will be shared with the expansion teams.
What's different
With clubs now paying the salaries of their players directly, the impact on expansion drafts has evolved. The 2022 Expansion draft for Angel City FC and San Diego FC featured player distribution lists by position. No existing team could lose more than one goalkeeper, defender, or attacker, but that is not the case for the upcoming draft. The 2024 expansion draft will also be the first without protection rules pertaining to "federation players."
In years past, some existing teams had multiple players representing the senior national teams, but could only protect a certain amount. If an expansion side selected a federation player, no other players could be selected from that same team. Prior expansion drafts included protections for existing teams with multiple players on the U.S. and Canada soccer teams.
The free agency period will impact which players may get placed on protected lists. Players eligible for free agency have already begun contract negotiations, but the signing period won't begin till Nov. 20. The free agency period includes Utah Royals and Bay FC.
Teams will try and sign any Unrestricted and Restricted free agents till Dec. 12, when the protected player lists are due, and a transaction moratorium is put in place ahead of the expansion draft and will end on Dec. 16. Any unsigned Unrestricted or Restricted players cannot be selected in the expansion draft.
What's next
The NWSL semifinals will kick off on Nov. 5 on CBS Sports Network. The final two teams will battle it out for the biggest prize on Nov. 11 at the NWSL Championship in San Diego, California. All eyes will be on Utah and Bay FC as the expansion draft approaches in December.
