In the first year that retailer Soccer.com has had all 14 NWSL jerseys available, they’ve seen plenty of demand amid an overall growing appetite for women’s soccer in the United States.
Chief marketing officer Brian Berklich told The Athletic that while he can’t give exact dollar figures, Soccer.com has “seen significant growth in our NWSL business.” It should be noted, however, that they only had access to a few teams last year, selling Portland Thorns, North Carolina Courage, Racing Louisville and Orlando Pride jerseys. But with an official retail partnership with the NWSL Players Association and the addition of leaguewide selection, they’ve carefully noted fan demand.
The company shared an infographic about best-selling NWSL jerseys by state, showing a giant presence for the San Diego Wave in states without a home NWSL team. Conversely, the Houston Dash and Bay FC haven’t yet made a dent, at least not in Soccer.com’s retail figures.
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Bay FC’s lack of presence is understandable, given this is the expansion club’s first year and its 2024 jerseys were essentially plain templates. Given the years-long timeline it usually takes to work with a supplier — in this case Nike — to bring a custom kit from design to sales, Bay will eventually move past the template era.
As for Houston, its slower sales on the site may reflect one of the factors that affect demand: team performance. The Dash were last in the standings and, unlike fellow bottom-ranked Seattle Reign, don’t have a history of success to lean on.
Berklich said there are several factors beyond wins and losses that he’s seen influence kit sales.
“The awareness around that team — is the kit itself driving interest from a lifestyle or fashion standpoint?” he said. “And then are there players that are driving fan interest around that kit?”
| Rank | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Alex Morgan |
San Diego Wave
|
|
2
|
 Trinity Rodman |
Washington Spirit
|
|
3
|
 Sophia Smith |
Portland Thorns
|
|
4
|
 Mallory Swanson |
Chicago Red Stars
|
|
5
|
 Marta |
Orlando Pride
|
|
6
|
 Naomi Girma |
San Diego Wave
|
|
7
|
 Rose Lavelle |
Gotham FC
|
|
8
|
 Christen Press |
Angel City FC
|
|
9
|
 Christine Sinclair |
Portland Thorns
|
|
10
|
 Alyssa Thompson |
Angel City FC
|
Looking at the popularity, performance, and design balance, those teams aren’t surprising. Berklich emphasized several times that the Wave’s sunset look and colors seem to have grabbed plenty of attention, especially given their 10th-place overall finish. But aside from being a good design, that particular design also seemed meaningful to the team’s fans, part of a final popularity factor that Berklich called “the story of the kit.”
“Some kits or jerseys have a clearer story around what’s behind it than others,” he said. “The Wave, that primary kit, we mentioned the color, but it was representative of the San Diego sunset. And that was something that you could very clearly take away from that and resonate with consumers. … There’s a lot of different stories to tell, but I think, does that story connect with the fan of the team, as well as with someone who’s interested in jerseys from a lifestyle perspective.”
It also doesn’t hurt to have Alex Morgan on your squad. Her jersey was Soccer.com’s No. 1 seller in 2024. Morgan announced her retirement from the game in September.
| Rank | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Alex Morgan |
San Diego Wave
|
|
2
|
Trinity Rodman |
Washington Spirit
|
|
3
|
Sophia Smith |
Portland Thorns
|
|
4
|
Mallory Swanson |
Chicago Red Stars
|
|
5
|
Marta |
Orlando Pride
|
|
6
|
Naomi Girma |
San Diego Wave
|
|
7
|
Rose Lavelle |
Gotham FC
|
|
8
|
Christen Press |
Angel City FC
|
|
9
|
Christine Sinclair |
Portland Thorns
|
|
10
|
Alyssa Thompson |
Angel City FC
|
As with teams, some general factors go into a player’s jersey sales, including individual performance, popularity and exposure to the fan base, and their team’s overall performance. Notably, all of the top 10 players are (or were) also national team players, with big individual fan bases. Alyssa Thompson might be the most surprising presence on the list given her relative youth, but she made a huge splash as the No. 1 overall NWSL draft pick in 2023 and she is a member of the USWNT player pool while also being a fan favorite at a club with a relatively large brand presence.
The other players have all individually done well this season or have had a big event, like a retirement or a comeback, pushing up fan awareness.
Historically, women’s soccer jerseys have not been widely available, not even around big international events like the World Cup. Suppliers like Nike and Adidas have increased their presence and their offerings every four years; looking at World Cups from 2015 through 2023, it’s become more of a given that fans will be able to find jerseys either online or in brick-and-mortar locations. But these selections also tend to be limited to the more popular national teams, and customization is still a crapshoot.
Club jerseys have been even harder to come by, even through the earlier NWSL years. But now you can get any team’s jersey with any player’s name on it, and not just through one retailer. Is commercial supply finally catching up to fan demand, at least in the United States?
Berklich said, at the very least, he can see that there’s a clear growth in demand driven by multiple factors.
“The continued access to the leagues helps, I think, in terms of the ability for the marketplace to support (sales),” he said. “As the leagues continue to evolve their visibility, whether that’s in media, whether it’s in their communities, paired with the growing focus on the players who represent those teams in the marketplace, more broadly, I think there’s more across all fronts.
“I do think the growth of the game from a retail perspective — or the presence of women’s soccer jerseys and women’s soccer apparel, etc. — it’s going to continue to grow. And I do think you’ll see, (alongside) the growth of the league and interest, you’ll see the retail trend follow.”
(Top photo: Rich Graessle / Getty Images)
