Northern Super League unveils inaugural season schedule
Published
The Northern Super League (NSL), Canada’s first professional women’s soccer league, has revealed the schedule for its highly anticipated inaugural season.
The historic opening match will see Vancouver Rise FC host Calgary Wild FC at iconic Canadian venue BC Place on April 16, with the match broadcast nationally on TSN and the free CBC Gem streaming service. The monumental Canadian sports occasion will kick off the NSL’s 75-match regular season before the NSL playoffs occur in the fall and the inaugural champion is crowned.
Opening Week April 16 to April 19
Wednesday, April 16 - Vancouver Rise FC will host Calgary Wild FC in Canada’s first-ever professional women’s soccer game. The historic match will take place at BC Place so that all fans across British Columbia can join and celebrate the occasion.
Saturday, April 19 - AFC Toronto takes on Montreal Roses FC with a special appearance at BMO Field.The match will be broadcast nationally on TSN, RDS and CBC Gem.
Additional Home Openers
Each NSL club will host its first-ever home match within the opening weeks of the season allowing fans across the country to experience the excitement of professional women’s soccer in their own communities.TSN will have live coverage of all six home openers.
Halifax Tides FC hosts its first home match at the Wanderers Grounds in downtown Halifax on April 26 against Calgary Wild FC.
Ottawa Rapid FC will mark its home debut in the nation’s capital with a provincial showdown against AFC Toronto at TD Place Stadium on April 27.
Montreal Roses FC will celebrate its inaugural home match on May 3 against Ottawa Rapid FC at Centre sportif Bois-de-Boulogne in Laval. The match will be broadcast in French on RDS.
Calgary Wild FC will round out the opening slate of home matches, hosting Ottawa Rapid FC at McMahon Stadium on a very special Mother’s Day, May 11.
League Format
Each Northern Super League club will play 25 regular season matches. For the inaugural season, Ottawa, Calgary and Halifax will play 13 home and 12 away matches. Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will each play 12 home matches and 13 away matches.
All six clubs will compete in a single table format with the standard point system used following each result. Three points will be awarded for a victory, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss.
At the end of the season, the top four teams in the standings will compete in a home and away semifinal format. The playoff matchups will be determined by seeding, with top seed facing fourth seed and second seed against third seed. The higher seeded clubs will play at home for their second match.
The Club with the higher total score over the two-game semifinal will advance to the championship game on November 15.
National Broadcasts
All 75 Northern Super League regular season matches will be available nationally across multiple platforms. TSN will air 20 regular season games, while CBC will broadcast eight.
In addition to linear broadcasts, a ‘Game of the Week’ will co-stream simultaneously on CBC Gem and NSL.ca, while 24 additional matches will co-stream simultaneously on TSN+ and NSL.ca.