Nothing gets bigger than this—the NWSL Championship final returns for its 11th edition, promising to deliver yet another thrilling showdown. Throughout the season, 14 teams battled fiercely for the coveted NWSL Shield and a spot in the top 8, vying for a chance to reach the championship final. Now, only two teams remain—Orlando Pride, the Shield winners, and Washington Spirit, the runners-up of the regular season—who will face off in a high-stakes clash to claim the ultimate prize. But many are wondering: what is the prize money pool for the NWSL Championship final, and more importantly, is there a reward for the runners-up as well?

Well, last year’s NWSL Championship final prize pool can help figure that out. For the 2023 season, each player from the winning side, i.e., Gotham FC, who had defeated OL Reign (now called Seatle Reign) 2-1, was able to receive $15,000 in prize money. While the losing side may have gone back home without a trophy, they did pocket somewhere around $11,250. Of course, the other teams that also made it to the NWSL playoffs stage won’t be left out by the stakeholders; they offered the losing semifinalists $7,500 and the losing quarterfinalists $3,750.

Now, for this year, the National Women’s Soccer League hasn’t publicly announced the prize pool for the championship teams. However, it is allegedly expected to be somewhere near this figure. While the actual numbers may surface after the NWSL Championship finals, it’s most likely these figures will be something that all the involved teams are expected to cash out. But hearing this, many are now wondering if the NWSL Championship prize pool should have been revised.

Should the prize pool for the 2024 NWSL Championship Final have been increased?

Unlike last season, one cannot deny the amount of developments that have taken place in the NWSL this year. Starting with the biggest breakthrough in the media rights deal, a ‘record-breaking’ $240 million four-year-long deal with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, and Scripps as broadcasting partners, that also represents a whopping forty-fold increase on their previous partnership.

Not to forget their exclusive partnerships with Adobe, Google Pixel, Nike, UKG, and more prestigious names on their sponsorship panels. This indicates how the NWSL has indeed witnessed a remarkable growth in its earning numbers. Then again, it brings up the question of exactly why they have allegedly decided to keep this year’s NWSL Championship Final prize pool the same.

Who knows, the actual numbers revealed by the NWSL might see an increase in this aspect, but then again, it would be concerning not to reward the hard work of the teams with a well-deserved payday. Regardless, it remains yet to be seen which team takes home the biggest prize money.