The US has been the Mecca of women’s soccer lately. And that has helped the National Women’s Soccer League establish itself as the gold standard of women’s club football. Alexis Ohanian, who founded the NWSL’s most valuable club- Angel City FC unsurprisingly boasted about the league’s supremacy recently. Thanks to America’s rich women’s soccer history, the Reddit founder thinks the NWSL dominates its European counterparts, unlike the Major League Soccer.

Alexis Ohanian appeared on a recent episode of the Seven Seven Six podcast and spoke about how Angel City has been making north of $31 million every season. During the same conversation, Serena Williams’ husband also detailed how the NWSL is superior to the MLS. “All of the European leagues superior to [MLS],” Ohanian pointed out to the show host. The host said European leagues are “100%” better than the MLS. Ohanian continued, “Can that change in the next ten years? I do not think so.”

He added, “That is why I think the NWSL will be bigger than MLS in 10 years because we can tell a story of excellence in women’s football in America.” These statements came from the 41-year-old just when coach Emma Hayes and Co. retold the story of excellence in women’s soccer, with the USWNT’s fifth gold medal win in Paris.

The USWNT won the gold medal and reclaimed its top spot in global soccer, just when the world overlooked its four World Cup titles and other big wins. Fans and pundits pushed the USWNT into oblivion simply because it terribly crashed out of the 2023 World Cup. Now that the US has roared back onto the international stage, the NWSL is set to make the best of that momentum. Besides, an NWSL coach echoed Ohanian’s claims on the league’s supremacy, citing Team USA’s Olympic win.

Jessica Berman aims to capitalize on USWNT’s success

Alexis Ohanian’s rival club North Carolina Courage’s head coach Sean Nahas thinks the USWNT’s Olympic win has settled an NWSL debate. He took to X and said no one can now argue that the European leagues are better than the NWSL. Well, the Olympic tournament itself was a testament to Nahas’ claims.

Altogether, 56 NWSL stars lined up at the Olympics playing for different countries. No other league, including the iconic Spanish league, had half the representation of the NWSL in the Summer Games.

Moreover, 26 Olympic finalists plied their trade in the NWSL. This means Brazil had more NWSL players on their roster than those who played in the domestic league. Meanwhile, NWSL chief Jessica Berman also thought slightly along the same lines as Alexis Ohanian. She said the USWNT’s Olympic success has revitalized fans’ interest in soccer. And, the NWSL is going to make the best of this momentum.

She also assured that the American League is keen on giving the best conditions to the USA’s next big superstars such as Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, and Sophia Smith.

The MLS might house heavyweights such as Lionel Messi. But is he in his prime? Not even close. The NWSL, on the other hand, is the pinnacle of women’s soccer and players crave to play here in their prime. So Ohanian’s claim wasn’t that outlandish, after all.