NWSL Expansion Draft time, TV, streaming, order, player list, rules for Angel City, Wave FC

December 16, 2021 admin

Already pegged by many as the top women’s professional soccer league in the world, the NWSL has gained considerable popularity over the past calendar year, and with the league enjoying the spotlight, this week should get the juices flowing further.

The NWSL Draft takes place Saturday, but first up is the NWSL Expansion Draft on Thursday which will set the baseline foundation for two new expansion teams. San Diego Wave FC and Angel City FC will join the league in 2022, and their rosters will be built partially through this expansion draft process.

Angel City FC won the top pick on a coin flip, so they are on the clock first. The rules permit both Angel City and Wave FC can select a maximum of one player from nine other teams, but given previous trades involving roster protection, that won’t happen.

Angel City will not be able to select players from six teams and Wave FC will not be able to touch the rosters of five teams. That leaves a total of nine available picks combined.

NWSL Expansion Draft picks

Round	Angel City FC	San Diego Wave FC
1
2
3
4
5	—
6	—	—
7	—	—
8	—	—
9	—	—

How to watch the NWSL Expansion Draft

Date: Thursday, Dec. 16
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV channel: CBS Sports Network
Streaming: fuboTV, Paramount+, CBS Sports HQ

The NWSL Expansion Draft will be available on a number of platforms, including on TV through CBS Sports Network, which is available to stream on fuboTV, available to new users on a free 7-day trial.

Streams will also be available on CBS platform Paramount+, CBS Sports HQ, Twitch (CBS Sports HQ channel) and YouTube (CBS Sports HQ and NWSL channels).

MORE: Why Washington Spirit’s NWSL title is the most remarkable in U.S. sports

How the NWSL Expansion Draft works

The official draft guidelines provide each of the two expansion teams up to a maximum of nine selections, though that won’t be happening due to prior deals with those teams. Either team can also decide to pass on a selection.

While the Kansas City Current are exempt from the draft, the other nine NWSL clubs were able to protect nine of their players prior to the draft and that list was permitted to include a maximum of one U.S. allocated player. The rest of the players were left unprotected and available for selection in the Expansion Draft unless there was a prior arrangement reached between teams (see below).

Here’s a summary of the key rules for the Expansion Draft:

The expansion teams have three minutes to make each pick;
Each expansion team may select one player or U.S. allocated player from each team, for a maximum total of nine selections;
Each expansion team may select no more than one unprotected U.S. allocated player in the Expansion Draft;
Existing teams may lose no more than two of their unprotected players in the Expansion Draft (of which only one may be a U.S. allocated player);
Existing teams may lose no more than one player from any position group (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward);
Expansion Draft selections may not be traded, but players selected in the Expansion Draft may be traded after the event;
Each expansion team has two 5-minute timeouts, though they can’t be used back-to-back.

Through deals prior to the Expansion Draft, there have been several NWSL teams that have worked out draft protection for the players they had to leave unprotected:

Kansas City Current exempt: As part of the deal with the league to become an expansion team in 2021, the Kansas City Current are exempt from this draft entirely.
A number of other exemptions have been created via agreements stemming from trades:
- The Chicago Red Stars, North Carolina Courage and NJ/NY Gotham FC have done deals to earn Expansion Draft protection from both teams.
- OL Reign have expansion protection from Angel City FC for just their forward group, which includes Megan Rapinoe. Reign is not protected from picks by Wave FC.
- The Portland Thorns have full expansion protection from Angel City for a previous trade.
- Racing Louisville FC has full expansion protection from Angel City as part of a previous trade that sent the rights to Christen Press to the expansion club.
- The Washington Spirit traded for protection of its U.S. allocated players from Angel City and full protection from Wave FC.

MORE: Alex Morgan traded to San Diego Wave FC

NWSL players eligible for selection in Expansion Draft

While a number of popular players have either been protected or already traded to expansion teams, including Alex Morgan who was sent to Wave FC last week, there are a few unprotected players who pop off the page.

MORE: 2022 MLS expansion draft results for Charlotte FC

Megan Rapinoe is the most popular unprotected player, and while it’s unlikely she’d be selected given a number of factors, including OL Reign protecting its forwards group from Angel City FC, she’s a big enough name that could make it enticing for Wave FC to have a go.

The Houston Dash decided not to put USWNT midfielder Kristie Mewis on its protected list, and Washington’s Jordan DiBiasi is unprotected as well.