Where it’s at now and where we hope to see it headed.
This may not be well-known but yes, we have a professional women’s football league in the United States and it has come a long way. While it has only recently begun gaining momentum, professional football is not only played by men, so let’s highlight some key things to know before you start watching some amazing women take on another male-dominated sport.
The WFA (Women’s Football Alliance) and WNFC (Women’s National Football Conference) are two American-based professional tackle football leagues. Their season begins in the spring and they recently signed a landmark broadcasting deal with ESPN2 in January 2024. Before we get into that, let’s delve into the world of women’s professional football first.
Starting back in 1926, women’s football was originally played during the NFL’s halftime as a performance, the only team being the Lady Yellow Jackets. Unfortunately, for the following 39 years, women’s football would only be played under an unorganized competition, in other words, in a non-professional setting. Luckily for our aspiring athletes, in 1965, in Cleveland, Ohio, the Women’s Professional Football League (WPFL) was created by a talent agent, Sid Friedman. Although it was only considered semi-professional, it brought together teams from Cleveland, Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Dayton, Pittsburgh and Toledo.
In the 1970s, the first female semi-pro tackle football player, Patricia Barzi Palinkas, suited up to play for the Orlando Panthers, a male football team. As the 1970s carried on, eventually, the WPFL slowly burnt out until 1974 when the National Women’s Football League (NWFL) was created. It was composed of several teams:
Dallas Bluebonnets
Fort Worth Shamrocks
Columbus Pacesetters
Toledo Troopers
Los Angeles Dandelions
California Mustangs
Detroit Demons
History was made in 1975 when the Troopers’ running back Linda Jefferson was named Women’s Sports magazine’s 1975 Athlete of the Year. By 1976, the NWFL had three conferences: Eastern, Southern and Western, and its number of teams doubled to 14. The Troopers dominated the first five seasons, from 1971 to 1976, when they went 39-1-1.
Once teams began forming in California, the Dandelions’ team owner, Russell Molzahn, created his own league named the Western States Women’s Professional Football League (WSWPFL). Both leagues ended up suffering financially and by the mid-1980s, ceased operation. While women’s professional football took off in both Germany and Australia during the 1980s, the United States didn’t see any advancements with tackle football. Although the International Women’s Flag Football Association was created in 1979 and still runs today, tackle football was only reintroduced in 1999 by Terry Sullivan and Carter Turner.
As previous minor league football operators, Sullivan and Turner came together to create the Women’s Professional Football League (WPFL) beginning with the Lake Michigan Minx and Minnesota Vixens. After just one short year of six exhibition games, in 2000, 11 teams competed nationwide. While the season was cut short due to players not receiving their $100/game salary and the financial losses of the league, it bounced back in 2001 and continued to run until 2007 when they held their last championship between the So Cal Scorpions and Houston Energy.
As the WPFL came to an end, in 2009 it was replaced by the now-withstanding Women’s Football Alliance. With a unique twist, the WFA encouraged women from all financial backgrounds to join the league as their business model revolved around corporate sponsorships and re-invested revenue into WFA teams and players. The league’s business strategy allowed teams to emerge nationwide and helped it become the largest women’s tackle football league in the world.
Since emerging in 2009, the WFA has continued to foster innovation and break barriers for women’s football on national and international levels. Some notable accomplishments:
First women’s football league to play a National Championship in an NFL stadium
First league to secure a multiyear television network deal with ESPN
First league to have MVP jerseys in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
First women’s football league to partner with the NFL Alumni
In addition to those barrier-breaking milestones, the WFA has 30 veteran players who have received coaching and scouting positions in the NFL. Most notably, Katie Sowers was the first female coach in a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers and Jennifer King was the first female African American coach in the NFL coaching the former Washington Redskins.
The WFA is not the only professional women’s tackle football league in the nation. As previously mentioned, the Women’s National Football Conference also has a large presence in women’s American football. In 2018, Odessa Jenkins founded the WFNC to create equal opportunities for women and girls in football. With its first season taking place in 2019, it is now headed into its sixth season as a professional tackle football league for women. Sticking to its core value of equality, the WFNC features 17 teams nationwide with women from over 20 countries across the globe.
The league proudly provides the only women’s American Football online shopping platform which sells wholly owned, league-branded apparel. In addition to setting standards for the visibility of women’s athletics, the WFNC supports women and girls in football through the league’s official Got Her Back charity, receiving support from Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, USA Football, Gatorade and so on.
There are a few differences between both leagues that should be noted. The WFA is a larger league with 60 teams and eight international leagues. It also has three divisions: WFA Pro, WFA Division 2 and WFA Division 3. Meanwhile, the WFNC has 17 teams and two conferences: East and West.
Both professional women’s football leagues are working extremely hard to promote women’s professional football through media coverage. The WFNC has also grown its media coverage with the rights of “Game of the Week” being signed over to DAZN, an international streaming platform and the Women’s Sports Network. In 2023, the WFNC partnered with Caffeine TV alongside DAZN and reached over 10 million viewers during the season while in 2024, they began growing their presence on social media platforms where they reached over 15 million fans through apps such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter. They also signed sponsorship agreements with Adidas, Riddell and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The WFA has partnered with ESPN, Women’s Sports Network, Eleven Sports and Comcast to broadcast the National Championship on major sporting platforms. However, unlike the WFNC, the league struggles with game broadcasts as only a certain amount of games can be found on TV and others are only found on smaller, less-known, streaming services.
This is one of the biggest challenges women’s professional football leagues struggle with, exposure and sponsorships. While it may seem as though both women’s professional tackle football leagues are growing on a national and international level, their broadcasting and visibility could be improved. I had the chance to discuss these challenges with an intern for the WFA Minnesota Vixens and her biggest takeaway was “it comes down to giving women’s football more exposure first,” Amirah Razman said. “I think that’s a huge step towards getting sponsorships. A lot of WFA teams have local sponsorships but nothing on a national level.”
As most women’s sports broadcasting is gaining momentum, like we see with the PWHL, the national knowledge of women’s tackle football is still growing. With flag football’s history, it can be easily misunderstood as the only professional women’s football league. With proper exposure, there is still a chance that we can deter people’s minds from immediately associating women’s football with flag football and tackle football with men’s collegiate teams or the NFL. It’s time to bring the two ideas together and realize that we have two leagues ready to be watched and enjoyed.
Women in sports continue to break barriers in fostering teamwork, leadership, and commitment through athletics, with football being no exception. With its long history, professional women’s tackle football has persevered and now boasts two professional leagues in the United States, one of which is recognized internationally. Despite facing challenges with exposure, visibility, and sponsorships, I am confident that the empowering women performing on and off the field will find a way to elevate tackle football to new heights nationwide.
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