WPSL Pro is rewriting the future of women’s soccer in the United States. Launching in 2027 as a new lower-division pro league, WPSL Pro fuses the grassroots credibility of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) — the world’s largest women’s soccer league and home to icons like Alex Morgan, Catarina Macario, Rose Lavelle and Brandi Chastain — with an unapologetic vision for professional development and commercial success.
Built by committed founding leadership and investors, including Cleveland Soccer Group and Carolina Core Soccer Ventures, WPSL Pro brings institutional expertise together with community-driven ownership.
More than an emerging women’s pro league, WPSL Pro is a platform: one that connects local roots to national stages, creates new career pathways for players and executives, and proves that the future of women’s sports is being built from the ground up.
WPSL Pro is a professional women’s soccer league built to expand opportunity, strengthen communities and elevate the game at every level. Designed to meet the growing demand for high-quality women’s professional soccer, the league brings together ambitious markets, committed ownership groups and a shared belief in what the sport can become.
At its core, WPSL Pro exists to create sustainable pathways — for players to compete and grow, for cities to rally around teams that reflect their identity and for the sport itself to evolve with intention. The league prioritizes long-term stability, competitive excellence and meaningful local impact, ensuring that growth is both responsible and resilient.
WPSL Pro is led by an experienced group of executives, operators, and advisors with deep backgrounds in professional sports, business development, and community engagement. The league is backed by leaders who understand both the ambition required to build something new and the responsibility that comes with shaping the future of the women’s game.
WPSL Pro represents a new chapter in the women’s game: one rooted in opportunity, collaboration and the belief that when communities invest in women’s sports, everyone benefits.
The United States is home to the most successful women’s national team in the world, with four FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and a global reputation for excellence, depth and competitiveness. U.S. women’s talent continues to set the standard internationally, shaping the modern game at every level.
At the professional level, the women’s soccer ecosystem has continued to grow, with 20+ professional women’s teams currently competing nationwide. These clubs represent the top tier of the women’s game and serve as important platforms for elite competition, visibility and fan engagement.
In contrast, the men’s professional landscape includes 100+ teams across multiple professional divisions, creating a wide and layered ecosystem that supports player development, club growth and regional identity at scale.
WPSL Pro is designed to help bridge the gap in the women’s pro player pathway — becoming the first fully professional lower-division league for women in the United States. Built to expand opportunity, deepen regional access and support long-term growth, WPSL Pro adds critical infrastructure to the women’s game by creating new professional pathways for players, markets and communities ready to invest in the future of soccer.
Built on the historic foundation of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL), which has served as a foundational platform for women’s soccer for more than two decades, WPSL Pro represents the next evolution in a system built to grow the game sustainably and inclusively.
Anne Hoge is the Founding Chief Executive Officer of WPSL Pro, the new lower-division professional women’s soccer league launching in 2027. Her appointment marks a defining moment for women’s sports, bringing together world-class business leadership, investment acumen, and authentic soccer experience to build the future of the women’s game.
Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Hoge grew up playing soccer at a time when opportunities for girls were scarce. She went on to compete as a Division I athlete at Stanford University, coming of age alongside the legendary generation of 99ers, whose World Cup victory forever changed the sport. That lived experience grounds her leadership in a deep understanding of the transformational power of women’s sports.
Hoge’s career spans hyper-growth environments at the intersection of technology, media, sports and entertainment. She has held senior leadership and legal roles at some of the world’s most recognized companies — including WhatsApp, Meta, Robinhood, Calm, NetApp, and Yahoo — where she led global legal, compliance and public policy teams, scaled businesses and helped drive outcomes that created billions in enterprise value. Notably, she played a pivotal role in the landmark sale of WhatsApp to Meta.
A passionate investor and builder in women’s sports, Hoge was a founding investor in Bay FC, the NWSL’s 14th franchise. She also serves on the board of the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI), which leverages the power of women’s sports to expand access and leadership opportunities for girls.
At WPSL Pro, Hoge is focused on building long-term league value and infrastructure: empowering independent club ownership, developing and rewarding players, elevating women into executive leadership roles, and creating new ways for fans, communities, media and partners to engage with the women’s game.
Anne earned her B.A. in Communication from Stanford University, a Graduate Diploma in Media, Communications & IT Law from the University of Melbourne, and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
