| 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft | |
| Sport: | Soccer |
| Time: | 7 p.m. EST |
| Location: | Lynn Family Stadium Louisville, Kentucky |
| Network: | Twitch |
| Overall: | 18 |
| League: | National Women's Soccer League |
| Teams: | 1 |
| Prev: | 2015 |
| Next: | 2022 |
| Expansion Teams: | Racing Louisville FC |
| Expansion Season: | 2021 |
The 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft was a special draft held on November 12, 2020, by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) for Racing Louisville FC, an expansion team, to select players from existing teams in the league.[1] Louisville would be able to select up to 18 players from a list of unprotected players provided by the nine incumbent NWSL teams.
On October 26, 2020, the NWSL announced that Chicago Red Stars would receive full roster protection after executing a trade with Racing Louisville FC.[2]
Each of the NWSL's nine teams could protect 11 players, with a limit of two United States federation players. Racing Louisville FC could select a maximum of two players (or one United States federation player) per team, and two United States federation players in total. All players currently under contract, on loan, or whose NWSL rights are held by an NWSL team (e.g., draft picks, waiver claims, retired players) were eligible for selection unless included on the protected list, and only players not yet signed from an NWSL team's discovery list were exempt.[3]
The timeline for the Expansion Draft process was as follows:
Racing Louisville FC selected 14 players on November 12, 2020.[4]
| Player | Previous team | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DF | ||
| 2 | DF | ||
| 3 | MF | ||
| 4 | MF | ||
| 5 | GK | ||
| 6 | DF | ||
| 7 | MF | ||
| 8 | DF | ||
| 9 | Caitlin Foord | FW | |
| 10 | FW | ||
| 11 | DF | ||
| 12 | GK | ||
| 13 | Tobin Heath | FW | |
| 14 | Christen Press | FW | |
After Chicago Red Stars traded for full roster protection, the remaining eight current NWSL teams released their respective protected lists on November 5, 2020.[5]