Recent growth in opportunity and resources in elite-level women`s soccer has been widely celebrated. Yet the standing of women in the sport remains highly variable cross-nationally, with substantial continued inequality and many ongoing challenges to adequate support for the health, safety and career development of elite players. To support the project of tracing processes of change, we delineate a framework drawn from literature for assessing the professional development of women`s soccer. Further, we illustrate its utility though a comparison of professional and commercial development across Poland and the United States. We elaborate professionalization as a fundamentally gendered social process and call for future research assessing professionalization over time and engaging a comparative perspective.
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