All you need to know about Netball Super League 2026Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, London Pulse and Loughborough Lightning contested the Super Cup final – will it be same again in the NSL Grand Final this season?ByJohn Skilbeck, BBC Sport senior journalist and Ruth Gregory, BBC Sport journalistPublished25 minutes agoDouble-digit temperatures, lighter evenings and the return of the Netball Super League – winter is beginning its retreat.Season two in the league’s 10-year drive towards full professionalisation has arrived, with first-time champions London Pulse launching their defence against Manchester Thunder on Friday, 27 February at the Copper Box.Pulse have handed back one trophy already, with Loughborough Lightning winning the Super Cup final in Sheffield.Those two sides, who also contested the Grand Final last July, are setting the highest standards, but others could credibly join them in the 2026 campaign.There are new kits, new faces, and new stories waiting to be written.London Mavericks and Nottingham Forest feature in the first BBC live game of the 2026 NSL season on Saturday, 28 February (14:00 GMT). You can watch the action unfold on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer.What to look out for as NSL season beginsMavericks’ pioneering kitIt is not ‘death to the dress’ yet, but several Mavericks players will break with tradition and wear a combination of vests, shorts, skorts and leggings this season. The theory is that if players feel their best, they will produce their best netball.
As coach Tamsin Greenway told BBC Sport: “It’s a bit of a no-brainer. We’re women, we’ve all got different shapes and sizes. As a 20-year-old, wearing a dress would have been fine for me, but if you put me on court now I couldn’t think of anything worse than wearing a netball dress.”
Cardwell comes home
The return of England goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell is one to watch. She is back at Manchester Thunder after enjoying huge highs and crushing lows in a mixed three years in Australia. Thunder looked rusty at the recent Super Cup, so it could be a slow build for them this season, but Cardwell adds quality. They should be there or thereabouts.
Growth spurt
After a 45% surge in average attendances last season, NSL is looking to draw in even more spectators. Three double-headers will take place at major arenas in Nottingham and Liverpool, while the Grand Final will move from London’s O2 to Manchester’s Co-op Live, a new setting for netball. Two other venues will stage netball for the first time: the National Cycling Centre in Manchester and Essex Sports Arena.
Free-to-air netball stays on the BBC
You can watch live NSL matches on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer this season. Director of BBC Sport Alex Kay-Jelski mentioned: “It’s fast, physical and uncompromising, and we’ll be there every week, right at the heart of it.”
