The Football Association hopes the new Women's Super League will turn professional in the future, reports BBC Sport. Arsenal take on Chelsea in the competition's inaugural match on Wednesday, following the FA's £3m investment in the eight-team league.
FA General secretary Alex Horne said: "Hopefully, if we set this up right and we expand the right way, the game will become professional."
The season runs until September and includes a break for the World Cup.
Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said: "I am extremely confident that the FA's Women's Super League will be a great success, and will not only benefit our national team but over time will improve standards at the grass roots level of the women's game both on and off the pitch"
Arsenal, Chelsea, Birmingham, Bristol, Doncaster, Lincoln, Everton and Liverpool will all play each other twice, with six of the games being televised live on ESPN.
Horne added: "This is an important day for women's football in this country. We have seen a rapid growth in the national team's success and the youth teams are all doing well too so we want that to continue."
By scheduling the WSL during the summer, organisers hope to increase popularity and attendances.
England coach Hope Powell hopes the league will help nurture the next generation of women footballers and thinks the WSL has the potential to be as popular as the game is in the United States.
"This is a huge step for the women's game," she said. "In this country the women's game is growing and this league has attracted so much media attention.
"Hopefully it can continue to do so and I don't see why it cannot be as big as the American league."
