[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer will play an 18-game schedule in 2011 and shorten the length of the season, beginning the weekend of April 9-10 and concluding with its championship game the weekend of Aug. 27-28. It will also take off two weeks for the Women's World Cup, which will be played June 26-July 17 in Germany.

The 2011 schedule is similar to the schedule in 2009, its debut season. It expanded its schedule from 20 to 24 games in 2010 and went until the last weekend of September.

Average attendance dropped 23 percent to 3,601 fans per game in WPS's second season.

WPS will retain the same single-elimination playoff format that will culminate with the regular-season champion hosting the semifinal winner in the final.

“Going into Year three, we are refining and adjusting our schedule to put in place what works best for our teams, fans and national television,” said WPS CEO Anne-Marie Eileraas. “We are returning to our timeline from the inaugural season, which will accommodate the World Cup and hopefully boost average team attendance.”

WPS will return for a third season on Fox Soccer Channel with "WPS Sunday on FSC."