We analyze the 1/θ and 1/N expansions of the Wilson loop averages < W (C) > U θ (N ) in the two-dimensional noncommutative U θ (N ) gauge theory with the parameter of noncommutativity θ . For a generic rectangular contour C , a concise integral representation is derived (non-perturbatively both in the coupling constant g 2 and in θ ) for the next-toleading term of the 1/θ expansion. In turn, in the limit when θ is much larger than the area A(C) of the surface bounded by C , the large θ asymptote of this representation is argued to yield the next-to-leading term of the 1/θ series. For both of the expansions, the next-to-leading contribution exhibits only a power-like decay for areas A(C) >> σ −1 (but A(C) << θ ) much larger than the inverse of the string tension σ defining the range of the exponential decay of the leading term. Consequently, for large θ , it hinders a direct stringy interpretation of the subleading terms of the 1/N expansion in the spirit of Gross-Taylor proposal for the θ = 0 commutative D = 2 gauge theory.

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