The National Women’s Soccer League has announced extensive agreements for domestic media distribution with 118 national slots for games on four platforms.
The league, which includes San Diego Wave FC, will air matches on CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports.
The four-year contract with each partner, the NWSL said, without disclosing terms, “will generate record-breaking distribution and revenue for the league while maximizing a mix of linear and digital streaming distribution.”
Endeavor’s IMG and WME Sports advised the NWSL and negotiated on its behalf.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said the league took “great care to ensure our games are discoverable by increasing our reach in order to expose new audiences to everything that makes our league special.”
She called the deal “the beginning of our future.”
“These partnerships fundamentally change the game for our league and the players who take the pitch each week. On behalf of the NWSL, our owners and players, I want to commend CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps for investing in our league and affirmatively declaring to the marketplace that this league is exciting, valuable and important,” Berman said.
Beginning in 2024, 118 matches will be distributed across the following platforms:
- The NWSL will begin each regular-season weekend with Friday night matches on Prime Video, which will air 27 games.
- Each Saturday night that follows will include a double-header, for a total of 50 games on the Scripps’-owned ION network, available in 123 million homes.
- A package of regular-season and playoff matches will air on the CBS Television Network and stream live on Paramount+, with additional matches airing on CBS Sports Network, for a total of 21 games.
- ESPN will air a package of 20 matches across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes. All NWSL matches on ESPN platforms and on ABC will stream live on ESPN+ in English and Spanish. The package includes English, Spanish and Portuguese-language rights in Latin America.
The remainder of the NWSL regular-season schedule will be part of a domestic direct-to-consumer package produced and distributed by the league, building on the 2023 season international platform which has proven successful.
For the NWSL playoffs, set to expand in 2024 with the addition of Bay FC and the Utah Royals, Prime Video and CBS will have the rights to one quarterfinal each, while ESPN/ABC will air the other two quarterfinals. CBS and ESPN/ABC will each have a semifinal.
CBS Sports, in its fourth year in partnership with the NWSL, continues as the home of the NWSL Championship match each season in primetime on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
In addition, ION will air the NWSL Draft live in January.
Each partner also has made significant commitments to marketing and promoting the NWSL, and cross-marketing other scheduled broadcasts.
“We’re thrilled to extend our relationship with the NWSL, continuing as the home of the NWSL Championship and offering an expanded slate of matches on CBS as we build on the success of the last four years,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “Extending this partnership further demonstrates our commitment to elevating women’s sports as we continue to work hand-in-hand with the NWSL to highlight the world’s best women’s soccer players.”
