NEW YORK — The National Women’s Soccer League is poised to raise its profile in a significant way come 2024, thanks to what is being hailed as “landmark agreements” for its domestic media distribution.
A four-year contract with a quartet of partners have been finalized, and Scripps Sports is one of the winners.
It’s a win for Scripps and for Brian Lawlor, with domestic media distribution being shared with CBS Sports, ESPN, and Prime Video.
Importantly, the deal through 2028 makes The E.W. Scripps Co. a key broadcast television outlet for the league.
NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said the partnerships “fundamentally change the game for our league and the players who take the pitch each week.” She commended the TV partners for investing in the NWSL and for “affirmatively declaring to the marketplace that this league is exciting, valuable, and important.”
She continued, “We have taken 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, without compromising the economic value of our product. This is the beginning of our future.”
Beginning in 2024, 118 matches will be distributed across the four partner platforms. The NWSL will begin each regular-season weekend with Friday night matches on Prime Video, the Amazon OTT pay-TV service.
For Scripps Sports, coverage will come on Saturdays, with a double-header airing nationally on the Ion network, accessible in 123 million U.S. homes.
Meanwhile, the CBS television network will air a package of regular-season matches, with additional matches airing on CBS Sports Network. The Paramount+ app will offer the matches available on the CBS television O&Os and affiliates.
Furthermore, ESPN will air a package of matches across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN
Deportes, the latter of which will enjoy Spanish-language commentators. ESPN will also have English, Spanish and Portuguese-language rights for coverage of the NWSL 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 NWSL, building on the league’s
2023 season international direct-to-consumer platform.
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 is in its fourth year in partnership with the NWSL, and it will remain the home of the NWSL Championship match each season in primetime on CBS and streaming on
Paramount+.
Meanwhile, Scripps Sports will further benefit as Ion will air the NWSL Draft live in January. That date will be announced in the future.
In addition to each partner’s investment in the league and showcasing its matches, all
have made significant commitments to marketing and promoting the NWSL, and
importantly, cross-marketing each other’s scheduled broadcasts.
“Scripps Sports is pleased to create a franchise night on ION for the NWSL that will
reach every American household, across every free television platform and further help
expand the league’s fan base with appointment viewing consistency,” said Scripps President/CEO Adam Symson. “We’re proud once again to be a part of a historic distribution agreement that will elevate women’s professional sports, benefitting the league, the teams, their athletes and fans.”
Endeavor’s IMG and WME Sports advised the NWSL and negotiated on its behalf.
Hillary Mandel, EVP/Head of Americas for IMG, said, “On behalf of the NWSL, we have
secured four game-changing, marquee partnerships that will help send the women’s
game to new heights of viewership and fandom, growing domestic revenues for the
League at a multiple of over 40x. The NWSL’s new line-up of media partners
are stepping up with significant rights fees, production investment, top tier platforms and
impactful promotion. In lockstep with the NWSL, they are going to transform the ways in
which fans can discover and engage with the games, assuring deserved exposure for
these world class athletes on the broadest stage.”
