After a Record-Breaking 2023, NWSL Enters 2024 Season With More Production Partners, Free DTC Platform
15/03/2024
Friday, March 15, 2024 - 1:46 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) experienced another year of exponential growth in 2023, but, to further increase the popularity of women's professional soccer, a handful of changes were made for the 2024 regular season. A one-game NWSL Challenge Cup kicking off the 190-match slate has been added to the calendar, and the league will be expanded by two teams, the returning Utah Royals in Salt Lake City and the new Bay FC in the San Francisco Bay Area. On the production side, the league has solidified its balanced linear/streaming broadcast strategy with four media partners - CBS, ESPN, Prime Video, and Scripps Sports - and has launched the NWSL direct-to-consumer platform.
The number of national broadcasts moving from seven to 121 is a game-changer, says Brian Gordon, SVP, broadcast, NWSL. There's going to be a lot more exposure of our players, fans will be able to have more access, and both our sponsors and partners will see a return on their investment.
Amazon Prime Video and Scripp Sports' ION is joining CBS Sports and ESPN as media partners in 2024.
Fun for Everyone: New Partners, Free NWSL Make the Game Affordable and Accessible To maximize exposure, the league has signed media-rights deals with new and familiar broadcast partners. Two of them - the family of networks and platforms at ESPN and CBS Sports - will air 40 total matches in the regular season. ESPN's 20-match allotment comprises nine on ESPN2, seven on ESPN, and four on ABC, with ESPN Deportes offering 13 contests in Spanish and, for all 20 matches, both English- and Spanish-language versions available on ESPN . The CBS Sports deal covers 11 matches on CBS and streaming on Paramount , nine on CBS Sports Network, and selected matches on the CBS Sports Golazo Network.
For the playoffs, ESPN's three matches (two quarterfinals and a semifinal) will air on ABC, and CBS Sports will air three (a quarterfinal, a semifinal, and the 2024 NWSL Championship).
The league will distribute 69 games for free on their new DTC platform, NWSL .
New to NWSL this season are ION and Amazon Prime Video. The former, a Scripps Sports-operated network, will air 50 regular-season matches on Saturday nights. The latter will offer 27 exclusive matches, the majority to be streamed on Fridays, and a quarterfinal in the first year of its agreement.
Despite supplying different needs for each broadcast partner, the league is streamlining operations by offering a base complement of technologies. For example, each nationally broadcast game will have a minimum 12 cameras, an upgrade from last year's six - and the continuation of VAR (video assistant referee), which the league launched in 2023 as the first women's professional soccer league to do so. This upgrade in the game-day camera arsenal will also assist in the league's final piece of its broadcasting puzzle: the inclusion of NWSL .
With the help of Endeavor Streaming, says Gordon, we were able to build out an engaging consumer experience. [NWSL Director, Digital Operations,] Antonia Loffredo has been key in working with their team to make sure it's ready to debut this weekend.
Unlike media partners requiring a cable provider or subscription, the league's new direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform is completely free. Previously offered only to international fans in more than 25 countries through DAZN and Tigo, the service will stream 69 matches without requiring authentication.
CBS will broadcast 20 total games, including the 2024 NWSL Championship.
Since these games are produced and distributed by us, adds Gordon, the objective of NWSL was to increase awareness [of the league] and reach to all our fans. These games also are a tool to send our viewers to our national partners, so we'll cross-promote and show live look-ins of our other games.
On the local level, NWSL can also allow clubs to engage with regional networks and other broadcasters in their home markets to create potential partnerships. We want our clubs to monetize and build their local fanbase, he says, but we also want them to create communities of fans across the country. It works out to be a great broadcast ecosystem because there are a lot of places for people to watch without having to spend a lot of money.
The viewership model is paying off for certain clubs around the league. For instance, on March 13, the Washington (DC) Spirit inked a 10-game broadcast deal with the rebranded Monumental Sports Network. Available to domestic and international fans on NWSL , the first broadcast under the new deal will be Washington Spirit at Seattle Reign FC on Sunday, March 17 at 6 p.m. ET.
Hybrid Model: Remote Productions Through VISTA Worldlink, Onsite National Broadcasts With nearly 200 regular-season matches on five distinct outlets, the league's broadcast and production team has lots of games on their plate. Leveraging its partnership with NEP Group and VISTA Worldlink's Dania Beach, FL, facility, the NWSL will remotely produce 80%, or 146, of the 182 regular-season matches. That includes all 69 games on NWSL , all 50 games and the Atlanta-based studio show on ION, 16 games on ESPN and ESPN2, all nine games on CBS Sports Network, and two games on CBS. The other 36 games in the regular season - all 27 on Amazon Prime Video, the nine other games on CBS, and four on ABC - and all seven postseason games will be produced by the broadcasters' respective personnel onsite. Working inside VISTA Worldlink's connected facility, which is also being used for the
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/03/15/after-a-record-breaking-2023-nw... |
See more stories from svg |
More from Sports Video Group
26/04/2024
NBA Playoffs 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Huge Production Operation for Busy First Round
NBA Playoffs 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Huge Production Operation for Busy First Round Tech deployments include miked on-field personnel, shot-distance tracking, AR g...
26/04/2024
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: ESPN Ops Team Navigates Both Sides of the Border With Canadian Teams' Strong Showing
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: ESPN Ops Team Navigates Both Sides of the Border With ...
26/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Behind the Scenes in Downtown Detroit (Photo Gallery)
Behind the Scenes at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit (Photo Gallery) After just the first round, the 2024 NFL Draft has already made quite an impression in Detroi...
26/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Van Wagner Powers Onsite Entertainment Experience for Record Crowds in Detroit
NFL Draft 2024: Van Wagner Powers Onsite Entertainment Experience for Record Cro...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Network Embraces Motown Groove With Massive Production That Goes Beyond Detroit
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Network Embraces Motown Groove With Massive Production That ...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand Mobile cells will help accommodate first responders, social media, sports betti...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Production of Post-First-Round Draft Show on NFL+
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Pro...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presentations
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presenta...
24/04/2024
Howie Schwab - Beloved ESPN Researcher, Producer, and Trivia Star - Dies at 63
Howie Schwab - Beloved ESPN Researcher, Producer, and Trivia Star - Dies at 63 By SVG Staff Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - 6:46 am Print This Story | Subscri...
24/04/2024
Miss the SVG Venue Summit at Allegiant Stadium? All Panel Recordings Now Available on SVG PLAY
Miss the SVG Venue Summit at Allegiant Stadium? All Panel Recordings Now Availab...
23/04/2024
Soccer's Appeal to Younger Audiences: Inside the Gamification of European Football Coverage
Soccer's Appeal to Younger Audiences: Inside the Gamification of European Fo...
23/04/2024
With NBA and NHL Playoffs in Full Swing, Never a Dull Moment for TNT Sports Production and Ops Teams
With NBA and NHL Playoffs in Full Swing, Never a Dull Moment for TNT Sports Prod...
23/04/2024
NAB 2024: AT&T Business's Scott Beckett Details Transmission Firepower With Robo Dog, Mini Copter
NAB 2024: AT&T Business's Scott Beckett Details Transmission Firepower With ...
23/04/2024
NAB 2024: Manufacturers Focus on Cinematic Look for Live Productions
NAB 2024: Manufacturers focus on cinematic look for live productions By George Bevir Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 10:40 Print This Story With live sports pro...
23/04/2024
Save the Date: SVG Sports Content Management Forum Returns to NYC on July 24
Save the Date: SVG Sports Content Management Forum Returns to NYC on July 24 By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 4:05 pm Print This Story | Subscribe ...
22/04/2024
NEP Battles Weather to Keep the Going Good for Grand National Coverage
NEP battles weather to keep the going good for Grand National coverage By Adrian Pennington Monday, April 15, 2024 - 11:48 Print This Story The 2024 Grand...
22/04/2024
ITV Racing Under Starters Orders Live at the Grand National Festival
ITV Racing under starters orders live at the Grand National Festival By Adrian Pennington Friday, April 12, 2024 - 09:10 Print This Story The Grand Nation...
22/04/2024
Inside the Deal: EFL Fans to View Enhanced Broadcasts For the Next Five Seasons as IMG Becomes Official Production Partner
Inside the deal: EFL fans to view enhanced broadcasts for the next five seasons ...
22/04/2024
To 4G, or Not To 4G: EMG on Bringing the Iconic 2024 London Marathon to Viewers Globally
To 4G, or not to 4G: EMG on bringing the iconic 2024 London Marathon to viewers ...
22/04/2024
NAB Show 2024: Our Full Collection of Video Interviews From the Show Floor
NAB Show 2024: Our Full Collection of Video Interviews From the Show Floor Industry insights from key leaders on the NAB Show exhibit floor By SVG Staff Mond...
22/04/2024
PENN Entertainment Adds ESPN/Disney Exec Aaron LeBerge as CTO
PENN Entertainment Adds ESPN/Disney Exec Aaron LeBerge as CTO By SVG Staff Monday, April 22, 2024 - 3:18 pm Print This Story | Subscribe Story Highlight...
19/04/2024
NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall - SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, The Switch, TATA Communications, Telstra, TVU Networks, Verizon, and More
NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall - SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, The Swi...
19/04/2024
NAB 2024 Draws 61,000+ Attendees With More Than Half Attending the Show for the First Time
NAB 2024 Draws 61,000+ Attendees With More Than Half Attending the Show for the ...
18/04/2024
Ping Pong for the Masses: Bringing an Old Sport to a Brand New Audience With World Table Tennis
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...
18/04/2024
Fanatical Fans: IMG on Bringing the World of Table Tennis to a New Global Audience for WTT
Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...
17/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 17 of the Zixi Platform
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...
17/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full sw...
17/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 12 of the Zixi Platform
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...
16/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - 3:15 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing,...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrec's Henry Goodman, Solid State Logic's Tom Knowles on Audio in the Cloud
Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrecs Henry Goodman, Solid State Logics Tom Knowles o...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switch's George Lopez on Remote Production, The Cloud, and the Future of Connectivity
Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switchs George Lopez on Remote Production, The Clou...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveU's Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Light Weight Production
Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveUs Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Ligh...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Design's Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Production Switchers, Recent Work in Replay and IP
Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Designs Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Pro...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Canon's Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera Control App, Enhanced Use of Free Viewpoint
Live From NAB Show 2024: Canons Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera C...
15/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Monday, April 15, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing, a...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-End Graphics Tech
Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrts Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Sony's Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connecting Live Production Resources
Live From NAB Show 2024: Sonys Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connect...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawo's Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes Latest on IP
Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawos Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes La...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS' Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Production in the Cloud
Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Produc...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses' Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo HZK14-100mm Lens, Adding Cinematic Feel to Broadcasts
Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo H...
14/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 12:41 am Print This Story The NAB Show kicks off today, a...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions' Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth and Supporting Freelancers with the ProCrewz App
Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth an...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Appear's Thomas Bostrm Jrgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed McGivern on Backing the Continued Growth of Live Sports
Live From NAB Show 2024: Appears Thomas Bostr m J rgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed ...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagi's Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers to The Cloud and the Exciting Growth of FAST Channels
Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagis Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers t...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Video's David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Major Product Intros
Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Videos David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Maj...
14/04/2024
NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting Solution
NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting ...
12/04/2024
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's David Lehanski and Keith Horstman
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL...