After a Record-Breaking 2023, NWSL Enters 2024 Season With More Production Partners, Free DTC Platform A total of 190 games will be produced on Prime Video, ESPN, CBS, ION, NWSL By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
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
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
08/05/2024
NEEDHAM, Mass. The International Data Corporation is predicting that worldwide spending on telecom services and pay TV services will increase by 1.4% in 2024 to...
08/05/2024
CUPERTINO, Calif. In a notable development for news and live video production, Apple has unveiled a number of significant upgrades to its Final Cut Pro software...
08/05/2024
Pliant Technologies has announced that it will be presenting its new SmartBoom LITE Headset at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C5116). The latest updates include enhanceme...
08/05/2024
SAN FRANCISCO Fox's ad-supported streaming service Tubi has launched Stubios, a fan-fueled studio for aspiring filmmakers and their fans that the company sa...
08/05/2024
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Five more stations have launched NextGen TV service, bringing to nine the number of local TV services on-air with ATSC 3.0....
08/05/2024
TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. has announced that Greg Retsinas has been named president and general manager at KGW, Tegna's NBC affiliate serving the Portland area...
08/05/2024
08 05 2024 - Media release Olivia Colman and John Lithgow Star in Sophie Hyde's New Project JIMPA
Olivia Coleman and John Lithgow in JIMPA. Photo credit: ...
08/05/2024
OpenDrives Joins AWS Partner Network
Brie Clayton May 7, 2024
0 Comments
Atlas software-defined platform now available via AWS trusted partner network...
08/05/2024
Animate AI Matte Paintings in After Effects
Graham Quince May 7, 2024
0 Comments
Arguably the best video use for AI generated images is Matte Painting...
08/05/2024
Throw Expression in Adobe After Effects
Andy Ford May 7, 2024
0 Comments
The Throw expression is a time-saver in After Effects. It allows you to mov...
08/05/2024
Join FilmLight in Toronto: Baselight 6.1, Nara and more
Brie Clayton May 7, 2024
0 Comments
Thursday 30th May, from 2:30PM, Hosted by Alter Ego 488 ...
08/05/2024
Gray Television reported a first-quarter profit as advertising revenues rebounded to above pre-COVID-19 levels....
08/05/2024
The Today show shared the performers on its summer concert series, which feature...
08/05/2024
Lewis Dodley, longtime anchor for Spectrum News NY1, will retire at the end of May. He's been on the air at the Charter Communications-owned local news chan...
08/05/2024
Scripps Sports said it plans to air a new studio show when a new season of WNBA Friday Night Spotlight starts May 24....
08/05/2024
Advertisers are looking to reach the right audiences and tell their stories inside compelling content, Karen Kovacs, president of client partnerships at NBCUniv...
08/05/2024
Professor emeritus John (Jack) Johnson elected to the National Academy of Sciences Johnson's multi-disciplinary research has been instrumental in shaping ou...
08/05/2024
zweiB updates to latest version of R&S CLIPSTER Specialist in deliverables for cinema, events and trade shows
Rohde & Schwarz, a global leader in broadcast...
07/05/2024
NAB Show 2024
Utah Scientific rocked the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas, unveiling two new game-changers in video signal management.
Our primary focus this yea...
07/05/2024
7th May 2024 The nations favourite comedy channel Gold has teamed up with the ma...
07/05/2024
There's something special about summer. We're not sure whether it's the warmer weather, the longer days, or something else a bit more magical, but s...
07/05/2024
NITV appoints Michael Rennie as Presenter and Senior Producer for NITV News
Media releases
NITV has announced the appointment of Michael Rennie as Presenter...
07/05/2024
The ability for line-of-site tactical voice and data networks to seamlessly traverse over Satellite Communications is an emerging requirement to assure warfight...
07/05/2024
On April 5, 2024, the L3Harris Avionics Products Repair Station (NN2R037L) in Gr...
07/05/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/05/2024
Share this article
width=32 height=32 loading=lazy data-lazy-src=https://apogeedigital.com/app/themes/juniper-theme/src/img/icons/facebook-purple.svg />
wid...
07/05/2024
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company has finally delivered some from profits from its hefty streaming investments, with the second quarter of its fiscal year...
07/05/2024
Bonnie Hammer, vice chair of NBCUniversal, and Jen Psaki, MSNBC host, read from their new books at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan Wednesday, May 8. Hammer's...
07/05/2024
Paramount Plus has ordered the series Crutch, a comedy that is a spinoff of CBS comedy The Neighborhood. Tracy Morgan stars....
07/05/2024
Edward J. and Melody Thomas Scott and Lidia Bastianich will receive Lifetime Achievement honors at the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards in June, the National Aca...
07/05/2024
The 2024 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony happens in New York November 12, and the honorees are Al Roker, weather and featu...
07/05/2024
Dabl Network has added The Wayans Bros., The Jamie Foxx Show, Living Single and Everybody Hates Chris to its weekday and weekend lineups. Those shows join the l...
07/05/2024
After winning a proxy fight, The Walt Disney Co. said its entertainment business turned a profit and added subscribers in its fiscal second quarter....
07/05/2024
NBA Entertainment is closing out the second season of its series Pass the Rock with a look at Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, the league's rooki...
07/05/2024
Syncbak, which provides stations with streaming capabilities, said it is rebranding as Zeam Media....
07/05/2024
Samsung has made a deal with Magnolia Pictures that will bring titles from Magnolia to the Samsung TV Plus free streaming platform....
07/05/2024
Amazon, which has added commercials to Amazon Prime Video, is rolling out new interactive ad formats that will enable advertisers to engage streamers and sell s...
07/05/2024
Syncbak, a 15 year-old provider of streaming tech for local broadcast stations has rebranded itself, adopting the name of its streaming service launched in Febr...
07/05/2024
POST Luxembourgs journey with TAG Video underscores how finding a vendor who und...
07/05/2024
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New findings from Hub Entertainment Research provides extensive data showing that the majority of consumers will opt for lower cost ad-supporte...
07/05/2024
NEW YORK The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has announced th...
07/05/2024
CBS News has named Lindsey Reiser an anchor and correspondent for CBS News 24/7, the network's live, streaming news service. Reiser, who was most recently a...
07/05/2024
NEEDHAM, Mass. After more than two years of decline, worldwide tablet shipments posted modest year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24),...
07/05/2024
ESPN is reporting that April was a record-setting month as the network delivered its best April prime time audience on record, dating back more than 30 years....
07/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced that Kirsten Donaldson has joined NAB as vice president of public policy. Donaldso...
07/05/2024
The Bulls are back home again this week from May 7-12! Don't miss out on any...
07/05/2024
Tonight on House of Zwide: Mampho cautions Maria against making a move on IsaacDon't miss Tuesday, 7 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Hous...
After a Record-Breaking 2023, NWSL Enters 2024 Season With More Production Partners, Free DTC Platform A total of 190 games will be produced on Prime Video, ESPN, CBS, ION, NWSL By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor 
