Amazon, ESPN & CBS strike multi-year deals for National Women’s Soccer League coverage

National Women’s Soccer League (Source: CBS Sports)

Women’s sport is achieving growing recognition and interest from major streamers and networks as Amazon-owned Prime Video, Disney sports channel ESPN and Paramount’s CBS Sports have all struck multi-year rights deals with the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) for the upcoming 2024 season.

Over the past few years, the National Women’s Soccer League has experienced remarkable growth, solidifying its position as one of the premier women’s professional leagues in soccer. The sport has achieved record attendance this year, expanded viewership on linear and streaming platforms, increased fan engagement, and a surge in global recognition.

Prime Video is to become the exclusive home for 27 total matches in the US and Canada each season, including 25 regular-season games as part of a “Game of the Week” on Friday nights throughout the season. It will also stream a season-opening kickoff match, and a quarterfinal playoff contest, and handle the production of each game.

CBS Sports has also extended its existing deal as it enters its fourth year in partnership with the NWSL. The new multiplatform agreement will feature matches on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+, as well as CBS Sports Network.

The new agreement begins with the 2024 NWSL season and will see CBS Sports air up to 12 matches per season on CBS and Paramount+, including multiple postseason matches and highlighted by the Championship match. CBS Sports Network will televise up to 10 matches each year.

CBS Sports Golazo Network, the 24/7 streaming network dedicated to soccer, will continue to provide NWSL coverage on its dedicated women’s soccer show Attacking Third, alongside other studio programming such as Morning Footy and Scoreline.

ESPN, meanwhile, has reached an agreement for English, Spanish, and Portuguese-language media rights to televise select matches in the US and Latin America.

ESPN will present live coverage of 20 games – 17 regular-season matches and three playoff matches – each season. Additionally, ESPN in Latin America will showcase the NWSL Championship live each season.

In the US, the NWSL matches will be available in English on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. All matches will also be available in Spanish on ESPN platforms. The 20 NWSL matches on ESPN platforms throughout the season will stream live in English and Spanish on ESPN+, In Latin America, all matches will air live across ESPN platforms in the region.