Per Jonathan Tannenwald, the deal is worth $60M per year.
This is a huge deal for the NWSL - the prior deal with CBS was $1.5M per year in total for all league games. $60M per year amounts to $4M+ per team per season, which pays for your entire roster (salary cap of $1.375M) several times over. This should lead to substantial investment and the ability to increase that cap much more quickly.
Some details of the deal:
Friday night matches on Amazon Prime Video in the regular season
Saturday night double-header on Scripps’-owned ION Network
A package of matches on CBS, Paramount+, and CBS Sports Network
ESPN airing a package of matches across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes - simulcasting on ESPN+ in both English and Spanish. Plus English/Spanish/Portuguese rights in Latin America
Any games not on these networks will be packaged together on a direct-to-consumer product produced and distributed by the NWSL directly.
For playoffs - which will expand in 2024 with the addition of Bay Cities and Utah - Prime Video, CBS, and ESPN will split the QFs (1/1/2), CBS and ESPN will split the semis, and the final will be on CBS.
ION will air the NWSL Draft in January. Full breakdown of games per network:
CBS/Paramount+ will have 10 regular season games, 1 quarterfinal, 1 semifinal, and the NWSL Championship
CBSSN will have 8 regular season games
ESPN/ABC will have 17 regular season games, 2 quarterfinals, 1 semifinal
Prime Video will have 25 regular season Friday games, the season opener, and 1 quarterfinal
Scripps’-owned ION will have 25 Saturday night double-headers (50 games) and a weekly pre-game show beforehand, and the NWSL Draft
Per Jonathan Tannenwald, the deal is worth $60M per year.
This is a huge deal for the NWSL - the prior deal with CBS was $1.5M per year in total for all league games. $60M per year amounts to $4M+ per team per season, which pays for your entire roster (salary cap of $1.375M) several times over. This should lead to substantial investment and the ability to increase that cap much more quickly.
Some details of the deal:
Any games not on these networks will be packaged together on a direct-to-consumer product produced and distributed by the NWSL directly.
For playoffs - which will expand in 2024 with the addition of Bay Cities and Utah - Prime Video, CBS, and ESPN will split the QFs (1/1/2), CBS and ESPN will split the semis, and the final will be on CBS.
ION will air the NWSL Draft in January. Full breakdown of games per network:
Commissioner Berman has also said that all teams will have local broadcast deals for the first time and that the league will be doubling the number of cameras for each game to produce better quality broadcasts and aid VAR