Kicking and streaming

Yesterday, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced a new TV rights deal worth a combined $240 million over the next four seasons, representing the largest media investment in women’s sports history.

The agreement is split across four television and streaming partners: CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon’s Prime Video, and Scripps Sports (which owns the Ion TV network). It covers ~60% of all NWSL regular-season games, with the league saving the remaining matches for a direct-to-consumer package on its own streaming platform.

The new deal carries an average annual value 40x higher than the NWSL’s current agreement, marking another sign of rapid expansion for a league that was struggling for survival as recently as the mid-2010s – but grew to eclipse the male-only Major League Soccer in both viewership and attendance last year.

• This rapid growth has also been reflected in NWSL team valuations and startup franchise fees, which rose from a few million dollars apiece in 2020 to ~$50 million currently.

📺 Zoom out: The NWSL’s new TV annual payout puts it on par with the WNBA, which is projected to earn $60 million from next season’s broadcasting rights. The women’s basketball league saw a similar jump in fan interest this year, recording its most-watched regular season in over two decades and highest attendance since 2018.