On Tuesday, CBS Sports announced an addition to its media rights deal with the NWSL, bringing the English-language rights to Femenil Summer Cup to its networks.
This season marks the first season for the Femenil Summer Cup, an NWSL/Liga MX collaboration consisting of 33 matches involving NWSL and Liga MX teams. 20 clubs will participate, including all 14 NWSL teams and six Liga MX teams. The tournament consists of 30 group-stage matches, two semifinals, and the championship.
The entire tournament streams on Paramount+, with 11 matches also airing on the CBS Sports Golazo Network and 12 being simulcast on the CBS Sports Network.
“We look forward to showcasing elite international women’s soccer action this summer with our exclusive English-language coverage of the Summer Cup, featuring two of the world’s best women’s soccer leagues and an exciting North American rivalry,” said Dan Weinberg, EVP Programming, CBS Sports. “The addition of this tournament bolsters our growing portfolio of women’s soccer coverage, and we’re thrilled to further expand our partnership with the NWSL, with more than 75 matches across our broadcast, cable and streaming platforms this season.”
The group stage runs from Friday, July 19 through Friday, August 2. The two semifinals take place on Tuesday, August 6, with the championship taking place on Friday, October 25. Shoulder programming will be included in coverage of the Femenil Summer Cup, though details have yet to be released.
While the Femenil Summer Cup is taking place at the same time as the Summer Olympics, much of the tournament has been shrewdly scheduled to avoid too many matches occurring on the same day as women’s soccer during the Olympics. Ten matches take place before the Olympics even begin, with four more happening on an off day for both the men and women in France.
Group stage matches are scheduled for both Sunday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 31, both group stage dates for the women’s Olympics tournament. The semifinals, perhaps frustratingly, take place on the same day (Tuesday, August 6) as the semifinals of the women’s Olympics tournament.
Due to time differences, none of the matches will go head-to-head. But the Femenil Summer Cup could get lost in the shuffle, especially considering the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Brazil, and Spain will all be taking part in the Olympics.
Last November, the NWSL announced a new round of media rights deals with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, and Scripps, paying a reported $60 million annually. The CBS end of the deal originally included as many as 12 matches annually on CBS and Paramount+ along with ten matches on CBS Sports Network. A recent addition to the deal resulted in 21 more matches being picked up by the CBS Sports Golazo Network and Paramount+.
For the full schedule, check out Paramount’s release.