Almost two months after A+E Networks bought a stake in the National Women’s Soccer League and announced that they would air NWSL games on Lifetime, there’s been a surprising amount of silence on the broadcast front. That’s notable, especially with less than three weeks left until the 2017 NWSL season kicks off on April 15-16; the league has announced that a NWSL game of the week will be broadcast on Lifetime each Saturday, but has only said that other games will be shown on a “soon to be announced platform.”
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All indications are that the television product is going to be somewhere between strong and spectacular. Having spoken off the record to people involved at many different levels of the group that will put on the games, I’m expecting good things. There are big time and experienced soccer and television people in the mix at all levels. Anyone thinking we’re going to get soft, aw shucks coverage is mistaken.
At some point I expect Jenn Hildreth and Aly Wagner to be announced as the broadcast team for the national games and they will travel to each city. Any production can only be as good as its voices, and these two will offer immediate legitimacy to NWSL on Lifetime. Hildreth has called the last two NWSL Championships—and with this deal it seems, the next three—and has been involved since WPS. Her call of Amy Rodriguez’s goal in the 2015 title match, while recognizing on the fly that beaten right back Elli Reed had just subbed into the match unexpectedly, was a stroke of brilliance.
Wagner, noted for her commentary of international matches, dipped her toe in the NWSL waters as an analyst at the draft. She is one of the few who has been able to balance the knowledge she acquired from having played the sport at its highest levels with unflinching balance and hard-hitting critiques when needed.
Lauletta also mentions that there’s still no word on where the league will stream their other games, but “at this point you can rule out YouTube.” It will be interesting to see what they finally announce about their non-Lifetime games, and when they’ll announce it. Beyond that, Philly.com’s Jonathan Tannenwald reported that Dalen Cuff will be the studio host for the national Lifetime broadcasts:
And now I can free another cat (or in this case, a lion): @DalenCuff will be the studio host for NWSL broadcasts on Lifetime.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) March 28, 2017
I suspect some of you don’t know @DalenCuff’s work too well yet. You will like him a lot. I’ve known him for many years and he knows soccer.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) March 28, 2017
All indications are that the production will be handled out of a central studio, but there aren’t many details beyond that. Still, Hildreth and Wagner have both proven to be impressive broadcasters in the past, and both did well on Fox’s 2015 Women’s World Cup coverage. Cuff has been impressive in the work he’s done, too, which includes sideline work on MLS games for NBCSN and CSN New England. The national TV details here certainly sound promising for the league; we’ll see what they come up with on the streaming front.
