Play begins Friday with the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup, and the regular season begins Saturday as Kansas City hosts the Portland Thorns in the first match at CPKC Stadium—the first purpose-built stadium for a women’s professional sports team.
The 2024 season is the first in a new, record-breaking four-year TV rights deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports. The partners will combine to nationally broadcast 118 matches across partner platforms, worth $60 million per year, for a cumulative value of $240 million over the course of the deal.
“Not just are we trying to raise the game and the awareness, build the brand, but as we grow and engage fans in these new media partners and the new landscape, we want everybody to be able to find the games, and findability is a key focus of ours,” said Haddon.
The league saw record attendance and viewership in 2023 and is adding two new teams in 2024, with two more planned by 2026. According to Haddon, the NWSL has grown almost 98% in sponsorship.
“We have raised the game in almost every brand metric we have,” Haddon said.