NWSL TV deal

[Shadowlight]

I mentioned this subject in the soccer thread but the new TV deal with Lifetime I think gives this women's pro league a fighting chance to succeed. Unlike the WNBA which is mainly black the NWSL has a better proportion of white players. Might as well mention some of the players are easy on the eyes as well!! There are 10 teams which is a nice amount. You don't want to stretch a marginal product too far and broad. There is representation in soccer hot spots like the Northwest, Northeast, Orlando and not to leave the Midwest out of the loop there are teams in KC, Chicago and Houston. Plus North Carolina which is a college soccer mecca. When you are trying to penetrate a crowded sports media market you have to establish a consistent presence. The NWSL will be entering into their fourth season but prior to this up coming season FS1 was telecasting just 6 games mostly late in the season. There was little or no promotion so it was not very effective. That is no way to build an audience base. There are 24 regular season games and Lifetime will feature 22 regular season games on Saturday afternoons along with the two semifinals and final so all told they will be telecasting 25 games. Additionally each TV game will be preceded by a half hour pre game show so viewers can get a sense of what is happening throughout the league. Since Lifetime is known as a station for females I think their hope is build upon the success of the 2015 USA World Cup championship and they are fully invested in promoting the NWSL. And the many men who otherwise wouldn't watch Lifetime programming wouldn't have a problem turning on the station to watch soccer. The Lifetime deal with the league is three years. Always difficult to predict start up leagues but at the very least I give the NWSL a lot of credit for pulling this key deal off and I think they are making all the right moves necessary to build the league up. Will it be enough only time will tell but I tend to think the league will survive and perhaps prosper to a certain degree. First games start in April. Go girls.