CHICAGO (August 25, 2020) ā The National Womenās Soccer League announced today that its breakout 2020 season will resume on Sept. 5, 2020. Following the success of the Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret, there will be a televised NWSL Game of the Week on the CBS Television Network every Saturday in September, and on CBS Sports Network three Saturdays in October. CBS All Access will exclusively stream four games as well as the CBS broadcast coverage in September.
The NWSL fall series will include 18 matches over the course of seven weeks, featuring three, three-team pods that will all play one another and enable the league to minimize travel. The full format and schedule for the NWSL fall series will be released in the next week.
āBuilding on the success of this summerās Challenge Cup, I am so excited to smartly and safely take this next step on the NWSLās journey,ā said NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird. āThe women of the NWSL want to compete and weāve certainly heard from our fans all over the world looking for more action this year. Iād like to thank the NWSL Playerās Association for their constant collaboration, as well as CBS for continuing to invest in our leagueās growth and this unprecedented opportunity to showcase the NWSL to a world-wide audience, week-in, week-out.ā
"The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup on CBS All Access and CBS was very successful this summer, driving record numbers for the League across all platforms. We are thrilled to be able to build on that momentum with the return of the NWSL in September," said Dan Weinberg, EVP, Programming, CBS Sports. "We will once again capitalize on CBSā multi-platform assets for this outstanding property with games on CBS Sports Network and CBS All Access, as well as four Saturday afternoon games on CBS, creating even more exposure for the League. Together, with our great partners at the NWSL, we look forward to another memorable run of womenās soccer this fall."
The NWSLās return to play protocols reflect the best practices previously developed by the NWSL Medical Task Force and successfully implemented during the Challenge Cup. Those protocols have been updated to reflect the reality of home-market matches and regional travel and will influence all league and club actions outside the field of play.
The three teams in each regional pod will each play four games. Those pods are:
West
OL Reign
Portland Thorns FC
Utah Royals FC
Northeast
Chicago Red Stars
Sky Blue FC
Washington Spirit
South
North Carolina Courage
Orlando Pride
Houston Dash
Detailed health and safety protocols for the fall series can be found here.