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- Deal spans Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network
- ESPN aired the league for the past two seasons
- Paramount+ also has NWSL and Uefa Women’s Champions League
CBS Sports has won the exclusive US broadcast rights to the Women’s Super League (WSL) in the latest expansion of its soccer portfolio.
The four-year deal sees 183 matches streamed live on Paramount+ with one game a week airing on the CBS Sports Network linear channel. Selected matches will also be streamed on the CBS Sports Golazo Network free ad supported television (FAST) service.
Live coverage will be complemented by studio and magazine programming, as well as a range of social, digital and audio content.
The agreement was brokered by WSL’s international media rights representative IMG and represents a four-fold increase over WSL’s previous short-term pacts with ESPN, according to The Guardian. The Disney-owned broadcaster stepped in with last minute deals ahead of both the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.
SportsPro has contacted IMG for further clarification.
A longer-term arrangement secured well in advance of the new campaign will give WSL and its teams much greater certainty alongside a significant revenue boost in an important overseas broadcast market.
Several major US national team members play for English teams, while the WSL is also home to several global stars and most of the England national team’s Uefa Women’s Euro 2025 winning squad. The WSL also benefits from the involvement of some of the biggest clubs in world soccer, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The profile of ESPN would have given WSL significant legitimacy as well as exposure to large numbers of dedicated sports fans, including women’s soccer fans, given the Disney-owned broadcaster’s coverage of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
However, Paramount+ is rapidly establishing itself as arguably the most significant soccer platform in the US, especially when it comes to the women’s game. It shares the rights to the NWSL with ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, Ion Television and Victory+, while it will also have the exclusive rights to the Uefa Women’s Champions League (UWCL) next season.
The addition of WSL ensures it has women’s soccer content throughout the year and at multiple times of the day thanks to time zone differences.
On the men’s side, it has the Uefa Champions League, as well as the secondary Europa League and tertiary Conference League competitions, Italian Serie A, Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and Concacaf international competitions.
This expanded portfolio puts the streaming service in a good position to capitalise on any increase in demand following this summer’s men’s World Cup in North America, as well as the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Brazil. The USA is expected to be awarded the rights to the 2031 competition with Costa Rica, Jamaica and Mexico.
The NWSL’s domestic rights come back onto the market after the 2027 season and Paramount will likely be keen on retaining at least some games as an anchor for its women’s soccer offering. The NWSL will also seemingly be interested in maintaining the relationship given Paramount’s commitment, and its ability to reach fans across over-the-air (OTA), pay-TV and streaming channels.
Domestically, the WSL has four-year deals with Sky Sports and the BBC worth UK£65 million (US$87.2 million) annually, while it struck 13 new international media deals with the likes of Stan Sport, Movistar, Fox and BeIN Sports head of the 2025/26 season.
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