By borrowing from its WNBA playbook and capturing a large contingent of female viewers compared with other networks, Ion believes that its first season broadcasting NWSL games was a success.
Mirroring its WNBA Friday evening doubleheader, the network recorded an average audience of 145,000 viewers across 50 NWSL matches, with most games featured as part of Saturday night doubleheaders throughout the regular season.
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Ion’s top-rated NWSL telecast took place on July 6 when 234,000 viewers watched a battle of the then-undefeated Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current. The Pride snapped K.C.’s 17-match unbeaten streak, which dated back to 2023. Orlando extended its own streak of 16 straight wins going into the league’s Olympic break. (Its run ended at 23 games last month against Portland.)
This was the first season of the NWSL’s four-year, $240 million broadcasting rights arrangement with CBS, ESPN, Scripps Sports (via Ion) and Amazon’s Prime Video.
“NWSL fans consistently showed up to watch Ion every week,” said Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor in a statement. “It was an incredible first year. We expect to continue growing the audience and helping the league grow its fan base.”
Ion’s coverage of the soccer league is a facsimile of what it created for the WNBA last season, with a primetime doubleheader and dedicated studio show. In its second season with WNBA rights, the WNBA Friday Night Spotlight averaged 670,000 viewers in the 2024 season, more than doubling viewership marks across the board from 2023.
Of course, a superstar rookie guard played an outsized role in those increased Nielsen numbers, as all seven of Ion’s million-plus viewership games involved Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
Just as it did with the W, Ion boasted the largest female percentage audience of any of the NWSL’s media partners. For its NWSL broadcasts, 57% of the coveted age 25-54 advertising sales demo and 55% of all viewers, regardless of age, were female. The network added over 20 ad partners, including having Capital One as the presenting sponsor for the Saturday night doubleheaders.
For the WNBA, 45% of total viewers and 50% of the age 18-49 ad sales demo were female. (The WNBA also has broadcast deals with ESPN and CBS Sports.) Twenty new ad partners came onboard in 2024 versus a season ago.
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