NWSL Rides High Into Championship With Top-Quality Production Effort for CBS Primetime

Cabled aerial camera, on-field shallow DoF, All-22, VAR highlight a jam-packed show

Following Thursday’s big announcement of its new rights deal for next season, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) rides on a high into its championship match this weekend as the OL Reign and Gotham FC battle for the title on CBS (and streaming on Paramount+) at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday from Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.

The match – which will feature producer Tim Pabst and director Mike Roth at the front bench – is loaded with production and technology highlights, including a four-point cabled aerial camera system (Robycam), an on-field SteadiCam (a Sony FX9), an “All 22” full-field tactical camera, locked off in-goal cameras, augmented reality graphics capabilities on replays, and a deeper resource commitment to support VAR (Video Assistant Referee).

“[The NWSL is] raising the bar and meeting the level of other championships, which is what these players deserve and what the league deserves,”  says Julie Keryc, coordinating producer for CBS Sports, who is on-site in her hometown of San Diego to serve as support, quality control, and to be a resource for aligning production philosophies. “I think that’s really exciting that fans are going to watch and see those same cameras that they’re so used to seeing on the NFL and other high-profile sports. It’s been really cool to see that investment in the women’s game and to give it, like we say, a “big-game feel”; because it is a big game and it deserves that.”

This year’s championship match is also blessed with a storyline to die for as two iconic World Cup-winning players from the US Women’s National Team will each play their final professional matches. Both Reign forward Megan Rapinoe and Gotham FC defender Ali Krieger will battle to finish their careers with a NWSL Championship crown.

“We’re extremely excited,” says Brian Gordon, SVP, Broadcast at the NWSL. “Having Ali Krieger and Megan Rapinoe playing their last match head to head; that storyline really elevates this year’s match. We’re thankful to our partners at CBS for giving us the opportunity and we think the storylines and the two teams are really going to help drive [a lot of interest].”

CBS producer Rachel Komyati has put together a pre-match tease for the event showcasing the two legendary players’ careers, their contributions to the game in this country, and hyping audiences up for this historic meeting.

“This is one of those storylines that you dream about when you work in sports,” says Keryc. “You couldn’t write it any better. We have a fantastic tease on their careers and we sent a crew out here and we’re so happy that Megan and Allie took some time to sit down with us and share their thoughts going into the game. We’re so excited about the storyline. This is one of the preeminent championships in women’s sports, so to have it on CBS in primetime for the second year in a row is absolutely incredible and totally gratifying.”

This is the second primetime game the league has had on CBS this year with Rapinoe’s final regular season match with the OL Reign setting viewership records for the league. The belief is high that this championship can best last year’s record total of 915,000 viewers.

The NWSL is also continuing to work closely with its season-long live match production partner VISTA Worldlink. On-site in San Diego is NEP’s Supershooters 8 mobile production facility. The NWSL is responsible for producing its own matches throughout the year, but when it comes to this Championship Match, the collaboration with its broadcast partner ratchets up a level.

“We all work on this together,” adds Gordon, who works alongside NWSL’s Director of Broadcasting Meg Buchan to coordinate game productions all season long. “We’ve been on calls together from day one on storyline, on equipment, on trucks, on schedule; everything that goes into the production.”

Additional support on this weekend’s match includes VISTA/NEP’s Executive Producer Mike Freedman, Tech Manager John Brown, and Game Replay Producer Tom Piero.

There will also be a wealth of pre-match coverage. CBS Sports’ Golazo Network kicks things off at 6 p.m. ET with an hour-long episode of the “Attacking Third” women’s soccer show. That leads right into the 2023 NWSL Championship Pregame Show, presented by Ally 7 p.m. ET until kickoff. The first 30 minutes of the show will stream exclusively on CBS Sports Golazo Network before moving to the CBS Television Network and Paramount+ for the remainder of the program.

Pre-game coverage will feature producer C.J. Bottitta, director Jamie Kiley, host Poppy Miller, analysts Carli Lloyd and Jordan Angeli, keeper expert Jill Loyden, and reporters Liane Sanderson and Tiffany Blackmon.

The 2023 NWSL Championship, featuring OL Reign and NJ/NY Gotham FC, kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, November 11, at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California on CBS and Paramount+. Pre-match coverage on CBS begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.