U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati on Thursday "gently eased concern that negotiations with USWNT players might not finish in time for the beginning of the NWSL season in mid-April," according to Corey Roepken of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Gulati said he is "quite confident'" a new CBA for the USWNT will be signed in the next two months. The USSF and the players are "currently operating under the previous CBA because neither side has given the required 60-day notice of termination at which time the players could enact a work stoppage." The negotiations "took a turn for the better in December" when the USWNT Players Association let go of Exec Dir & General Counsel Rich Nichols. Gulati: "They have had a change in leadership, and there is a very different tone in the discussions. ... I am confident the CBA for the national team players will be done in plenty of time for the season" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/3). ESPN.com reported the USWNT named McKinsey & Co. Consultant Becca Roux interim Exec Dir, as she "takes over the role" vacated by Nichols. She will "oversee business affairs and operations in addition to her role in the CBA negotation" (ESPN.com, 2/2).
MODERN EXPOSURE: In N.Y., Andrew Das notes A+E Networks and NWSL officials "would not reveal the value" of A+E’s investment to broadcast weekly matches on Lifetime, but they "confirmed that it was a multimillion-dollar commitment." That figure is "spread among an equity investment" that gives A+E Networks "two seats on the league board, the television rights to league games, and a sponsorship that will be most visible to fans by a Lifetime patch on each player’s sleeve." But Das notes a new joint venture created by A+E and the NWSL to "manage and market the league’s commercial rights and sponsorships may be as important as the televised games." It will also "pair the league’s soccer executives with those far more versed in entertainment and marketing, and especially in marketing to women." A+E President & CEO Nancy Dubuc said, "We’re not in the game-of-the-week business, necessarily -- we’re investing in the NWSL. Broadcasting games is one part of that. But we’re motivated to make this successful on every platform. ... Business is anything but traditional these days. We don’t see the Lifetime brand as just a television brand. We see it as a female media brand." NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush said that the league would "need to tinker with its schedule ... to move some prominent matchups into the game-of-the-week window" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/3).
