ESPN/USL
USL will announce later today that ESPN will be the second national broadcast partner for its two men’s professional leagues over the next three seasons alongside CBS. The ESPN deal runs through the 2026 season, a year before the conclusion of the four-year agreement with CBS.
The upcoming season will mark USL’s ninth campaign with ESPN, which had previously been USL’s lone national broadcast partner. SBJ first reported that ESPN would be the league’s second broadcast partner beginning in 2024.
Under its new deal with USL, ESPN will stream more than 400 USL Championship (Division II) and USL League One (Division III) matches per season and air a minimum of 10 matches on its cable networks. ESPN will also have exclusive rights to League One’s new in-season cup competition. Between the ESPN and CBS deals, 35 USL matches will air nationally on linear channels, up from nine in 2023.
Financial terms of the ESPN and CBS deals were not disclosed, but a source with knowledge of the deals said they combine to pay the league a sum in the high-seven-figure range annually. USL Championship and League One will have 24 and 12 teams, respectively, for the second consecutive season in 2024, but both are adding expansion teams over the next few seasons. USL Chief Commercial Officer Court Jeske said the new deals don’t have built-in revenue escalators tied to the addition of new teams.
The CBS and ESPN deals are part of what Jeske called a “three-legged stool” distribution strategy, as clubs can also sign over-the-air broadcast agreements in their local markets. Those packages allow the local networks to simulcast matches being streamed on ESPN+ or CBS’ Golazo Network. Jeske said he expects 80-90% of USL Championship and League One clubs to have local broadcast deals signed by the start of the 2024 season.
“We wanted to make sure between now and [the 2026 FIFA World Cup], we can be the most widely available soccer league for fans in this country,” Jeske said. “You've got CBS, ESPN and local stations amplifying that. One of the things we’re really proud of is that between FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels like Golazo and the local linear partnerships, more than two-thirds of our matches will be free for fans.”
CBS will air the Nov. 23 USL Championship final on its flagship broadcast network and the USL League One final (date TBD) on its CBS Sports Network cable channel.
USL tapped Octagon to manage the sale of its media rights for USL Championship and League One. The agency is also representing USL in the separate sale of rights for its forthcoming Division I women’s professional league, the USL Super League, which is set to launch with eight teams in August.
