The NWSL is preparing to announce a multiyear TV contract with CBS Sports, and the net will show the Washington Spirit’s April 18 opener against Reign FC on the national CBS channel "as part of this season’s package," according to sources cited by Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. The match will feature USWNT players in Spirit MF Rose Lavelle and Reign F Megan Rapinoe. For "aesthetic reasons, the venue for CBS’s debut broadcast was important in the decision." The Spirit are "aiming to sell out" the 20,000-seat Audi Field, and a 1:00pm ET kickoff "prevented the Portland Thorns, the league’s runaway attendance leaders, from hosting the nationally televised match." CBS this season reportedly will "show a few matches on the national over-the-air channel, several on CBS Sports Network and the rest via a streaming service." Last year, following the USWNT's World Cup win in France, ESPN networks "carried 14 NWSL matches." In previous years, the league "appeared on ESPN and Fox Sports platforms, Lifetime and streaming services" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/6).
