The PWHL has announced its first season-long national television package in the United States, a broadcast rights agreement with Scripps Sports. As part of the deal, ION will air a featured Saturday “Game of the Week,” along with two games weekly on Scripps Sports Network’s streaming channel.
The league announced the deal on Wednesday morning. The PWHL previously worked with Scripps Sports and ION for the broadcast of the Walter Cup Finals earlier this year. A Takeover Tour game in March was also televised on ION. Scripps Sports is well known for its women’s sports coverage, including national broadcasts of the WNBA and the NWSL.
What to expect
First and foremost, all PWHL games will continue to stream live on YouTube for fans in the U.S. and worldwide outside of Canada. This is an important note, because it ensures the games remain accessible to all, even without a cable subscription.
Weekly, Scripps Sports will produce a featured game and televise it exclusively in the U.S. on ION. According to the league’s press release, the network reaches more than 128 million households annually.
Scripps Sports Network will also broadcast two PWHL games each week. This streaming channel is available on The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video, Fire TV, Google TV Freeplay, Tubi and other major streaming platforms.
When the postseason arrives, ION will air a playoff series. The channel will also feature the exclusive U.S. broadcast of the Walter Cup Finals.
For fans in Detroit (WMYD-TV, The Spot – Detroit 20) and Las Vegas (KMCC-TV, The Spot – Vegas 34), Scripps’ stations will become the local broadcast partners for their respective teams.
What this means
This deal is an important step for the PWHL. Having playoffs broadcast on TV is one thing, but Scripps providing regular coverage throughout the season is great. Every time a game is on television, there’s a chance that someone flipping through the channels tunes in. That’s an instant way to grow the fanbase and expose people who otherwise may not have watched.
I really appreciate that Scripps Sports has taken on broadcasting women’s sports over the years. Women’s sports have grown so monumentally in recent years. To have a specialized network that cares not only about covering women’s sports, but also about covering them in the right way, matters. Given Scripps’ past with women’s sports leagues, including the PWHL, this partnership is the logical next step.
Does part of me wish this was a deal with ESPN? Admittedly, maybe. But maybe that’s also the part of me that’s been watching men’s hockey since I was a kid. I’m used to ESPN being the “it” channel for national broadcasts. (Though, nowadays, TNT would have something to say about that.) ESPN has been around for so long, and I feel like it’s just known as the place to watch. Even a deal with ABC, a standard channel, would’ve been huge. But that doesn’t mean this deal is bad by any means. It’s just not as high-level of a broadcast deal as I’d hoped or thought the PWHL would have at this point. I’ve got to shift my mindset from that bias and get used to ION being more of a household name, as it hopefully becomes.
I’m also really glad to see the PWHL continue airing its games on YouTube and the league website. The accessibility there is so important, especially given the price of cable TV. If you can’t afford a cable subscription (or simply don’t want one), you can still tune in. All you need is access to an Internet-connected device, whether it’s a cell phone, a tablet or a computer. If you have that, no matter where you are in the U.S., you can watch.
