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NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE CLOSES MONUMENTAL 2024 SEASON WITH RECORD CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND VIEWERSHIP OF OVER 2.5 MILLION VIEWERS

The 2024 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel, averaged 967,900 viewers in primetime on the CBS Television Network last Saturday, marking the league’s most-viewed match in history. The 2024 figure marks an 18% percent increase from the 2023 title match (816,800) and a six percent jump from the 2022 contest which held the NWSL’s previous viewership record of 915,000.

Viewership for the Championship match, which saw the number one ranked Orlando Pride defeated the number two seed Washington Spirit 1-0, to earn their first-ever championship title, as 1.1 million viewers watched.

In addition to a record-breaking audience for the league’s marquee match, CBS’ coverage of the 2024 NWSL Skills Challenge, presented by CarMax, was the most-viewed NWSL event in history with an average of 1,537,720 million viewers. The Skills Challenge was the most-viewed non-NFL sports event of the day.

Broadcasting live from CPKC Stadium last Friday, CBS Mornings became the first-ever national morning show to host a live broadcast at a women’s sports Championship.

“When we began our groundbreaking new media deals this season, the goal was to redefine our value and to put more of our matches in the places and spaces where fans consume content,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “This past weekend’s outstanding coverage on CBS platforms, which included CBS Mornings’ historic broadcast from CPKC Stadium, record match viewership and the most-watched NWSL event in history, is the product our efforts to broaden and diversify our audience. Thanks to the collaboration of our partners at CBS, we’ve successfully brought the excitement of the NWSL to more fans than ever before.”

The NWSL’s seven postseason linear telecasts drew an average of 562,900 viewers for a total audience of 4.6 million across the playoffs. Total viewership across Nielsen-rated platforms in 2024 reached 18.7 million, a fivefold gain from the 2023 season.

The NWSL’s continued growth in viewership underscores the league’s expanding fan base and growing presence in the sports media landscape. These milestones follow a year of significant accomplishments, including record breaking attendance, new new CBA, historic domestic broadcast agreements which will bring women’s soccer to broader audiences.