Why Record-Breaking Ratings Came At The Perfect Time For Jessica Berman, NWSL

There were plenty of reasons to suspect that television ratings for the National Women’s Soccer League final between the Portland Thorns and the Kansas City Current would be exceptional.

A playoffs that saw attendance records get set, then set again, led to a final that unfolded on CBS in primetime. Those of us who have covered the league for years could hardly believe how different this one felt from the early seasons of the NWSL.

Nor was this growth limited to the postseason.

Even so, that big number — 915,000, a 71 percent increase over last year’s final viewing audience — will have immediate ramifications for the business picture of the league.

Consider, for one thing, that this came at the conclusion of CBS’s three-year, $4.5 million deal with NWSL to televise the league. If that number sounds comically small, well, it might as well have been signed in another century, given the explosion of television rights contracts along with a huge growth in understanding just how popular women’s sports can be if properly marketed and easily accessible.

CBS Sports entered an exclusive window to retain those rights, and commissioner Jessica Berman is listening.

“They do get an exclusive negotiating period,” Berman told assembled media at the championship final. “That period actually begins after the championship. And so we’re excited to get in the room with CBS. They’ve been an incredible partner. We know that, as I mentioned earlier, this is the first time in the league’s history that our championship game is on primetime, on CBS. It’s an incredible achievement. It shouldn’t take 10 years but we are here and we’re gonna move forward from here and we’ll be excited to talk to CBS about what the future could look like.”

The future, it is safe to say, offers more than $4.5 million over three years.

Then there’s expansion. Berman and the league have done an excellent job on keeping the process pretty transparent, and the 30 investor groups from the summer have been winnowed down to a still-robust up to ten bids for two new teams.

That not only means competition for these new ownership opportunities. It means final bid numbers are going to reflect this recent surge, including a television audience that promises more revenue, a reality reinforced by the sponsorship growth for the league.

“Our sponsorship revenue is up nearly 90% year over year,” Berman said. “We are so incredibly proud to be surrounded by the partners at the league office, the league level. These partners are not only standing by the league, but they are also doubling down on the league. They know and understand, just like I did when I took this job six months ago, that this league needs more resources, not less. And we are so confident that we have the right partners around us and that we are talking to the right new partners who want to join us and be part of the change that we want to see.”

It’s hard to overstate how impressive this level of growth is, coming amid a difficult reckoning of past abuse and neglect brought into sharp focus by the Yates Report. But the presence of a strong union, and the work between the NWSLPA and Berman to solidify that partnership even when it’s hard, including the forthcoming release of a joint report on abuse from the league and the PA.

“And although I wouldn’t have necessarily wanted, or requested, for U.S. Soccer’s report to come out three weeks before championship, it turns out that everything happens for a reason and it’s a good thing,” Berman said. “Why is it a good thing? because our goal is to let the joint investigators pursue the facts where they lead and leave no stone unturned. Why is that important? Because in order for this league to heal, and for these players to trust the league and the future direction of the NWSL they have to know that that is the sole priority of the joint investigation. “

There were no shortcuts taken. And it’s all laid the groundwork for professional women’s soccer, this time, to ride the wave instead of missing the opportunity, as has happened entirely too often in NWSL, WPS and WUSA history.

Just in time for CBS to pay up, or get into a bidding war. Just in time for would-be owners to increase the number of zeroes in their sealed bids. Just in time for everyone to get aboard the NWSL train.

Just how big will the numbers get?

Even Sophia Smith doesn’t know.