May 28 – While the women’s professional game will not return in England this season, in the US is again taking the lead in the women’s game with the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announcing that the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup will kick off in Utah, June 27.
It is an important step for both the women’s game and the NWSL. While the English FA and clubs in the Women’s Super League have pushed to finish the season for what are primarily financial reasons, the NWSL is investing in its return and its players.
The opening match of the 25-game tournament will be aired live on CBS, as will the final. All other matches will be available via CBS’s All Access digital platform.
Matches will be played without spectators which will obviously impact revenue streams in what is the most commercial of sports markets. However the NWSL has been successful in attracting sponsor support to the league and the women’s game generally.
The tournament’s presenting sponsors P&G and Secret ae fully supportive of getting play going again, while the league, as well as announcing the June 27 kick-off, also unveiled a new multi-year partnership with Verizon.
Long term US women’s national team sponsor, and NWSL partner since 2019, Budweiser will be the presenting partner for the semi-final and final, as well as the tournament MVP award.
The tournament itself will be see a return to action for all nine NWSL teams – they last played in competitive league matches at the end of the 2019 season, the US went into lockdown just before the 2020 league season was due to start.
A full tournament schedule will be released in the coming days. Matches will be broadcast internationally on the Twitch platform.
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