Seb Salazar and Kylen
Mills join as co-hosts, Coverage kicks off March 15
ATLANTA, March 4,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Coming off last year's inaugural
season of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) on ION – with
its broadcasts reaching more than 20 million total unique viewers*
–Scripps Sports today unveiled production plans and a new
studio team for the network's 2025 season coverage, which kicks off
March 15. Promo here.
The NWSL on ION showcases top matches from across the league
every Saturday night of the regular season. ION is one of the
most-watched networks on television and is available on pay TV,
connected TV and free, ad-supported streaming platforms and
over-the-air in 123 million homes.
In The Studio
NWSL on ION studio shows – the
first-ever weekly studio shows dedicated to the NWSL by any
broadcast network – break down the matches and review highlights
from recent matches, spotlight upcoming league games and present
in-depth, off-the-pitch feature stories on players, coaches and
teams from around the league.
For the coming season, Seb Salazar and Kylen Mills will serve as co-hosts. Salazar
adds ION duties to his impressive work with ESPN, where he
regularly appears on ESPN FC, the company's signature soccer
program. He has also co-hosted the popular biweekly Fútbol Americas
show on ESPN+. Mills, a former college soccer standout, is an
Emmy-nominated sports broadcaster with a resume of on-air work
across FOX Sports, NBC Sports, The Big Ten Network and Pac-12
Networks.
"Seb Salazar is an exceptional talent in soccer reporting,
bringing a wealth of experience and deep-rooted passion for the
game," said Brian Lawlor,
president, Scripps Sports. "His work on ESPN and his insightful
commentary on Fútbol Americas have made him a trusted voice and a
household name among soccer fans. Kylen
Mills is a distinguished sportscaster whose extensive on-air
analyst experience and deep understanding of soccer from her own
time on the pitch make her an invaluable addition to our team. We
are delighted to have Seb and Kylen at the helm of our NWSL on ION
studio show this season and eagerly anticipate the outstanding
coverage and analysis they will bring to viewers."
The Scripps Sports production team is led by Quinn Pacini, vice president of broadcast
operations. Nicole Denne, a veteran
producer, serves as executive producer for the NWSL on ION's studio
content. This year, Taylor Quellman
joins as studio show producer. Quellman has been serving as the
pre- and post-game producer for Scripps Sports' coverage of Vegas
Golden Knights hockey, as well as holding the same role for the San
Diego Padres.
In The Booth
Scripps Sports and the NWSL will again
co-produce the Saturday night doubleheaders, with two distinct NWSL
on ION match broadcast teams – both of which are returning for the
network's second season. The team for match one features JP
Dellacamera on play-by-play with former U.S. Women's
National Team goalkeeper Jill
Loyden as analyst. For match two, Maura Sheridan will take the mic for
play-by-play duties while former NWSL player Jordan Angeli will serve as analyst.
"In our first season of coverage, ION quickly became a popular
home for the NWSL," said Pacini. "We are picking up where we
left off with a robust and experienced broadcast team, and we look
forward to another great season for NWSL fans across the
country."
On The Pitch
The NWSL on ION will feature 50 matches across 25 weeks of its
Saturday night doubleheaders. The first doubleheader of the season
is set for March 15, with 2024 rookie
sensation Ally Sentnor and the Utah
Royals FC hosting Zambian standout Racheal Kundananji and Bay FC
(7:30 p.m. ET), followed by USWNT
veteran Rose Lavelle and Gotham FC
traveling to Seattle to face
former teammate and the NWSL's all-time leading scorer Reign FC
forward Lynn (Williams) Biyendolo (10 p.m.
ET).
Other highlights of the NWSL on ION 2025 schedule include:
- A rematch of the 2024 Championship as Orlando takes on
Washington on April 19, featuring Marta, Barbra Banda, Trinity
Rodman and Croix
Bethune.
- Special tripleheader coverage as Angel City, Chicago and Kansas
City host matches on Saturday, June
14, starting at 5 p.m.
ET.
- Rivalry matches Bay FC vs. Angel City (May 17), San Diego vs. Angel City (Aug. 9), Portland vs. Kansas City (Aug. 23), Kansas City vs. Gotham FC (Oct. 10) and more.
To access the complete NWSL on ION season schedule, and find ION
channel information, visit https://ionnwsl.com/.
Highlights of NWSL on ION season one:
- In addition to reaching more than 20.5 million total unique
viewers, NWSL on ION reached 13.5 million viewers unique to
ION.
- ION delivered the largest female percentage audience of any
network (57% of the P25-54 audience, 55% of the P2+
audience).
- 50% of all NWSL viewers watched matches on ION, the highest
percentage of all linear broadcast partners.
- Matches drew an average audience of 145,000 P2+ per game
with a high of 234,000 on July 6 for
the Orlando-Kansas City
match.
- NWSL matches on ION delivered more than 3.6 million hours of
viewing across free ad-supported television (FAST) channels,
including Roku, Samsung TV, LG, Vizio, Dumo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV
Channels, Pluto, CW and Tablo.
Follow @IONNWSL on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter)
for future updates.
*Sources for data: Nielsen L+SD national panel one-minute
qualifier for reach. Data for NWSL+, Prime Video and Paramount+ is
not available.
Scripps media contact: Jim
Weiss, (770) 722-2142, Jim.Weiss@scripps.com
NWSL media contact: Jennifer Levine, (917) 921-7806,
jlevine@nwslsoccer.com
About ION
A leading general entertainment network,
ION's lineup features major cable and broadcast shows, original
series and special event programming. ION is part of The E.W.
Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), a diversified media company focused
on creating a better-informed world. As one of the nation's largest
local TV broadcasters, Scripps serves communities with quality,
objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations
in 41 markets. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American
through the popular brands ION, ION Mystery, ION Plus, Court TV,
Bounce, Grit and Laff. Scripps is the nation's largest holder of
broadcast spectrum. Scripps runs an award-winning investigative
reporting newsroom in Washington,
D.C. and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National
Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the
motto, "Give light and the people will find their own way."
About Scripps Sports
Scripps Sports serves
professional and college sports leagues, conferences and teams with
local market depth and national broadcast reach. Scripps Sports
currently has partnerships with the Women's National Basketball
Association (WNBA), the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the
National Hockey League's (NHL) 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida
Panthers, the 2023 Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, the
new Utah Hockey Club and the NCAA's Big Sky Conference. Scripps
Sports is a division of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:
SSP), a Fortune 1000 American media company.
About the NWSL
The National Women's Soccer League is
the premier women's professional soccer league in the world
featuring national team players from around the globe. The clubs
are Angel City FC, Bay FC, Bos Nation FC, Chicago Stars FC, Denver
NWSL, Houston Dash, Kansas City
Current, Gotham FC, North Carolina Courage, Seattle Reign FC,
Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC,
Racing Louisville FC, San Diego Wave FC, Utah Royals FC, and
Washington Spirit.
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