Scripps Sports' weekly Saturday night women's soccer doubleheaders to include NWSL on ION Studio Shows

ATLANTA, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- To complement National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) doubleheaders on Saturday nights on ION, Scripps Sports will launch weekly NWSL on ION Studio Shows starting March 16, including:

• 30-minute pre-match shows.
• Halftime shows.
• Wrap-up/preview shows (Match Break) in between matches.
• Post-match shows (depending on the schedule).

These are the first-ever weekly studio shows dedicated to the NWSL by any network and will be led by Nicole Denne, a veteran producer and former Division I college soccer player.

The studio shows will review highlights from recent matches, spotlight upcoming matches on ION and feature in-depth stories from around the league. Halftime shows will break down matches and provide insights from the studio host and analysts.

The season starts Saturday, March 16 with one match on ION: The Utah Royals vs. Chicago Red Stars (7:30 p.m. ET). The pre-match show will start at 7 p.m. Doubleheaders start the following week, March 23.

Viewers can find access to ION in their areas or via streaming platforms
 by visiting https://ionnwsl.com/

Talent

NWSL on ION Studio Shows will originate from Atlanta. The Scripps Sports team:

• Lisa Carlin, host – She serves as a host and analyst for CBS Sports soccer coverage on "Attacking Third," which she helped launch in 2021, covering the NWSL, the U.S. Women's National team and international women's soccer. Carlin has also provided commentary for NWSL matches the last four seasons and previously enjoyed announcing stints with Major League Soccer, FOX Sports, ESPN and more. Carlin won two Big East championships at Marquette University.
• Darian Jenkins, analyst – She is currently serving as a CBS Sports analyst on "Attacking Third," "Morning Footy" and "Box to Box" on the Golazo Network covering soccer globally. Jenkins played professionally in France and Australia and with the North Carolina Courage, OL Reign, Orlando Pride and Kansas City in the NWSL. She won an NWSL championship in 2018 with North Carolina. She is a former chief of staff for Gotham FC. Jenkins also won a national championship in college with the UCLA Bruins.
• Jessica McDonald, analyst – She played 12 years in the NWSL and two seasons in Australia. McDonald won a World Cup title in 2019 with the USWNT. She won three NWSL championships, three NWSL Shields and a SheBelieves Cup. McDonald was NWSL Championship MVP in 2018. She is tied as the league's all-time assist leader. She won two NCAA titles with North Carolina.
• Nicole Denne, executive producer – She has been serving as senior director of national news for Scripps. She is a former executive producer at KNBC in Los Angeles. Denne played collegiate soccer at Brigham Young University.

Scripps Sports and the NWSL will co-produce matches with two distinct Scripps Sports NWSL match broadcast teams.

Team 1:

• JP Dellacamera, play-by-play – He has done play-by-play for 17 World Cups (men's and women's), three Olympic tournaments (men's and women's) and the Philadelphia Union of MLS for 13 seasons. Dellacamera has also done hockey and basketball play-by-play at pro and collegiate levels. In 2022, he won the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award.
• Jill Loyden, analyst – She is in her third year as an NWSL analyst and ninth year as analyst for ESPN college soccer. The former U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper spent seven years playing professionally in the NWSL and Women's Professional Soccer league. She was Gotham FC's goalkeeper coach in 2016 and 2017.
• Tom Piero, producer – The veteran producer/director has worked on MLS matches for Apple+, NWSL matches for Paramount+ and Orlando City SC matches for Fox 35 Plus in Orlando. Piero has also produced for Bally Sports, Cox Sports TV, ESPN Wide World of Sports, the Sun Belt Network and more.
• Gage Tilotsen, director – He has been directing USL, NWSL and MLS matches since 2017 across multiple networks, including Fox, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS Sports Network. In 2023, he directed the MLS Cup on Fox, the MLS Next Pro Cup on Apple, the USL Championship final on ESPN2 and NWSL regular-season and playoff shows.

Team 2:

• Maura Sheridan, play-by-play – She is in her third year as an NWSL play-by-play announcer. Sheridan has been behind the mic for CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, U.S. Open Cup and USL Championship matches. She has also called college softball and basketball on ESPN.
• Jordan Angeli, analyst – She has served as an analyst for CBS Sports Golazo Network's "Attacking Third" show and as the face of Apple content for the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. She spent three years as lead analyst for MLS club Columbus Crew. Angeli played for the Boston Breakers, Western New York Flash and the Washington Spirit.
• Mackenzie Pearce, producer – She is a senior producer for NEP Group, producing events yearly across ESPN, CBS and FOX for a variety of soccer leagues, including MLS, NWSL, USL and NCAA. Her recent highlights include producing the 2023 men's and women's ACC college soccer championships on ESPN, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final, as well as being a member of the production teams for the MLS Cup on FOX and the WNBA Commissioner's Cup on Amazon Prime.
• Art Izquierdo, director – He has been directing and producing soccer for 30+ years, including MLS, Concacaf and Gold Cup competitions. Izquierdo has been a director for Orlando City FC, MLS on Apple TV and Telemundo Deportes.

"We made a commitment to the NWSL, the teams, players and fans," said Quinn Pacini, vice president of broadcast operations for Scripps Sports. "With that in mind, we've assembled a first-class team of soccer minds, voices and experts to showcase our Saturday night NWSL franchise. It's a deep, talented, versatile group that will entertain and inform fans all season."

Branding / marketing

Scripps Sports has unveiled branding for its NWSL on ION programming. Scripps partnered with industry-leading design agency Drive Studio on the creative for matches and studio shows.

Promotional assets, which will run throughout the season across television, social, digital and paid media, were developed in partnership with Gameday Creative and STN Digital. 

ION schedule

Scripps Sports is a partner in the landmark NWSL distribution agreement announced in November that involves Scripps Sports/ION, CBS/Paramount, ESPN and Prime Video. Scripps Sports will air 50 of 118 matches to be featured on national television platforms during the season – the most of any partner. ION is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (Nasdaq: SSP). The matches:

March 16: Utah vs, Chicago (7:30 p.m. ET)
March 23: Washington vs. Bay (7:30 p.m. ET), San Diego vs. Kansas City (10 p.m. ET)
March 30: Portland vs. Louisville (7:30 p.m. ET), Bay vs. Houston (10 p.m. ET)
April 13: Louisville vs. San Diego (7:30 p.m. ET), Chicago vs. Angel City (10 p.m. ET)
April 20: Kansas City vs. Bay (7:30 p.m. ET), Portland vs. Houston (10 p.m. ET)
April 27: Chicago vs. Portland (7:30 p.m. ET), San Diego vs. Bay (10 p.m. ET)
May 4: NJ/NY vs. North Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET), Portland vs. Washington (10 p.m. ET)
May 11: Orlando vs. Bay (7:30 p.m. ET), Portland vs. Seattle (10 p.m. ET)
May 12 (Sunday): San Diego vs. Gotham (7:30 p.m. ET)
May 18: Washington vs. Angel City (7:30 p.m. ET), Kansas City vs. Louisville (10 p.m. ET)
May 25: Chicago vs. Louisville (7:30 p.m. ET), Utah vs. Kansas City (10 p.m. ET)
June 8: Utah vs. Washington (7:30 p.m. ET), Portland vs. North Carolina (10 p.m. ET)
June 15: Washington vs. San Diego (7:30 p.m. ET), Houston vs. Angel City (9:30 p.m. ET)
    •    Note: No studio show in between matches
June 22: Houston vs. San Diego (7:30 p.m. ET), Bay vs. Angel City (10 p.m. ET)
June 29: Washington vs. North Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET), Utah vs. Portland (10 p.m. ET)
July 6: Kansas City vs. Orlando (7:30 p.m. ET), Angel City vs. NJ/NY (10 p.m. ET)
Aug. 24: Louisville vs. Chicago (7:30 p.m. ET)
Aug. 31: Louisville vs. Seattle (7:30 p.m. ET), Houston vs. Utah (9:30 p.m. ET)
    •    Note: No studio show in between matches
Sept. 7: Kansas City vs. Utah (7:30 p.m. ET), Bay at Louisville (10 p.m. ET)
Sept. 14: Louisville vs. Angel City (7:30 p.m. ET), Utah vs. San Diego (10 p.m. ET)
Sept. 21: Louisville vs. North Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET), Chicago vs. San Diego (9:30 p.m. ET)
    •    Note: No studio show in between matches
Sept. 28: Orlando vs. Houston (7:30 p.m. ET), San Diego vs. Portland (10 p.m. ET)
Oct. 5: NJ/NY at Bay (7:30 p.m. ET), Portland vs. Utah (10 p.m. ET)
Oct. 12: North Carolina vs. Angel City (7:30 p.m. ET), Bay vs. Kansas City (10 p.m. ET)
Oct. 19: Louisville vs. Portland (7:30 p.m. ET), Bay vs. North Carolina (10 p.m. ET)
Nov. 2: Orlando vs. Seattle (5 p.m. ET), North Carolina vs. Washington (7:30 p.m. ET), Houston vs. Bay (9:30 p.m. ET)
    •    Note: No studio show after the second match

About Scripps Sports
Scripps Sports serves professional and college sports leagues, conferences and teams with local market depth and national broadcast reach of up to 100% of TV households. Scripps Sports currently has partnerships with the Women's National Basketball Association, the National Women's Soccer League, the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights and NHL's Arizona Coyotes, and the NCAA's Big Sky Conference in college football. Scripps Sports is a division of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), a Fortune 100 American media company focused on creating a better-informed world.

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, Boston, Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current, NJ/NY 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.

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company