NWSL and CBS Sports Announce Multiplatform Coverage for 2022 Ally Financial NWSL Championship, Presented by Budweiser
October 25, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) News Release
NEW YORK – The National Women’s Soccer League and CBS Sports today announced multiplatform coverage details and announcers for the 2022 Ally Financial NWSL Championship, presented by Budweiser on Saturday, Oct. 29. In its first-ever primetime spot live from Audi Field in Washington, D.C., the match between the Kansas City Current and Portland Thorns FC will begin at 8 p.m. ET on The CBS Television Network, Paramount+ and internationally on Twitch, with live pre-match coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
Broadcasting veteran Jenn Hildreth will team up with two-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Wagner to call the match. In addition, former U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder and analyst Lori Lindsey and CBS Sports reporter Jenny Chiu will report from the pitch, while CBS Sports’ Christina Unkel will provide rules analysis.
CBS Sports’ Kate Abdo will host pre-match coverage from Audi Field beginning at 7 p.m. ET, with Lindsey, Chiu, Columbus Crew sideline reporter Jordan Angeli, and this year’s player guest, NJ/NY Gotham FC forward Midge Purce providing insight and analysis. The pre-match show will also feature live interviews with players and coaches on the pitch as well as a discussion with NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman, NWSLPA Executive Director Meghann Burke, team executives and Purce on the state of the league and the NWSL/NWSLPA’s joint investigation.
Just Women’s Sports’ 30-minute pregame show, The Warm-Up presented by Ally, will break down the 2022 season and preview the NWSL Championship game at 6:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+, leading into pre-match coverage inside Audi Field at 7 p.m. ET.
In addition to live match coverage, CBS Sports and Ally Financial are embedding with Kansas City and Portland for a 30-minute special titled Historically: The Road to the 2022 NWSL Championship presented by Ally, airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ at 2 p.m. ET on matchday. The program follows the two clubs, from the moment they celebrated their semifinal victories through the week leading up to the championship game. With unparalleled behind-the-scenes access, Historically will capture the intensity, the lives, the struggles and the lighter moments of the greatest women soccer players in the world.â¯The program will showcase the teams’ practices, home routines, team activities, press appearances, fan interactions, as well as their preparation in Washington, D.C. for this historic championship airing on broadcast television in primetime for the first time.
CBS Sports’ Attacking Third podcast, hosted by Sandra Herrera and Lisa Roman, will host a live show featuring special guest interviews and in-depth Championship analysis along with a meet-and-greet as part of CBS Sports’ activation at the NWSL Fan Fest outside Audi Field ahead of the match. The podcast will also feature bonus episodes throughout the week with exclusive player interviews and an immediate post-match reaction show from Audi Field live on YouTube.
CBS Sports will also share exclusive match highlights and content on its @AttackingThird and @WeNeedToTalk social channels. CBS Sports will provide additional in-depth coverage of the NWSL Championship across its digital platforms, including CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports app and CBS Sports HQ, the 24/7 streaming sports news service.
More information regarding this year’s announcers can be found below.
Jenn Hildreth
Hildreth is in her eighth season as a play-by-play announcer for the NWSL, having called matches across a variety of networks, including ESPN, Fox Sports, and Lifetime. A versatile broadcaster with 20 years of experience as an analyst, host, reporter, and play-by-play announcer, Hildreth is the only female play-by-play announcer to work Fox Sports’ coverage of the last two FIFA Women’s World Cups, has called the last five NCAA Women’s College Cup Championships for ESPN, and covered the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on NBC. She currently serves as a play-by-play announcer for ESPN/ACC Network covering women’s college soccer, basketball, and softball. Hildreth attended Emory University, where she was the goalkeeper for the soccer team.
Aly Wagner
Wagner is a former U.S. women’s national team player, who won two Olympic gold medals and two FIFA Women’s World Cup bronze over her 10-year career with the USWNT. Wagner began her professional club career in 2003 after being selected as the number-one pick at the Women’s United Soccer Association Draft by the San Diego Spirit. She was in the first group of international players to be brought over by Olympique Lyonnais and then finished her career with Los Angeles Sol. After concluding her soccer career, Wagner served as a Fox Sports analyst for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and then became the lead analyst for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The year prior at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, she made U.S. English-language television history as the first woman to call a men’s FIFA World Cup game. Wagner additionally worked as the lead analyst for the NWSL Game of the Week broadcasts on Lifetime and ESPN from 2017-2019.
Lori Lindsey
A former U.S. women’s national team player whose professional playing career spanned 13 years, Lindsey represented her country in both the 2011 Women’s World Cup and served as an alternate in the 2012 Olympics. A seasoned analyst with commentating experience in the NWSL, MLS, USL and various college conferences, Lindsey also covered major international tournaments including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euros. A star player at University of Virginia, Lindsey was the school’s first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and is one of only four players to have played in all three of the U.S. professional women’s soccer leagues.
Kate Abdo
Abdo is a host on CBS Sports’ UEFA Champions League and Concacaf Men’s Nations League and World Cup Qualifiers coverage. Known for her multilingual reporting, she began her career at international news network Deutsche Welle in Germany where she provided sports coverage for both English and German television services. Abdo’s experience also includes stints at CNN, Sky Sports, Fox Sports and DAZN. A Manchester native, Abdo is also well known for hosting the FIFA Balloon d’Or and Laureas World Sports award presentations.
Jenny Chiu
Chiu serves as a reporter on CBS Sports’ coverage of the NWSL, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and Concacaf. She is also a panelist on CBS Sports’ all-women studio show, WE NEED TO TALK. Chiu has also worked in broadcasting and reporter roles for Major League Soccer clubs Orlando City SC and Portland Timbers, and NWSL clubs Orlando Pride and Portland Thorns. As a player, Chiu represented Mexico at numerous levels, including at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and at the collegiate level for NCAA powerhouse University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill.
Jordan Angeli
Angeli currently serves as a television analyst and broadcaster for the Columbus Crew after becoming the first woman in the Crew’s history to hold a full time TV-analyst position. Prior to her time at Columbus Crew, she worked as both a radio analyst and an in-stadium host with the Colorado Rapids. A former player in the NWSL, Angeli’s career includes time spent with the Boston Breakers, Western New York Flash, and the Washington Spirit.
Midge Purce
Drafted with the ninth overall pick in the 2017 NWSL Draft, Purce spent time with the Boston Breakers and Portland Thorns FC before being traded to her current club in NJ/NY Gotham FC. In 2021 she was named a finalist for the NWSL Most Valuable Player award and came in second in the NWSL Golden Boot race. A native of Olney, Maryland, Purce cofounded the Black Women’s Player Collective, a coalition advancing opportunities for Black girls in sports, where she currently serves as a board member.
Christina Unkel
Unkel is a VAR-certified PRO referee and past FIFA referee who has been officiating soccer for 21 years. She currently serves as a Laws of the Game analyst for CBS Sports and previously analyzed the 2019 Women’s World Cup for Fox Sports and the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euros.
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