NWSL announces remaining 2020 Fall Series schedule and CBS broadcast talent

The National Women’s Soccer League today released the remaining games of the 2020 NWSL Fall Series.

Sky Blue FC and Washington Spirit will kick off the series on September 5, 2020, at 1 p.m. ET at Segra Field and play will conclude with two matches on October 17, 2020 between Orlando Pride and North Carolina Courage, and OL Reign and Utah Royals FC. Both the opener and the final game between Orlando and North Carolina will air on CBS Television Network.

There will be a televised NWSL Game of the Week on the CBS Television Network a total of five times, including every Saturday in September and one of the final games on October 17. In addition, CBS Sports Network will televise the NWSL Game of the Week two Saturdays in October. CBS All Access will exclusively stream four games as well as the CBS broadcast coverage. Twitch will exclusively stream seven games globally, including in the United States, and every game internationally.

The NWSL fall series will include 18 matches over the course of seven weeks, featuring three, three-team pods that will all play one another and enable the league to minimize travel.

The three teams in each regional pod will each play four games. Those pods are:

West
OL Reign
Portland Thorns FC
Utah Royals FC

Northeast
Chicago Red Stars
Sky Blue FC
Washington Spirit

South
North Carolina Courage
Orlando Pride
Houston Dash

The full NWSL Fall Series schedule is available below. Highlights include the NWSL Games of the Week, which will feature every NWSL club at least once, including Washington Spirit at Chicago Red Stars on September 26 and NWSL Challenge Cup Champions Houston Dash vs. North Carolina Courage on October 4. Twitch will exclusively stream Houston’s first return to the pitch following their standout performance in Utah when the Dash face the Courage on September 11 at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The NWSL has also announced that play-by-play announcer Jenn Hildreth and analyst Lori Lindsey will call all NWSL Game’s of the Week on CBS and CBSSN. Play-by-play announcer Mike Watts will also be joined by Lindsey for the four exclusive CBS All Access games. Marisa Pilla will serve as CBS’ sideline reporter, providing fans with pre-game, halftime and post-game interviews with players and coaches.

Jenn Hildreth returns for her sixth season as play-by-play announcer for the NWSL, having called matches across a variety of networks, including CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports and Lifetime. Hildreth is a versatile broadcaster who has covered various sports in roles that include analyst, host, reporter and play-by-play announcer during a career spanning nearly 20 years on television. She is the only female play-by-play announcer to have worked both of the last two FIFA Women’s World Cups for FOX Sports, has called the last four NCAA Women’s College Cup Championships for ESPN, and 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 on their soccer team and was a three-sport athlete, lettering in soccer, basketball, and track and field.

Lori Lindsey is a former U.S. women’s national team player whose professional playing career spanned 13 years. Lindsey is one of only four players to have played in all three of the U.S. professional women’s soccer leagues. She now works in broadcast, calling soccer games for the NWSL for the last 3 seasons, including most recently, the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup that took place in Utah in June and July.  Lindsey serves as an analyst for the Philadelphia Union and LAFC in MLS, as well as during various USL games, and ACC and SEC games. Lindsey also travels the globe speaking, raising awareness and advocating for women’s equality and the LGBTQ community.

Mike Watts earned his first professional broadcast assignment with the NWSL’s Sky Blue FC in 2014, calling league matches for a fifth year – the last three for NWSL media’s coverage on Verizon and Yahoo Sports. Watts most recently called all games for the NWSL’s Challenge Cup on CBS All Access. Watts has commentated premier worldwide events for ESPN, Concacaf, United Soccer League, and U.S. Soccer. Beyond soccer, Watts is the preseason TV voice of the Cincinnati Bengals in addition to covering the NBA, NBA G League, WNBA, and NCAA.

Marisa Pilla is a sports broadcaster based out of Philadelphia with multiple years of experience covering both men’s and women’s professional soccer. She most recently served as the only on-site talent and sideline reporter for the NWSL Challenge Cup on CBS. This will be Marisa’s second season covering the NWSL, as she served as the sideline reporter during the 2019 season for the NWSL Game of the Week on ESPN. Marisa has also covered MLS as a sideline reporter for FS1 and has served as the pregame/postgame show host for the Philadelphia Union.

The NWSL’s return to play protocols reflect the best practices previously developed by the NWSL Medical Task Force and successfully implemented during the Challenge Cup. Those protocols have been updated to reflect the reality of home-market matches and regional travel and will influence all league and club actions outside the field of play.

2020 NWSL Fall Series Schedule

** CBS Game of the Week highlighted in bold**

** Twitch to stream all games internationally here**