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As the National Women’s Soccer League prepared for a season with 16 teams in 2026, up from 14 the previous year, league executives faced a challenge that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago: fitting all 248 matches (including an eight-team play-off and the Challenge Cup) into their already fragmented media package.With Boston Legacy and Denver Summit joining the league, the NWSL has more matches, more players, more markets and more inventory than ever before.
At the same time, fans are increasingly navigating a disjointed media landscape where games are spread across CBS, ESPN, Prime Video, ION and team-specific regional broadcasts, most of which require at least some level of subscription payment.
The addition of Victory+ to the league’s media ecosystem was an attempt to address that challenge.
The free streaming platform is carrying 57 NWSL matches in 2026, including a dedicated Sunday night package. But, according to the company’s CEO Neil Gruninger, the partnership is about much more than simply airing additional games.
“We got to talking about our strategy of being free and ensuring that access is available to all fans, and those barriers of entry through a subscription were removed,” Gruninger said in an interview with The Athletic. “That got (the league) really excited.”
One of the biggest criticisms of the NWSL’s record-breaking $240million (£179m), four-year media package has been accessibility. A fan who wants to watch every NWSL game today needs subscriptions to multiple streaming services and broadcasters. While those deals generate revenue for the league, the bill falls on fans to pay. Gruninger believes removing those barriers is central to expanding the league’s audience.
“A quarter of NWSL viewers on the (Victory+) platform have watched six or more matches this season, and the average viewer has tuned in for four games,” he said.
“Just as importantly, engagement is translating into loyalty; viewer retention continues to climb month over month, with 85 percent of fans who watched three or more matches in April returning to watch again in May. These aren’t casual viewers passing through; they’re dedicated fans actively building a habit around NWSL content on Victory+.”
The company’s philosophy stems from an unexpected place. Before entering sports, Victory+ evolved from a streaming technology company that eventually launched Kidoodle.TV, a child-safe alternative to YouTube and Netflix. Working in children’s media taught the company a lesson that now guides its sports strategy: attention is valuable, but accessibility is everything.
“We learned early days in the kids and family space where attention is important,” Gruninger said. “Brands want to be in an ecosystem, and fans want the content.”
Victory+ arrived with a proposition that differs from many traditional media companies. Rather than placing games behind another paywall, the service is free to viewers and supported by advertising. That thinking resonated with a league trying to convert casual fans into regular viewers.
What makes Victory+ particularly interesting is that it isn’t competing directly with ESPN or CBS. Instead, the company is betting that digital-first distribution can accomplish things traditional broadcasters cannot.
Unlike linear television networks, which have limited channel space and scheduling constraints, Victory+ can stream unlimited games simultaneously. That flexibility becomes increasingly valuable as the NWSL expands. With 18 teams competing in 2028, the league needs more broadcast windows and more ways to distribute content.
“We’re digital,” Gruninger said. “You can have 1,000 games playing at 6 p.m. We don’t have to abide by that linear channel.”
But the company’s ambitions extend beyond simply carrying games.
One of the reasons the NWSL was attracted to Victory+, according to Gruninger, was the company’s emphasis on creator-led content. The platform has regularly used “alt-casts”, alternative streams featuring former players, including two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist Kelley O’Hara and ex-New Zealand and Angel City FC captain Ali Riley, as well as influencers and creators discussing games in a more conversational format.
The concept is designed specifically for younger audiences.
“You have Gen Zs that typically aren’t watching the full length of a game, and they just want to be in the conversation,” Gruninger said.
That strategy has already shown promising results. During one alternative broadcast featuring popular women’s soccer creator Coach Jackie J and former NWSL goalkeeper Brittany Wilson, Victory+ recorded a 51 percent increase in viewership, with roughly 30 percent of viewers having never previously used the platform.
“I believe that it’s the way to attract people in a business,” Coach Jackie J told The Athletic. “When people talk about sports media, what they usually mean is men’s sports media. That’s become the default idea of what sports coverage is supposed to look like. Women’s sports has the chance to rethink that. Instead of simply replicating the existing model, it can build something better.
“You can still have the traditional broadcast for fans who want that experience, but you can also experiment. Victory+ said, ‘Jackie was live-streaming games three years ago, why not give her an alternate broadcast where she watches the match and talks fans through it?’ Women’s sports has the opportunity to create new ways for people to experience the game, rather than following the same blueprint that’s always existed.”
Another strategy Victory+ is focusing on is player storytelling to bring casual fans to the platform.
Gruninger believes modern sports fandom is increasingly athlete-, rather than team-, centric. Fans want to know players’ stories, follow their lives and engage with them directly.
“Players tell those stories best,” he said. “There’s no better way into the conversation and storyline than having a player talk about it.” The streaming platform recently rolled out three influencer-led shows centered on NWSL players, part of a broader effort to build player-driven storytelling beyond the live match broadcasts.
The NWSL has spent years building players into stars whose value extends far beyond 90 minutes on the field. From “Triple Espresso” — Trinity Rodman, Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson — to Rose Lavelle and Marta, the league’s biggest attractions are its larger-than-life players, driving millions of impressions on social media, landing national endorsement campaigns and helping introduce new fans to the league.
The league has increasingly recognized that value. Last December, it introduced the High Impact Player (HIP) rule, a mechanism designed to give clubs additional flexibility to retain elite talent, in a move widely viewed as an effort to help keep one of its most marketable stars, Rodman, in the NWSL amid growing interest from Europe.
The rule underscored a broader shift in the league’s strategy: star power is no longer viewed as simply a competitive advantage but as a business asset worth protecting at all costs.
But perhaps the most important element of the partnership is Victory+’s ability to reach viewers who are not already dedicated NWSL supporters but fans of other sports. That cross-pollination is a major part of the company’s idea. A Texas high school football fan may arrive on the platform to watch a local championship game and then discover NWSL content. A hockey fan watching the Dallas Stars may stumble upon women’s soccer.
“If you’re a huge basketball fan and you can watch soccer for free, why wouldn’t you take a look?” Gruninger said.
For the NWSL, those casual viewers represent the next frontier. After a month of the men’s World Cup dominating the North American sports calendar, every sports property will be fighting for audience share. As Gruninger sees it, the future of sports media will not be defined solely by who owns the rights, but by whoever makes those rights easiest to find.
For a league entering another crucial season, that may be exactly what the NWSL is looking for.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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