North America’s top-tier National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has become the latest rightsholder to end its broadcast partnership with the Victory+ streaming service, reportedly due to unpaid payments.
In a statement issued yesterday, the NWSL announced that it had terminated the pair’s media rights agreement “effectively immediately” and all league matches scheduled to be streamed via Victory+ will now be shown free-to-air (FTA) by the NWSL+ streaming service.
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NWSL did not provide a reason for the split but, citing sources close to the matter, The Athletic news outlet said it is due to missed rights payments.
Victory+ also has separate regional content deals in place with five NWSL clubs – Bay FC, Washington Spirit, Orlando Pride, Gotham FC, and Angel City FC.
At the time of publication, Bay FC, Orlando Pride, and Gotham FC have announced that their agreements have also been terminated.
NWSL+ streams through the league’s official website and NWSL app.
The league confirmed that its other domestic rights deals with Disney-owned ESPN, Paramount-owned CBS, Amazon, and Scripps (ION) are unaffected and will continue through 2027.
The announcement by NWSL comes less than a year after the pair struck a two-year rights deal for Victory+ to become the league’s fifth domestic rights partner, securing 57 games per season, including 25 weekly Sunday primetime matches.
The agreement, brokered by sports marketing agency IMG, covered the 2026 and 2027 campaigns and came ahead of the NWSL’s expansion, with Boston Legacy and Denver Summer FC joining ahead of the 2026 season to bring the league to 16 clubs and adding 32 games to its schedule.
Victory+ joined NWSL’s broadcast partnership slate at the same time the league upgraded its deals with ESPN and CBS to include the extra matches, with Victory+ added to expand discoverability and reach new audiences.
Under the deal, ESPN and sister channel ABC increased their coverage from 20 games in 2025 to 36 in 2026 and 2027, including all ‘Decision Day’ games, while CBS Sports’ coverage increased from 24 to 38 matches.
The expanded deals came in the middle of the league’s wider four-year domestic rights agreement, which started in 2024 and runs through 2027, involving ESPN, CBS, Amazon, and Scripps.
Amazon Prime Video, the streaming service of the e-commerce giant, continues to show 27 matches, while US media company Scripps shows 50 regular-season Saturday night matches.
The deal termination is the third recent rights loss for Victory+, after Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers announced earlier this month that they were moving their DTC streaming service from Victory+ to BZZR, and NHL ice hockey’s Anaheim Ducks also ended their rights agreement.
The service still has several local rights agreements in place, including with the NHL’s Dallas Stars, as well as WNBA basketball’s Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream.
Amid the losses, it has also been reported that Victory+ founder Neil Gruniger has stepped down as chief executive of the service and been replaced by board member John Spencer of TriWest Capital Partners.
According to US outlet Sports Business Journal, Gruniger will stay with the company and “focus on technology and innovation,” while Spencer will step in “to steady [the company’s] recent freefall.”
