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The Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit will face off in Saturday’s NWSL Championship game.
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Heeding fan calls, Just Women’s Sports will host a pre-game show on TikTok ahead of the title game.
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Retired USWNT stars Angela Hucles and Leslie Osborne will host “The Warm Up” live from Louisville.
Finally, women’s sports are starting to get the coverage they deserve.
Some of the biggest events in women’s athletics have achieved top billing and broadcast windows like never before in recent years. These TV slots offer relatively young leagues opportunities for audience growth. But all too often, even the most anticipated women’s sporting events go unreported before the game, leaving all new eyes with little context for what they’re actually watching.
Just Women’s Sports is ready to change that.
the sports media startup dedicated solely to coverage of women’s sport is producing a pre-game show on TikTok LIVE ahead of Saturday’s National Women’s Football League Championship game.
Retired United States Women’s National Team stars Angela Hucles and Leslie Osborne will host “The Warm Up” at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky., One hour and 15 minutes before kickoff between the games. Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit.
Additionally, Nike has partnered with Just Women’s Sports to help increase league coverage and analysis ahead of the NWSL season finale.
“For women’s sports to become mainstream, two things have to happen: the games have to be accessible, and there has to be coverage that matches the hype and enthusiasm that fans have for these amazing athletes,” he said. said Haley Rosen, Founder and CEO of Just Women’s Sports. Initiated.
“For fans to be engaged in a sporting event, they need to understand who is playing, what is at stake and why it matters.”
“This is the missing ingredient that we have been trying to add to the women’s sporting landscape, and ‘The Warm Up’ is a major step in this journey,” she added.
Hucles and Osborne were obvious choices to be the faces of the show, Rosen said.
With two World Cups and two Olympics between them, former national teams know the ins and outs of success at the highest level in women’s football.
They are also familiar with the world of professional women’s football in the United States. Both played for clubs in the WPS – the predecessor of the NWSL – and both were instrumental in the creation of the NWSL, which is now the oldest professional women’s soccer league in North America.
Hucles and Osborne have also continued their efforts to develop the game since leaving the field. Hucles is vice president of player operations at Angel City FC – the Los Angeles-based club that joined the NWSL in 2022 – while Osborne is working with a larger group to bring an expansion squad to the region. bay.
Both moved into sports broadcasting after their playing careers ended, making them what Rosen called “a perfect pair to co-host this show.”
“Ang and I have been good friends and former teammates for years, so we have a lot of experiences together and memories on and off the pitch,” Osborne told Insider. “[‘The Warm Up’] will be a great opportunity for new fans to get up to speed as we recap the season, playoffs and awards, and preview the finale. We’ll also dive deeper and more analytical at times to make sure everyone asks for more. It’s all about the balance. “
“There is a huge gap right now between what is seen around a game or a game and what can be said,” added Hucles.
“Storytelling around players, their backgrounds and interests connects fans and players while improving player profiles.
“This is just one way to help elevate female players in their respective sports and it’s rarer when it comes to women and women’s sports.”
Between the gripping storylines, the particularly competitive playoff race, and “the fact that there is an extremely underserved market” among NWSL fans, Rosen identified this weekend’s title game as a point of interest. ideal entry for this type of programming.
She also noted that the NWSL is “hot right now” after last season saw the league boast a remarkable 493% audience increase Year after year.
But Just Women’s Sports is set to expand its pre-game and post-match coverage beyond the NWSL Championship game. Rosen added that “this is just the beginning” of the brand’s foray into game day analysis.
“We’ve seen the demand for this type of content and we’ve seen that demand increase this year alone,” Rosen said. “‘The Warm Up’ is our first step towards creating a more robust coverage around the games and meeting that demand.”
“It’s also a natural next step in our evolution at JWS,” she added.
“We’ve only ever existed in COVID. But now that things are starting to pick up, we want to show up and be present at big events on the women’s sports calendar.”
Fans can catch Hucles and Osborne on TikTok LIVE Saturdays at 10:45 a.m. ET until 30 minutes before the kick-off of the title game at noon on CBS.
Just Women’s Sports’ partnership with Nike will provide fans with live analysis and on-site social media reporting throughout the championship, while Osborne will continue to cover the brand on Instagram Live after the final whistle.
Read the original article on Initiated