Premier League WOMEN
NWSL ends Victory+ deal amid financial strain, shifts to NWSL+
On Thursday the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced it was ending its streaming partnership with Victory+ effective immediately, citing the platform’s reported financial difficulties and a missed rights payment as the immediate reason for ending the agreement. The decision comes as the league prepares to shift all matches to its own NWSL+ service starting this weekend.
The league had added Victory+ to its broadcast rotation in preparation for the 2026 expansion, hoping a free, ad‑supported model would accommodate a larger slate of games. The plan called for 57 matches to be shown in a weekly Sunday night slot.
In its statement, the NWSL cited Victory+’s reported financial difficulties and a missed rights payment as the immediate reason for ending the agreement. The league also noted that several teams had already withdrawn from their individual deals with the platform.
From this weekend onward, every NWSL match will be streamed on the league’s direct‑to‑consumer service NWSL+. The first broadcast under the new arrangement will be the Sunday fixture between the Utah Royals and the Portland Thorns.
Five clubs that held regional Victory+ agreements – Bay FC, Washington Spirit, Orlando Pride, Gotham FC and Angel City FC – are also terminating their contracts. The Pride and Bay announced their exits on Thursday, and Gotham is expected to follow on Friday.
Other sports franchises have similarly left Victory+, including the Texas Rangers, which moved its local broadcasts to BZZR, and the Anaheim Ducks, which informed Victory+ it will end the partnership for the next season. These departures highlight broader concerns about Victory+’s financial stability.
Victory+ has struggled to secure funding since February and has missed rights payments to teams across multiple leagues, according to reports from Sports Business Journal.
Despite the setbacks, Victory+ still holds active contracts with the Dallas Stars and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream, which remain in place.