Jenn Hildreth and Aly Wagner Call Opening Game Live on CBS
Mike Watts and Lori Lindsey to Call Opening Game on Twitch for Fans Outside the U.S. and Canada
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) today announced the full list of broadcast talent for the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret.
Read: NWSL UPDATED 2020 NWSL CHALLENGE CUP SCHEDULE AND ROSTERS
The tournament, taking place June 27 – July 26, kicks off with North Carolina Courage facing Portland Thorns FC on June 27 at 10:30 a.m. MDT (12:30 p.m. EST) on CBS and CBS All Access, followed by a matchup between Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit on CBS All Access at 8 p.m. MDT (10 p.m. EST).
Fans outside the U.S. and Canada can stream the full tournament on Twitch.
Play-by-play announcer Jenn Hildreth and analyst Aly Wagner will call the opening match on CBS and CBS All Access.
Play-by-play announcer Mike Watts and analyst Lori Lindsey will call games 2-22 on CBS All Access as well as the opener and final game on Twitch. Josh Tolle and Jenn Cooper will broadcast all other matches on Twitch for viewers outside the U.S. and Canada. Marisa Pilla will serve as the tournament’s on-field reporter, providing fans with player and coach interviews, along with daily recaps and behind-the-scenes insight.
Hildreth returns for her sixth season as play-by-play announcer for the NWSL, having called matches across a variety of networks, including ESPN, Fox Sports and Lifetime. Hildreth is a versatile broadcaster who has covered various sports with experience as an analyst, host, reporter and play-by-play announcer in a career spanning nearly 20 years on television. She is the only female play-by-play announcer to work Fox Sports’ coverage of the last two FIFA Women’s World Cups, 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.
Aly Wagner is a former U.S. women’s national team player, who won two Olympic gold medals and two FIFA Women’s World Cup bronze over her 10-year career with the USWNT. Wagner began her professional club career in 2003 after being selected as the number-one pick at the Women’s United Soccer Association Draft by the San Diego Spirit. She was in the first group of international players to be brought over by Olympique Lyonnais and then finished her career with Los Angeles Sol. After concluding her soccer career, Wagner served as a Fox Sports analyst for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and then became the lead analyst this past summer for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The year prior at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, she made U.S. English-language television history as the first woman to call a men’s FIFA World Cup game. Wagner additionally worked as the lead analyst for the NWSL Game of the Week broadcasts on Lifetime and ESPN from 2017-2019.
For more information on the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, visit here.
