Amazon Prime Video Chooses Onsite Production Path for Its 27 NWSL Matches

The streamer made its league debut with the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 15

The 2024 NWSL season rolls into Matchday 4 this weekend, and Amazon Prime Video will kick off the seven-match slate with coverage of Houston Dash vs. Washington Spirit tonight at 8 p.m. ET. With 27 total regular-season games on its schedule, the streamer has decided to produce the weekly 1080p broadcasts onsite at each venue.

“Our main objective is finding the best way to serve the fan,” says Betsy Riley, senior coordinating producer, live events, Prime Video. “We believe that [having an] onsite presence provides us with additional storytelling opportunities, helps build new stars in the league, and draws the viewer closer to the pitch. There’s nothing that can replace hearing the roar of the crowd and giving our announcers the chance to walk on the pitch pregame to see the players in person. Those are the moments when you feel like you’re covering the sport in a real and holistic way.”

Pitchside Productions: GCV Anywhere Connects Remote Graphics to Onsite Trucks

After three games to begin the 2024 season, the production and operations crews are hitting their groove for their remaining 23 regular-season games. To pull off this weekly effort, the streamer has tapped the services of Game Creek Video for its onsite infrastructure. According to a plan spearheaded by Amazon Director, Production and Technical Operations, Ken Miller, Game Creek Video trucks are onsite in the broadcast compound, and the company’s GCV Anywhere IP platform connects the remote graphics from Prime Video headquarters in Los Angeles to the venue.

Mike Watts (left) and Lori Lindsey in the booth at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ

All games will be produced and delivered in 1080p, which was seen on Prime Video’s second season of Thursday Night Football. This wrinkle in the plan was implemented by Amazon Senior Manager, Technical Operations and Engineering, John Ward; Lead Tech Manager Phil Peggs; and Technical Operations Managers Bjorn Estlund and Stephen Leotta. Despite the league’s advances over the past couple of seasons, a handful of venues — including CPKC Stadium, the brand-new home of the Kansas City Current — are integrating a workflow that the league is not accustomed to.

“When we arrive on Thursday,” says Riley, “we’re sometimes seeing these venues from an onsite-truck perspective for the first time. And some of these venues are supporting a 1080p broadcast for the first time, which means that there are additional fiber needs when we get onsite.”

The shows will deploy 13-15 cameras per game, including a minimum of two with slow-motion. Broadcasts will be enhanced by a sophisticated audio package that captures nat sound from pitch level. In addition, Los Angeles-based DLP Media Group is assisting Amazon Lead Feature Producer Ross Tiernan and his crew with postproduction material seen during each broadcast.

A Flying Start: Inaugural Match Is ‘Perfect Mix of Ingredients’

Broadcasters or streamers rarely get to produce an inaugural match for which hardware is on the line, but Prime Video was in the driver’s seat for the first-ever, one-day NWSL Challenge Cup on Friday, March 15. After the league adopted a one-off game rather than a multi-day competition, the 2024 edition, featuring defending NWSL Champion Gotham FC vs. NWSL Supporters Shield winner San Diego Wave and a ton of storylines, got the streamer off to a flying start.

“On paper, you had amazing star power with notable accolades,” says Riley, “but the actual game proved that these players also had tremendous skill on the pitch. Fans were able to see the new generation of [U.S. Women’s National Team] players emerge, but they were also able to see the world’s best crop of international players. It was the perfect mix of ingredients, and a header by Alex Morgan to seal the game was an incredible way for us to launch.”

Morgan’s game-winning goal off the bench was a good sign of things to come on Prime Video. Since the debut match, fans flocking to the streaming platform have become familiar with late-game dramatics. In both of the other two broadcasts, a goal has been scored near or in stoppage time: one by women’s soccer and Brazilian soccer legend Marta in the 88th minute to lead the Orlando Pride to a 1-1 draw against Angel City FC; the other, an insane pinball-like goal by San Diego Wave’s Emily van Egmond in the 98th minute for the match’s lone tally:

Prime Video has chosen to produce its allotment of games in-house, but the NWSL’s Broadcast Operations group has supplied support in the stream’s debut with the league. Led by NWSL SVP, Broadcast, Brian Gordon and Senior Director, Broadcast and Production, Meg Buchan, the team has developed a fruitful and beneficial working relationship with Riley and her crew.

“[The relationship] is very friendly with the league’s other broadcast partners as well,” notes Riley. “We all know that working together helps lift this sport, so we cheer for [other networks’] broadcasts every week.”

The ‘Other’ Football: TNF Elements Influence Soccer Broadcasts

The 1080p effect and the decision to work onsite are major rollovers from Prime Video’s premiere NFL package, but NWSL fans may notice other similarities to the way Thursday Night Football is produced. As with TNF, the NWSL-broadcast crew — which includes Director Eric Falkner, Lead Production Manager Tenley Kokich, and Producers Scott Karpen and Bettina Shore — aimed to gain the trust of the viewing audience through authenticity and accurate analysis. The process began with consulting and relying on the expertise of overseas colleagues who worked on the streamer’s international coverage of the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League. Finding the right voices to tell the players’ stories and break down the action on the pitch was essential and led to the recruitment of play-by-play announcer Mike Watts, analysts Lori Lindsey and Lianne Sanderson, contributor/sideline analyst Kealia Watt, and sideline reporter Britney Eurton.

Mike Watts and Lori Lindsey kicked off San Diego Wave vs. Seattle Reign on water coolers at Snapdragon Stadium.

With knowledgeable and charismatic folks behind the mic, the production team focused on the look and feel of the broadcasts. To showcase the personalities of the on-air talent and make each broadcast especially inviting, the team sought to add a dash of fun. From the jump, the broadcasts have included viral moments highlighting the delicate balance of work and play. For example, Watts and Lindsey began the broadcast of San Diego Wave vs. Seattle Reign by sitting on water coolers, a nod to what San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney and Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey do during a match.

“We take our job very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” says Riley. “We do believe that joy can, and should, be a part of the broadcast. There’s a sign that we travel to every TNF [production], and now it’s coming with us to every NWSL game: ‘Work Hard and Be Nice to People.’ It’s such a small detail, but I think that informs how [everyone on the crew] strives to operate behind the scenes.”

Steward of Growth: Prime Video Prepares To Push Coverage Forward

After a regular season full of top-flight soccer, Prime Video will broadcast a quarterfinal matchup during the league’s playoffs. The onsite operation will certainly get the team ready for that highly anticipated broadcast, but, before the calendar flips to fall, Riley and company will keep a close eye on the postseason.

“Now that we’re through launch,” she says, “we’re starting to look ahead [at further dates in the schedule]. We have a doubleheader on Sept. 13 with an international break, so we’ll start to fine-tune our baseline plan as we get closer to the end of the year.”

As the NWSL continues to grow its list of distributors and broadcast partners, the league will offer a bigger and better viewing product. Prime Video is in a position to not only grow the league’s viewership but elevate the production quality of women’s professional sports as a whole.

“When you hear that the ink has dried on a deal with the NWSL,” says Riley, “you feel a ton of gratitude but also a lot of responsibility. We’re very aware that we’re still in the early stages of the growth of the NWSL and women’s sports, so it’s really exciting.”

After tonight’s Houston Dash vs. Washington Spirit matchup, Prime Video has two more marquee matchups this month: Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave FC on Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m. ET and Angel City FC vs. Kansas City Current Friday, April 26 at 10 p.m. For a look at the entire 2024 regular-season schedule, CLICK HERE.