NWSL Caps 2025 Season With Awards Show, Skills Challenge Productions

A team of 70 is on the ground in California to produce both events

Besides the NWSL Championship tomorrow evening, the NWSL concludes its 2025 season with two additional broadcast presentations: the NWSL Awards show, which aired Wednesday afternoon on ESPN2, and the upcoming third-annual NWSL Skills Challenge tonight at Spartan Soccer Complex at San Jose State University. The latter event will be nationally broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

The NWSL Awards Show was covered by a traditional complement of cameras.

“Our partnerships team has built two platforms we’ve been able to turn into network-broadcast opportunities to promote how our partners support our players,” says Brian Gordon, SVP, broadcast and media, NWSL. “We get to celebrate the outstanding performances of our 2025 season and show the personalities of our players during the Awards Show. From a production and event perspective, there is a lot to oversee when producing two big shows in three days. They are two totally different shows, yet in the same category of made-for-TV events. We’re starting with a blank page for each and figuring out the most entertaining show for the broadcast viewers and the in-venue audiences.”

The onsite productions for both events are “at different scale,” Gordon notes. For the awards presentation at San Jose Civic Center, the league incorporated a traditional awards-show camera complement. That included three handheld cameras, two hard cameras, two point-of-view cameras, and a mini jib at the front of the audience. In addition, the events team created multiple lounge setups for players and corporate partners to provide a more laid-back vibe.

Inside the venue, the focus, according to Gordon, was the on-stage video screens: a large screen flanked by two verticals. The edit team developed more than 185 pieces of content for the in-house experience and broadcast.

“2025 is our first year to produce an awards show,” Gordon says, “so we focused on the players and their stories.”

Tonight’s skills event is much larger and requires flexibility. Offering three events occurring in a 90-minute live show, the event needs to be condensed to a 45-minute show for next week’s broadcast.

“Each event has a different coverage plan to ensure they are documented properly,” Gordon says. “We need to make sure the resets are quick, to keep the in-house show flowing.”

Behind the scenes at the NWSL Awards Show at the San Jose Civic Center

This year, the NWSL has expanded the skills show with the addition of two team captains: NWSL legends Sam Mewis and Kelley O’Hara. From a technology perspective, incorporating the RoverCam into the skills challenge is the newest addition for the event. The device, operated by Jeff Zachary and Deena Sheldon, will follow players throughout as they compete in each of the events.

According to Gordon, when presenting partner CarMax learned that a motorized camera would be used for the skills challenge, the company decided to sponsor it. Dubbed “Max” by director Bryan Hennessy, the device will be part of the 16-camera complement deployed throughout the skills show, up from 13 in 2024.

There will be a specific focus on the audio complement during the skills competition, according to Gordon. Microphones will be attached to each event apparatus, along with mics on captains Mewis and O’Hara and two player mics. The two captains will also wear an IFB during the obstacle-course relay race — a new event created by the NWSL’s marketing team and featuring all 12 players — to provide host Kylen Mills and analyst Jordan Angeli instant feedback on team performances.

“The Awards Show is the backdrop for the league,” says Gordon. “We want to celebrate the great performances of the 2025 season and see their outstanding personalities and show off their fashion styles. For skills, we’re going to highlight the great personalities in the NWSL, while showing off their competitive side in each of the competitions.”

Production hub NEP South Florida, led by Executive Producer Mike Freedman, is providing the engineering, camera support, drone, RF gimbal cam, edit team, technical team, and NEP Supershooter 26 and NEP ST26 mobile units for both events.

The edit team created more than 185 pieces of content for the in-house awards experience and broadcast.

Indianapolis-based Innovative Edit, led by producer Terry Lingner and director Conrad Piccirillo, created all preproduction elements and animations and will be the live-production team. The company’s personnel for the Awards Show also includes postproduction team of VP Eric Maloney, Creative Director Shawn Mollet, and Video and Content Producer Caitlyn Piccirillo.

A total of 70 people spanning the league, vendors, production team, and broadcast talent are on hand in California working both events.

For the skills show, Hennessey and producer Jason Jacquette return for the second year in a row. The skills show edit team also returns with Pat Ball, Glenn Gapultos, and Deeana Hong.

NWSL staff and personnel involved in producing both events include Director, Operations, Erin Hurley; Senior Director, Production, Meg Buchan; Director, Brand, Andrew LeRay; Director, Events, Katie Conklin; Creative Director Maureen Raisch; Partnership Marketers Audrey Bryan and Bradley Bean; Senior Manager, Communications, Maddy Schachte; and VP, Marketing, Michelle Haines.

The NEP South Florida team includes Executive Producer Mike Freedman, Tech Manager Steven Kravitz, Production Manager Hildelisa Gonzalez, and Broadcast Manager Victor Bague.