“We invest in so many emerging outlets like RE—INC because they’re athlete-led, they’re women-led and there are no greater voices to speak about the sport, to analyze the game, to talk about the business landscape than athletes both active and former,” Marciano said. “We have to give voice to them, and the only way that we can do that as these athletes build these platforms is to invest in them—and this ION extension helps with the distribution of those voices.”
ION accounts for 25 weeks and 50 games of national NWSL broadcasts. Earlier this month, it broadcast the Chicago Red Stars’ first-ever home game at Wrigley Field in front of an NWSL-record crowd of 35,038. On June 15, the first RE—CAP Show segments aired during ION’s NWSL matches as fans set expectations of the network’s broadcasts.
“It’s consistency. It’s there every week. They know where to look for it. They know to turn on the TV every Saturday night, and you’re gonna find professional women’s soccer on ION,” Lawlor said. “So now it’s about introducing more of the history, the players, the topics. Tobin and Ally, they’re pioneers in the space.”
Built on teamwork
The RE—CAP Show’s third season kicked off with guests including U.S. soccer Hall of Famer and all-time leading scorer Abby Wambach, author Glennon Doyle and Chelsea FC’s Mia Fishel. If the partnership with ION and Ally works as it should, NWSL broadcasts on the network will functionally serve as marketing and previews for the digital show.
“The women’s sports space right now is so much about relationship building and sharing of playbooks,” Marciano said. “We have built so many phenomenal relationships with other brands in the industry, and we’re all sharing, we’re all working together, we’re collaborating because no brand can do it by themselves. No media outlet can do it by themselves.”
