The National Women’s Soccer League’s television viewership grew 500% year-over-year in 2020. It also saw success on social and digital media during the year, with social platform mentions growing 152% and “traditional news media coverage” up 55%. 

Thanks to the league’s new domestic broadcast deal with CBS Sports, every match of the Challenge Cup was broadcast or streamed live, including two on CBS. For the fall series, one “game of the week” aired live on CBS or CBS Sports Network throughout the seven-week tournament, with others streaming on CBS All Access. The NWSL also has an international streaming deal with Twitch.

Broadcasts of the fall series specifically averaged 383,000 viewers, but overall CBS coverage peaked at 653,000 for the league’s Challenge Cup final in July — which aired on CBS. The league’s previous record was 190,000, set in 2014.

HBO Sports has acquired the rights to “The Day Sports Stood Still,” the Chris Paul-executive produced documentary that focuses on the pandemic-induced sports shutdown that began in March of this year. 

Paul — president of the National Basketball Players Association — will “relive his entire experience from being in the middle of the first game to be stopped” in March, to “suddenly living in quarantine, to his crucial role in helping re-open the NBA safely to playing in ‘the bubble.’” The film will also include interviews that were “largely conducted remotely” with other sports stars. 

Emmy winner Antoine Fuqua is set to direct; Fuqua, Oscar winner Brian Grazer and Emmy winner Justin Wilkes will serve as producers. 

The NBA reportedly missed its season-long revenue projections by $1.5 billion. 

While the league was able to restart its 2019-20 campaign in the bubble environment in Orlando, which initially included 22 teams, it was at an estimated cost of $200 million. Restarting the season, however, was also reported to have saved the league $1.5 billion in additional losses.

Ultimately, the NBA lost 171 regular-season games. Lack of in-person fans during the restart contributed heavily to the loss — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly told players back in May that 40% of the league’s total revenue is generated from games with fans in attendance.

Also adding to that was the rift with China sparked by former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in October 2019. Silver said the league could lose hundreds of millions in revenue as a result.