The National Women’s Soccer League today announced the list of broadcast talent for the championship game, presented by Budweiser, of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret. The championship is slated for Sunday, July 26, at 12:30 p.m. EST (10:30 a.m. MDT) with Houston Dash opposing Chicago Red Stars at Rio Tinto Stadium […]

The National Women’s Soccer League today announced the list of broadcast talent for the championship game, presented by Budweiser, of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret. The championship is slated for Sunday, July 26, at 12:30 p.m. EST (10:30 a.m. MDT) with Houston Dash opposing Chicago Red Stars at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The championship game will air on CBS and CBS All Access. Fans outside the U.S. and Canada can stream the championship on Twitch.Play-by-play announcer Jenn Hildreth and analyst Lori Lindsey will call the championship match on CBS and CBS All Access, while play-by-play announcer Mike Watts and analyst Jen Cooper will call the game on Twitch for viewers outside the U.S. and Canada. Marisa Pilla will serve as the on-field reporter, as she has for the entire tournament. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Wagner will contribute to the pre-and post-game shows on CBS Sports HQ, the free 24/7 streaming sports news network, along with CBS Sports soccer writer Sandra Herrera, and studio host Sherree Burruss. Orlando Pride and U.S. women’s national team player Alex Morgan will join Wagner on the pregame show on CBS Sports HQ. Hildreth is in 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 not only soccer, but also basketball, and track and field. Lindsey is a former U.S. women’s national team player whose professional playing career spanned 13 years. Lindsey is one of only four players to have played in all three of the U.S. professional women’s soccer leagues. She now works in broadcast, calling NWSL, Philadelphia Union and LAFC in MLS, USL games, along with ACC and SEC games. Lindsey also travels the globe speaking, raising awareness, and advocating for women’s equality and the LGBTQ community. Watts earned his first professional broadcast assignment with the NWSL’s Sky Blue FC in 2014, calling league matches for a fifth year – the last three for NWSL media’s coverage on Verizon and Yahoo Sports. Watts has commentated premier worldwide events for ESPN, Concacaf, United Soccer League, and U.S. Soccer. Beyond soccer, Watts is the preseason TV voice of the Cincinnati Bengals in addition to covering the NBA, NBA G League, WNBA, and NCAA. Cooper is the host of The Mixxed Zone, a weekly women’s soccer podcast hosted by The Beautiful Game Network, and has served as a color commentator for NWSL stream broadcasts. She was also the editorial director for the NWSL Game of the Week for the last three seasons and has served as an analyst for the NWSL College Draft since 2016. Cooper was a member of the Fox Sports research team for both the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2018 World Cup. Pilla is a sports broadcaster working in her hometown of Philadelphia. She most recently served as the host of the NWSL College Draft for the third time, along with being the main sideline reporter for the NWSL on ESPN Game of the Week in 2019. Pilla also worked as a sideline reporter covering MLS on FS1, and for the last four seasons, has served as the pregame/postgame show host for the Philadelphia Union. 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.