Four Seattle Reign matches will air on Lifetime in 2017

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) unveiled its long-awaited 2017 broadcast schedule on Lifetime in a package that includes 22 regular-season matches, both playoff semifinal games, and the NWSL Championship game.

Seattle Reign FC will feature in four regular season matches, including a home match in August against rivals Portland Thorns FC.

• Saturday, May 27: Houston Dash v. Seattle Reign FC
• Saturday, July 8: North Carolina Courage v. Seattle Reign FC
• Saturday, August 26: Seattle Reign FC v. Portland Thorns FC
• Saturday, September 9: Orlando Pride v. Seattle Reign FC

The NWSL Game of the Week will air every Saturday on Lifetime and be available for live and on-demand streaming via the Lifetime iOS and Android apps and online at MyLifetime.com. Fans outside of the United States can also watch live via NWSLsoccer.com.

Aside from the opening week, all matches will begin with a 30-minute pregame show at 12:30 p.m. PT, with games kicking off at 1:00 p.m. PT. Lifetime has brought in a group of experienced broadcasters to host and contribute to the pregame and oversee match coverage: Jenn Hildreth, Aly Wagner, Kate Markgraf, and Dalen Cuff.

• Hildreth will serve as play-by-play announcer. She is a seasoned broadcaster who covered the 2015 Women’s World Cup for FOX Sports, college soccer on ESPN, and the 2015 and 2016 NWSL Championship games.
• Wagner, a former U.S. Women’s National Team player, will be the main analyst. Wagner, who works at FOX Sports on USWNT games, also served as an analyst for the 2017 NWSL Draft and covered the 2015 World Cup.
• Markgraf, another USWNT star, will be the pregame host. An analyst for NBC, Markgraf was a member of NBC’s Olympic soccer coverage in 2012 and 2016. She became the first woman analyst to work a major men’s soccer tournament that aired in the United States, during ESPN’s coverage of UEFA Euro 2016.
• Cuff will co-host the pregame show and serve as a sideline reporter. Cuff covered MLS and the New England Revolution at Comcast SportsNet New England, is currently a college basketball analyst for ESPN, and was part of NBC’s Olympics coverage.

While fans can now plan out their TV schedule for the 2017 NWSL season, they’ll have to wait a little longer for details on how to stream the matches that don’t air on Lifetime each week. Those plans are still in the works by A+E Networks and the NWSL.

A full 2017 NWSL broadcast schedule is below. For those who are curious, all 10 teams will have at least one match on Lifetime. The teams who will appear on TV the most are Houston and Orlando, with seven matches, followed by Portland and Chicago with six.

That includes five home matches airing on Lifetime for Portland and Orlando, and four home games for the North Carolina Courage. Boston, Washington, and Kansas City are the three teams without a home broadcast this year.