NWSL Announces ESPN Broadcast Team

July 12, 2019 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) News Release

CHICAGO - The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the preeminent professional women's soccer league in the United States, and ESPN today announced the broadcast talent lineup for the 14 league matches to be televised during the 2019 season.

A collaboration of top talent will be teaming up to support the broadcasts that includes Aly Wagner, Jenn Hildreth, Angela Hucles, Glenn Davis, Marisa Pilla and Dalen Cuff, with the full roster to be completed later this month.

Aly Wagner will be serving as a game analyst beginning August 25th in Portland on ESPNews. Wagner was the lead analyst for the NWSL on Lifetime the past two seasons. Additionally, she covered the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019 and was the first woman to call a men's FIFA World Cup match. Wagner played for the USWNT from 1999 to 2008, winning two Olympic golds and two third place finishes at the Women's World Cup. When at Santa Clara University, she was a star player, earning the Hermann Trophy and leading the Broncos to their first NCAA Championship.

Jenn Hildreth comes on board as the lead play-by-play announcer and will work most of the games including a semifinal and final. Coming off her coverage for the FIFA 2019 Women's World Cup, Hildreth will begin announcing for the second ESPN televised game in Chicago on July 21 in the first televised game to feature returning USWNT players. Hildreth has covered women's soccer as a play-by-play announcer, host, analyst and reporter over the last four NWSL seasons and two Women's World Cups. At Emory University, she lettered in soccer, where she was a goalkeeper, as well as in basketball and track and field.

Angela Hucles will be in the booth as an analyst. She was an analyst for both the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups as well as the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. A former member of the U.S. Women's National Team, Hucles brought home two Olympic gold medals and helped her team place third in two Women's World Cups. She spent nine years playing soccer professionally in Boston and served as President for the Women's Sports Foundation from 2015 to 2017. Hucles played soccer at the University of Virginia (1996-1999), where she was a four-year all-ACC player. She currently holds the record at UVA for most overall goals, game-winning goals and total points. In her last year, she was a finalist for the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy.

Glenn Davis is joining the team as a play-by-play announcer. He has experience from broadcasting seven World Cups, both men's and women's, and two Olympics. Along with international work, he has worked with the MLS, NCAA College Cups, and has previously worked with the NWSL. He played soccer professionally in the 80s with the American Soccer League as well as having an impressive collegiate career with Boston University and Davis & Elkins College.

Marisa Pilla will appear in her debut role on ESPN as a sideline reporter. A fixture in the Philadelphia sports scene, Pilla has hosted coverage of the NWSL College Draft the last two years. She has also followed the MLS as reporter and studio host for the Philadelphia Union. Beyond soccer, she has covered the NBA, NFL, and NCAA Football and Basketball for regional sports networks.

Dalen Cuff rounds out the team and will support the broadcasts in a variety of roles, including play-by-play announcer for the first game on July 14, where Orlando Pride competes against the Portland Thorns FC at Portland's Providence Park. He will also be working as a sideline reporter later in the season. Most recently, he has been working as a college basketball studio and in-game analyst on ESPN and has worked for a variety of networks covering sports in roles including studio host, analyst and reporter.

NWSL telecasts will begin Sunday, July 14, at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS, with a matchup of the Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride. In all, eight matches will air on ESPNEWS, and the remaining six, including the two semifinals and the NWSL championship, will air on ESPN2.

2019 NWSL Schedule on ESPN:

Date Time (ET) Event Platforms

Sun, Jul 14 3 p.m. Portland Thorns FC vs. Orlando Pride ESPNEWS

Sun, Jul 21 6 p.m. Chicago Red Stars vs. North Carolina Courage ESPN2

Sat, Jul 27 10 p.m. Utah Royals FC vs. North Carolina Courage ESPNEWS

Fri, Aug 2 7 p.m. Houston Dash vs. Reign FC ESPNEWS

Sun, Aug 11 3 p.m. Portland Thorns FC vs. North Carolina Courage  ESPNEWS

Sun, Aug 18 1 p.m. Sky Blue FC vs. Reign FC ESPNEWS

Sun, Aug 25 3 p.m. Portland Thorns FC vs. Chicago Red Stars ESPNEWS

Wed, Sep 11 7 p.m. Orlando Pride vs. Chicago Red Stars ESPNEWS

Tue, Sep 17 7:30 p.m. North Carolina Courage vs. Houston Dash ESPNEWS

Wed, Sep 25 9 p.m. Houston Dash vs. Washington Spirit ESPN2

Sun, Sep 29 2 p.m. Reign FC vs. Portland Thorns FC ESPN2

Sun, Oct 20 2 p.m. Semifinal I ESPN2

4 p.m. Semifinal II ESPN2

Sun, Oct 27 4 p.m. NWSL Championship  ESPN2

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