Why is NWSL+ Free?

On Thursday as part of its 2024 schedule announcement, the NWSL unveiled the details of its 2024 broadcast schedule which include 20 games on the ESPN family of networks, 24 games on the CBS family of networks, 50 games on ION and 25 games on Amazon Prime.  That leaves 69 regular season matches which will be streamed on the NWSL’s new direct-to-consumer service, NWSL+.

Is having every match of the 2024 season available to watch a great thing?  Absolutely! 🎉

Is having the league stream all 69 matches which are not part of the media deal via NWSL+ a good thing?  Yes! 🥳

But there is one thing about NWSL+ that has me stumped: it’s price.

It’s free.

🤔

Sure, part of me really likes the idea of not having to type in my credit card number to access these games.  But I have questions about this decision and NWSL+…

First and foremost, what do the players think about 69 of their games being free to watch (for anyone who doesn’t buy a ticket to witness the match in person)?

The market just said that 120 matches (113 regular season plus 7 playoff games) are worth $60m in 2024.  That’s $500k per match … But these other 69 regular season games are worth a combined $0?

🤨

To me, the value of the NWSL product just got devalued.  And if I’m a NWSL player, I’m not happy about it.  

The NWSL should be seeking to make more money that either gets re-invested to create an even better league or that eventually funnels its way to me as a player.  And with the potential revenue NWSL+ could be making growing year over year, the league pricing their new streaming service at $0 is a multi-year setback.

Second, what is the league’s rationale for pricing the inaugural season of NWSL+ at $0?

Putting my “I work in a women’s soccer pro league office” hat back on, all I can come up with is that perhaps:

1. The NWSL has conducted research and determined that fans won’t pay an additional fee to watch matches that aren’t included in the media deal.
2. The league doesn’t have the technology capabilities needed to charge a fee for NWSL+ in 2024, and then to allow fans to renew or cancel their subscriptions in 2025.

Or perhaps the NWSL is hoping free access to 69 of their matches will:

1. Hook fans into spending future money on match tickets and/or merchandise.
2. Draw enough numbers to look good as a stat in future sponsorship pitches and the negotiations for the next media deal following the 2027 season, with the hopes of getting all NWSL matches in 2028 and beyond televised / streamed by an official partner.

Putting my digital product management / business hat on, I am skeptical about the league’s ability to execute on either of these strategies as I have seen no evidence that the NWSL and its teams know how to build digital marketing hooks to entice fans to spend more money or engage with their content on their owned digital channels (the NWSL App, the soon-to-debut NWSL+ App and NWSLsoccer.com plus the club apps and websites).  The league is doing great at this on social media, but is missing the fundamentals on their owned digital channels.

Basic, and I can’t emphasize enough b-a-s-i-c, examples of the league and its clubs not executing on digital fundamentals: 

1. Is NWSL+ listed in the navigation of or otherwise prominently touted on  NWSLsoccer.com or the NWSL App so that fans can easily discover it and sign up?  No.
2. Is NWSL+ touted on the club apps and websites so that fans can easily discover it and sign up?  No.
3. Did NWSL and its clubs have a coordinated communications plan to promote NWSL+ as part of releasing the 2024 schedule?  No.  Observe:
   1. Four of the league’s 12 clubs - NJ/NY Gotham FC, Portland Thorns FC, Racing Louisville FC and the Washington Spirit - did not mention the launch of NWSL+ at all in their press releases announcing their 2024 schedules.
   2. The North Carolina Courage doesn’t even have a press release announcing their 2024 schedule on their team website, never mind mention the launch of NWSL+.
   3. None of the press releases on the clubs’ websites link to one of two NWSL+ webpages so fans can learn more and sign up for the new live match streaming service.

😖

Moving on, if I were working for NWSL, how would I evaluate whether or not NWSL+ is a success?

Keeping my digital product management / business hat on, as the NWSL season gets underway I would gauge the success of NWSL+ on the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs in biz speak):

Acquisition & Activation

I want to understand how interested fans are in signing up for live streams of NWSL matches and if they quickly convert into actually watching a live stream.

1. New Members: How many unique fans sign up for a NWSL+ account on a weekly / monthly basis?
2. Active New Members: What percentage of unique fans who just signed up for a NWSL+ account watch a NWSL live stream in the same week / month?

Engagement

I want to understand how NWSL+ members are using their subscription and watching NWSL live streams throughout the season.  I also want to understand if the live stream content is engaging.

1. Active Users: How many unique NWSL+ members watch NWSL+ on a weekly / monthly basis?  Of these, how many are new users (watching for the first time) vs returning users (watching for the second or more time)?
2. Active Engaged Members: What percentage of total NWSL+ members watch NWSL+ on a weekly / monthly basis?
3. Average Matches Watched: How many matches on average do NWSL+ members watch on a weekly / monthly basis?
4. Average Match Duration Watched: How long on average do NWSL+ members watch any give match on NWSL+?

Retention

I want to understand if NWSL+ members continue to watch NWSL+ live streams consistently throughout the season. I also what to understand when they drop off and stop watching.

1. Retention Rates: What percentage of unique NWSL+ members are still watching NWSL+ after 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc. from the date they created a NWSL+ account?
2. Churn Rates:  Conversely, what percentage of unique NWSL+ members are no longer watching NWSL+ after 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc. from the date they created a NWSL+ account?

Revenue

I want to understand how NWSL+ contributes to the league’s bottom line.

1. NWSL+ Revenue: How much demand is NWSL+ itself realizing on a weekly / monthly basis?
2. NWSL+ Profits / Losses: When comparing NWSL+ revenue to the costs associated with producing it, is NWSL+ operating at a profit or a loss and by how much?
3. Revenue per NWSL+ member: How much revenue associated with the NWSL - tickets, merchandise, NWSL+ subscription, etc. - is generated on average by a NWSL+ member.

But this last category of Key Performance Indicators is mostly moot as NWSL+ is free.

So how much revenue did the NWSL potentially leave on the table in 2024 by not charging a fee for NWSL+? (Nevermind future years)

Here’s some back of the napkin math which uses The Equalizer's reporting on 2023 fan attendance as its basis. (I added up the teams' 2023 total attendance in the first table in the Equalizer article to get the first number below.):

Obviously there is some guess work and assumptions here - i.e. I’m assuming that every NWSL+ subscriber pays full price.  But I think the NWSL is leaving approximately a million dollars on the table by not charging a fee to subscribe to NWSL+ in 2024.

🧐

To be fair, is this theoretical $1m for 69 matches much less than the $60m for the 120 matches that are part of the media deal?  Yes.  

But it’s still a million dollars.  

This is a million dollars that could go towards improving the quality of the NWSL+ matches.  Yes, I know we haven’t even seen a NWSL+ match yet, but the number of cameras, the quality of graphics, the quality and number of talent calling the matches, etc. can always be improved.

It’s a million dollars that could go into other initiatives unrelated to NWSL+ such as marketing the matches that are a part of the media deal, creating a much better NWSL mobile app and website, hiring additional league office staff, or providing better benefits to league and team employees including the players.

And that’s just in 2024. How much revenue is NWSL leaving on the table over multiple years as the growth of the league compounds?  How will this decision to price NWSL+ at $0 impact the NWSL’s finances not just in 2024 but for years to come?

One last question - what will charging $0 for NWSL+ mean for fan behavior?

This is where psychology comes in.  

There are studies you can point to that say offering something for free is a great thing - fans will love having free access, they’ll see it as a reward, and they’ll engage in the live streams more and spend more money on NWSL.

Then there are other studies you can point to that say offering something for free has the opposite effect - fans will be skeptical and wonder why these 69 matches are free, they won’t be as bought in as they haven’t made an investment and will therefore, watch fewer live streams and spend less money on NWSL than they would if they were paying for NWSL+, etc.

Putting my fan hat on, I fall closer to the latter. While I do plan to watch some NWSL+ matches this season, I also know how I behave as a fan when I pay for a subscription service.

As a baseball fan, I've been a subscriber to MLB TV for over 5 years. For $149.99, I can stream any live regular season game other than the games of the team in my local market (Seattle Mariners) and the national TV broadcasts on ESPN (Sunday Night Baseball) and Fox (typically Saturday afternoons and evenings) - so roughly 2,199 games per season. Throughout the MLB season, do I consider the investment I made in purchasing a MLB TV package and does this influence my decision on whether to tune in? Yes.

I am curious how offering NWSL+ for free will play out for the NWSL.  And I’m also curious about the longer term impacts of the NWSL’s decision to set the baseline price of the matches which aren’t a part of the media deal at $0.  How is NWSL+ going to convince fans to potentially pay a subscription fee for access to these live games in the future?

The only way to start answering these questions about whether pricing NWSL+ for $0 is wise is for the season and NWSL+ streams to start.  While I am skeptical, let’s go!