At various times, games were televised on
TNT,
CNNSI,
ESPN2,
PAX TV, and various local and regional sports channels via
Comcast,
Cox,
Fox,
AT&T, and
MSG.
TNT and CNN/SI (2001) TNT broadcast the first WUSA game on April 14, 2001, which was contested between the
Washington Freedom and
San Jose CyberRays at
RFK Stadium in
Washington D.C.. Former
U.S. national team member
Wendy Gebauer Palladino helped called the game alongside play-by-play broadcaster
JP Dellacamera. About 22 games were scheduled to be broadcast nationally on TNT or CNN/SI in 2001. 15 games were initially expected to be shown on TNT and seven games on CNN/SI over the course of June to August. The deal included broadcast of both semifinal matches along with the championship game, known as the Founders Cup, on TNT. During a four-year span, TNT and CNN/SI were scheduled to televise at least 88 games under a $3 million TV contract. Ratings were not available for CNN/SI for the 2001 season as the cable TV provider did not reach enough households to be a statistical factor.
Pax (2002–2003) After the
2001 season, the WUSA opted out of its four-year agreement to go with a two-year pact with the
Pax network. The WUSA's reasoning that Pax's offer for a 4 p.m. Saturday timeslot was more desirable than the noon timeslot that TNT offered. The change from TNT and CNN/SI to Pax however, may have immediately depressed
ratings by confusing fans. To be more specific, the WUSA's ratings plunged from the 0.4 to 0.2 average it got on TNT to a 0.1 average on Pax. In other words, where as an average of 425,000 households tuned in to watch the games on TNT, fewer than 100,000 watched them on Pax. Keep in mind that Pax was a station available in 90 million, 5 million more than TNT. The move to Pax also came as
AOL Time Warner considered morphing CNN/SI into a
basketball channel that would be co-owned with the
National Basketball Association. Pax's coverage in itself, concerned the broadcast of the
WUSA Game of the Week, on 19 consecutive Saturdays beginning in April at 4:00 p.m. (
ET). In 2003, the league wouldn't decide on the opponents for the final Pax
Game of the Week on August 9 in order to provide soccer fans with the best possible matchup with playoff implications. The decision on the two opponents for the August 9 game would be made in early August. In total, Pax was scheduled to televise 18 regular season games and one WUSA Playoff Semifinal in the second week of August. Pax would receive certain cross-promotional opportunities with the league, including signs at each team venue, although the WUSA would handle ad sales for the games. The agreement carried a reported value of $2 million.
ESPN2 (2003) For the WUSA's third and final season, they announced that
ESPN2 would join Pax in broadcasting 23 league games in
2003. This would begin with a rematch of Founders Cup II with the
Washington Freedom visit the
Carolina Courage on April 5. ESPN2 was scheduled to broadcast only four of the 23 nationally televised games. This included the All-Star Game on June 19 and the Founders Cup on August 24.
Beth Mowins and
Anson Dorrance handled WUSA games on not just Pax but ESPN2 also. The WUSA ultimately scored a 0.1 percent rating on Pax and 0.2 percent on ESPN2. == Teams ==