{"id":689243,"date":"2026-03-29T02:45:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/689243\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T02:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T02:45:21","slug":"ions-push-into-pwhl-another-big-win-for-womens-sports-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/689243\/","title":{"rendered":"ION\u2019s push into PWHL another big win for women\u2019s sports coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

PWHL<\/p>\n

This is the story of how one overlooked over-the-air television network went from serial killers to penalty killers \u2014 and became a champion for an underserved segment of American sports fans.<\/p>\n

ION\u2019s push into women\u2019s sports coverage is set to score another landmark Saturday afternoon when it airs the first nationally televised Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League game, featuring the New York Sirens against the Montr\u00e9al Victoire in a neutral-site clash in Detroit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest in a series of firsts that goes back several years, beginning with a well-timed jump into WNBA rights, a deal with the NWSL and a growing roster of live women\u2019s sports that now includes the PWHL.<\/p>\n

Scripps agreed to purchase ION in late 2020, and the company\u2019s brain trust used that juncture to evaluate the strategy for a network that now reaches 126 million households.<\/p>\n

\"Savannah<\/p>\n

Savannah Norcross of the New York Sirens celebrates with teammates after scoring her first PWHL goal during the third period of the game against the Vancouver Goldeneyes on December 31, 2025 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prior owners for decades had a procedural strategy, dramas, hour after hour of \u2018SVU,\u2019 \u2018Law & Order,\u2019 \u2018NCIS,\u2019 all that, and it worked really well \u2014 very profitable, big audiences,\u201d Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports, told The Post.<\/p>\n

Lawlor remembers looking across the spectrum of sports properties and being struck by how \u201cit\u2019s really hard to be a women\u2019s sports fan in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent a lot of time looking at the women\u2019s space, and the one thing we recognized was, every time there was a woman\u2019s sport on TV, it did better than the year before,\u201d Lawlor said. \u201cBut there just wasn\u2019t a lot of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

They approached the WNBA with a strategy to acquire rights and create a first-of-its-kind franchise night, consisting of national doubleheaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good strategy, and we got lucky,\u201d Lawlor said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because ION\u2019s initial three-year deal with the WNBA began in 2023, the eve of Caitlin Clark\u2019s freight-train senior season at Iowa that segued into her move to the pros the following year with a cohort of new, name-recognized stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers started playing on ION, people were seeking them out,\u201d Lawlor said, \u201cand then they all realized, \u2018Oh, I have ION.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Where once you had Olivia Benson, you now have Cameron Brink and a growing reputation as a leader in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark of the United States plays during the game at the 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament between New Zealand and the United States in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 15, 2026. NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about to go into our fourth season at the WNBA, and I feel like we\u2019re finally there,\u201d Lawlor said.<\/p>\n

ION offers the most national broadcasts of WNBA games and NWSL matches. Their franchise nights \u2014 Friday for WNBA, Saturday for NWSL \u2014 are replete with studio shows that include weekly features on the leagues\u2019 different personalities. For example, the first NWSL profile piece highlighted veteran defender Carson Pickett, an advocate for limb-difference awareness who was born without a left forearm and hand.<\/p>\n

The process of incorporating the PWHL unfolded over three weeks, Lawlor says, beginning with conversations with league brass in Milan during an Olympics tournament that sparked a surge in interest in women\u2019s hockey. In addition to Saturday\u2019s Sirens game, ION will air the PWHL\u2019s championship series, the Walter Cup Finals, in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe popularity of those players, especially the Americans when they return back from the Olympics, was really interesting to us,\u201d Lawlor said. \u201cWe just said, \u2018The timing is right, let\u2019s seize this moment.\u2019 \u2026 It would be a shame if now the Olympics are gone and for a year or two, the game\u2019s not visible. But let\u2019s do our part and make the game visible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hayley<\/p>\n

Hayley Scamurra of the Montr\u00e9al Victoire celebrates a goal against the Minnesota Frost during the third period at Grand Casino Arena on March 25, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota. Getty Images<\/p>\n

It helps that national brands \u2014 Saturday\u2019s game is sponsored by Ally, for instance \u2014 are keen on partnering up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we needed rights, we knew we needed an audience and we knew we needed brands,\u201d Lawlor said. \u201cAnd all three of those have to work together, and they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawlor said ION makes money on its WNBA and NWSL investments. The commitment now is \u201cfor the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n

ION\u2019s new six-year deal with the WNBA begins in 2026, having been rescued for a labor-related delay. It\u2019s Year 3 of a five-year deal with the NWSL.<\/p>\n

Asked about having a bigger package of national PWHL games next season, Lawlor said, \u201cI think the league\u2019s hoping that, and we\u2019re hoping that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we believed about the interest in women\u2019s sports has proven itself out,\u201d Lawlor said, \u201cwhich is why it makes sense to keep doubling down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PWHL This is the story of how one overlooked over-the-air television network went from serial killers to penalty…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":689244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[288926,233,1936,18370,288927,208447,5468,208446,62,67,132,68,232,1707],"class_list":["post-689243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-brian-lawlor","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-getty-images","tag-ion","tag-montreal-victoire","tag-new-york-sirens","tag-nwsl","tag-pwhl","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba","tag-womens-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}