Earlier this year, DAZN announced that it had acquired the broadcasting rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL). As part of the four-year deal, which starts Tuesday, fans around the world will be able to watch UWCL games live on one centralized channel for the first time.

Now, Ada Hegerberg, UWCL’s all-time leading scorer, has joined forces with DAZN as their first-ever, season-long global women’s football ambassador. Returning to the pitch after a nearly two-year recovery from a torn ACL, Hegerberg will actively represent a landmark investment in the women’s game.

The Olympique Lyonnais forward and inaugural female Ballon d’Or winner, who’s also a campaign ambassador for We All Rise with More Eyes, is passionate about pushing for more women’s sports coverage.

“With success, huge responsibility comes with you,” Hegerberg told Just Women’s Sports. “You want to use that for something good and I think the women’s game needs high profiles to carry the game. And the more of us there are, the more power we have.”

Following a season in which the UWCL final wasn’t “even near to be found” on French television, Hegerberg sees DAZN’s broadcast deal as historic. All 61 UWCL matches this season and next will be available on DAZN and for free through their YouTube channel, starting with the group stage kickoff on Tuesday.

“I feel like we’ve all just been waiting for someone to just jump in there and grab the opportunity and DAZN just came into the game, took control,” said Hegerberg. “We couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t be happier because it’s all about making the sport available for people.

“We’re not talking about forcing the sport on anyone. We’re talking about giving people access to it. Whether it’s one person or one million, it’s all about inspiring people, the next generation, even the parents too.”

Growing up in Norway, Hegerberg played soccer with boys, even cutting her hair to look more like them. In the documentary “My Name is Ada Hegerberg,” Hegerberg’s mother says she didn’t let her hair grow back out until she saw the movie “Bend It Like Beckham” and realized girls could play soccer, too.

Hegerberg famously opted out of playing for the Norwegian national team in 2017, including for the 2019 World Cup, to protest the country’s unequal treatment of its women’s program. She hasn’t played for the team since.

The 26-year-old highlighted how important DAZN’s partnership with UEFA and YouTube is for young girls who need exposure to women in sports.

“I would love when I was younger to have female leader role models to look up to,” she said. “You recognize yourself in them.”

DAZN’s on-air team is the biggest ever to cover women’s soccer for a single broadcaster. The group includes dozens of professional commentators from England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Portugal and Ukraine. Each match will be available in up to three languages: English and the languages of both the home team and away team.

Included in the deal is a new installment of We All Rise with More Eyes, with a six-part series highlighting women’s football across six European countries.

DAZN and The Female Quotient also published a report on Monday, titled “The Coverage Gap,” that underlines their vision and mission with the broadcast deal. The report says that 64 percent of consumers don’t watch women’s sports because they don’t know enough about the athletes and teams and broadcasts aren’t accessible enough. It adds that lack of coverage and inadequate promotion of events create significant barriers to viewership.

The UWCL and DAZN are taking a step to change that cycle this season.

Hegerberg’s Olympique Lyonnais kick off their UWCL season on Tuesday at 12:45 p.m. ET against Häcken. The striker returned to the field in September for the first time since January 2020.

“I’m feeling great physically and mentally,” Hegerberg said. “It’s been a hell of a journey, but I really had time to reflect on myself and football in general, and kind of the whole journey humbled me a lot. It kind of reminds you how important it is to just lean back and enjoy the game because we’re here to enjoy it.”

During her season on the sideline, Lyon’s five-year run of Champions League titles came to an end when they fell in the quarterfinals to Paris Saint-Germain. PSG also interrupted Lyon’s streak of 14 consecutive Division 1 Féminin championships, winning their first in 2020-21.

Since losing to the Portland Thorns of the NWSL in the Women’s International Champions Cup on Aug. 21, Lyon is on a seven-game win streak, boasting a goal differential of plus-24.

The Champions League group stage, which runs until Dec. 16, includes four groups with 16 teams competing. The top two teams coming out of the group stage advance to the quarterfinals on Dec. 20.

🤩 Group stage draw ✅

The most exciting group is______#UWCL | #UWCLdraw pic.twitter.com/5v9eoQ2jRx

— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) September 13, 2021

Hegerberg notes there is more pressure this season with the increased depth and quality of coverage: She and the other players need to perform if they want people to watch their debut game, and the one after that, and eventually the whole season.

But Hegerberg is up for the challenge.

“Now it’s up to us, the players, the clubs, to perform and entertain so people actually want to watch this for the years to come,” she said.

Wimbledon is leveling up, as the annual London-based Grand Slam announced Thursday that it's increasing its purse by 7% across the board in 2025, pushing the total prize money to £53.5 million ($72.59 million) ahead of tennis tournament's June 30th kick-off.

Both the 2025 women's and men's singles champions will earn winner's checks in the amount of £3 million ($4.07 million) — an 11.1% increase over the amount won by 2024 champ Barbora Krejčíková.

With increases across all Slam events, from singles and doubles to wheelchair competitions, even athletes who stumble early will see a raise over last year's competition.

For example, singles players ousted in this year's first round will take home 10% more than in 2024, earning deposits of £66,000 ($89,530).

The 2025 total purse now doubles the prize money offered by the tournament a decade ago, and makes Wimbledon the biggest potential payday across all four of the sport's Grand Slams.

"We're immensely proud of the fact that, if you look back 10 years, you can see the increase over that period and 7% this year," said All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club chair Deborah Jevans. "And we have listened to the players, we have engaged with the players."

Teen swimmer Summer McIntosh made a major splash at the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials, shattering three world records in just five days of competition in Victoria, BC.

First on Saturday, the Toronto swimmer shaved 1.2 seconds off the Australian Ariarne Titmus's 400-meter freestyle mark to set a new world record time of 3:54.18.

Then on Monday, McIntosh took down a decade-old record in the 200-meter individual medley (IM), becoming the first woman swimmer to complete the race in less than 2:06.00.

Just two days later, the 18-year-old McIntosh broke her own 400-meter IM world record, besting her 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials time by 0.73 seconds with a 4:23.65 race Wednesday.

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With her unstoppable week-long performance, McIntosh became the first swimmer to set three new world records in different individual events at one meet since US legend Michael Phelps's historic run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"Going into tonight, I knew I could do something really special because this has probably been the best meet of my career," McIntosh told reporters after Wednesday's race.

That said, the young star is already eyeing new times — and new records.

"Overall, [I'm] happy with the time, but I know I can go faster," said McIntosh following her 400-meter IM performance. "The faster I swim, the happier I am."

The NWSL Championship is on its way back West, with the league announcing on Friday morning that the 2025 title match will kick off from PayPal Park in San Jose, California.

Hosted at the home pitch of 2024 expansion team Bay FC, the game will take place on Saturday, November 22nd.

In addition to the championship match, the 2025 NWSL season's final weekend will include a variety of supporting events like Fan Fest and the annual Skills Challenge competition.

"We're thrilled to bring the NWSL Championship back to the West Coast and to a region with as rich a history in women's soccer as the Bay Area," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a league statement.

Citing a long list of former USWNT stars with local ties, including Julie Foudy, Kelley O'Hara, and Alex Morgan, Bay FC co-founder Brandi Chastain — a US legend herself — called the Bay Area "the place women's soccer calls home."

"Our community's fabric is woven with the greatest the game has to offer," explained Chastain.

"This community's passion for the game, combined with the excitement surrounding one of our newest teams in Bay FC, makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the league's top talent and crown our next champion," said Berman.

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How to attend and watch the 2025 NWSL Championship

Like last year, the 2025 NWSL Championship will air in primetime, with CBS set to broadcast the match live at 8 PM ET on November 22nd.

Tickets to the game will be available for purchase beginning in August, though interested fans can sign up for presale access online now.

The NWSL and WNBA Players Associations teamed up to release a joint statement on Thursday, with the unions expressing their solidarity with "all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity" after the recent ICE raids and ensuing protests in Los Angeles.

The move comes after Angel City published their own social media post addressing the ICE raids last Saturday, with the Los Angeles NWSL club noting "We know that our city is stronger because of its diversity and the people and families who shape it, love it, and call it home."

ACFC also directed immigrants in need of assistance in the wake of the ICE raids to two community organizations: the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights and the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Calling the WNBA Players Association "leaders in this space," NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke told The Athletic that the basketball union initiated their joint statement.

"It's important to stand together as workers' unions," she noted.

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NWSL and WNBA unions speak to families impacted by ICE raids

"It's not lost on us that this country and the world are in turmoil right now," wrote the NWSLPA and WNBPA. "Across the country, families are facing fear, hardship, and uncertainty tied to immigration."

The athlete unions then crystallized their position, saying, "We stand with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from or where they hope to go."

"Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," they continued. "We know not every situation is simple. But offering compassion should never be up for debate."