One of the first things Jessica Berman told CBS and Ally Financial when she stepped into the role of NWSL commissioner in April was that having the league championship on primetime was a priority moving forward.

So, they made it happen.

For the first time in the league’s 10-year history, the 2022 Ally Financial NWSL Championship will air on primetime, with CBS broadcasting the game at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 29 from Audi Field in Washington, D.C. The stadium features a grass field and holds 20,000 fans.

“What I’ve heard from our players is that in order for them to deliver on their value proposition and to maximize their potential, they need first-class facilities and they need to feel like they’re being treated like the first-class athletes that they are, and for them, being on primetime is really important,” Berman told Just Women’s Sports.

Last season, players criticized the league and CBS for originally scheduling the championship game for 9 a.m. local time on a turf field in Portland, Ore. The match was eventually moved to 12 p.m. local time in Louisville, K.Y.

9am start is laughable. Im tired of staying quiet. We deserve better. https://t.co/mFhehvJvJp

— Ashlyn Harris (@Ashlyn_Harris) September 6, 2021

This year’s final was originally scheduled to kick off at noon ET before it moved into the 8 p.m. slot, the league said in a press release Tuesday.

“We point to some of the record viewership that we’ve had already with our partnership with the NWSL,” said CBS’ head of programming Dan Weinberg. “We’re proud of that. We think this is the next step in that.”

CBS’ streaming service, Paramount+, will offer exclusive pre-match coverage at 7 p.m. ET and will also serve as an alternative viewing platform for the match. International viewers will be able to watch the game live on Twitch.

For Berman, the first benefit to being on primetime is showcasing the NWSL to a broader audience. Most games during the regular season are only available to viewers with a Paramount+ subscription, making it harder for the league to attract new or casual fans. The championship’s primetime national television slot will give people who may have never seen an NWSL game the opportunity to watch the league’s best compete.

Last year’s championship game drew an average of 525,000 viewers on CBS, marking a 216 percent increase from the ratings of the 2019 NWSL Championship.

“You’re gonna get anyone that likes sports to get interested, and the more people that we can get to put eyes on NWSL and to see the caliber of play and just to see how exciting this game is just gives us a much better chance to have a really strong long-term trajectory in terms of audience growth and expansion of what we all want to see this league be,” said Andrea Brimmer, Ally’s chief marketing offer and public relations officer.

“I think we’re all going to get behind it big time and make a big push so that we get a lot of eyeballs and a lot of people there.”

The historic move will mark the end of Berman’s first year as NWSL commissioner. Having stepped into the position in the midst of a league-wide abuse scandal, Berman emphasizes the importance of being surrounded by partners like CBS and Ally, who share the league’s values and are willing to take new approaches to help it grow.

“We need people to be courageous and bold,” said Berman, who views the championship game milestone as scratching the surface of what she hopes to accomplish with the NWSL.

“We have a lot of catching up to do, like we should be bigger than we already are,” she added. “We need our partners to be like-minded in the way they show up on behalf of the league … [I’m] so excited to have CBS and Ally be the ones who are fireside, making this happen.”

In addition to the championship game, CBS aired a regular-season match in June and is scheduled to broadcast one more on Sept. 10 between the Washington Spirit and San Diego Wave.

The NWSL quarterfinals will air on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ during the weekend of Oct. 15, and the semifinals will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network the weekend of Oct. 22. All matches will also stream internationally on Twitch.

On Aug. 31, tickets will go on sale for the championship game at Audi Field, home of the defending NWSL champion Washington Spirit.

“We’re always excited to crown champions on CBS. It’s what we do,” Weinberg said. “We’re super excited to do it with the NWSL again this year. Doing it in primetime, I think, ramps things up even more from a visibility standpoint, from an exposure standpoint. Really thrilled that the piece came into place. We think it’s good for everybody, frankly.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Another Washington Spirit coach is departing DC, with multiple weekend reports linking current manager Jonatan Giráldez to the newly opened head coaching job at French Première Ligue side OL Lyonnes.

According to The Athletic, Giráldez will step away from the Spirit in June, with assistant Adrián González — who led Washington as interim manager prior to Giráldez's mid-2024 arrival — set to take over the NWSL squad on July 18th.

The move follows additional reports that first-year OL Lyonnes boss Joe Montemurro is Australia-bound after agreeing to head up his home country's national team, the Matildas.

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Spirit coach swap raises questions for multi-team owner Kang

With Giráldez jumping from one Michele Kang-owned team to another, the former Barcelona manager's European return raises questions about Kang's multi-club ownership model — and concerns about the future of injured Spirit star Trinity Rodman, who recently took leave from the NWSL to seek treatment overseas.

"We are not going to sacrifice one team to make another team successful. Absolutely not," Kang told Forbes in 2024 interview. "Our goal is to make every team the champion in each of their leagues."

In addition to the Spirit and OL Lyonnes, Kang's Kynisca corporation also owns recently promoted WSL side London City Lionesses.

The Spirit has weathered big changes before, but Kang's involvement in this particular personnel swap will face critique should Washington lose pace later this season.

Two US tennis stars are still shining at the 2025 French Open, as world No. 8 Madison Keys and No. 2 Coco Gauff blew through their Round of 16 matches on Monday to set up an all-US quarterfinal showdown on Tuesday.

Gauff dealt No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova a dominant 6-0, 7-5 loss early Monday morning, while 2025 Australian Open champion Keys ended fellow US player No. 70 Hailey Baptiste's French Open run with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat shortly afterward.

"Coco is so good, and especially on clay," Keys said ahead of her upcoming quarterfinal opponent. "She's an unbelievable player and such a great athlete.... I'm looking forward to it and happy to see there will be another American in the semifinals."

Five US women and three men reached the fourth round at Roland-Garros this past weekend, tying the country's 1985 record before Baptiste joined No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 16 Amanda Anisimova on the ousted list.

No US player has won the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015, with both Gauff and Keys shooting for a championship match date against top contenders like No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or No. 5 Iga Świątek — winner of four of the last five Parisian Grand Slams.

How to watch the 2025 French Open

Gauff and Keys will battle for a spot in semifinals on Tuesday morning.

The quarterfinals kick off at 5 AM ET, with live coverage on TNT.

While the undefeated New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx look down from the top, Phoenix and Atlanta are shaping up to be the early season's biggest players, as the No. 3 Mercury and No. 4 Dream continue to climb the 2025 WNBA standings.

The Mercury topped the skidding LA Sparks 85-80 on Sunday to reach 5-2 on the season, while the Dream secured their own 5-2 record after Friday's 94-87 win over the Seattle Storm.

Atlanta and Phoenix made some of league's boldest offseason moves this year, as Mercury legend Brittney Griner joined the Dream in free agency while Phoenix picked up top talent in forwards Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally.

With Thomas nursing an injury, Sabally led Phoenix over LA behind a team-high 24 points on Sunday.

Griner's 15-point, eight-rebound performance helped Atlanta quiet the Dallas Wings 83-75 on May 24th, before established stars Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard combined for 61 points against Seattle.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, the Connecticut Sun registered their first victory of the 2025 season on Friday, edging out the injury-laden Indiana Fever to become the final WNBA team to enter the win column this season.

The Sun, however, came crashing back to Earth on Sunday, falling to the reigning champion Liberty by a steep 48-point margin on the first day of Commissioner's Cup play.

How to watch WNBA games this week

The Mercury are back in action in a road match against the Lynx at 8 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on ESPN3.

Following a full week of rest, the Dream will travel to Connecticut to take on the Sun at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ION.

In their first match since early April, the USWNT didn't miss a beat, comfortably taking down China PR 3-0 to kick off a series of two international friendlies on Saturday.

Forward Catarina Macario opened scoring in the match's 28th minute, before midfielder Sam Coffey doubled the scoreline later in the first half. A header from captain Lindsey Heaps in the 54th minute put the finishing touch on the Saturday victory.

Head coach Emma Hayes's top-ranked USWNT played fluidly against No. 17 China PR, dominating the game's attack with more than 70% possession while notching 18 shots on goal — seven of them on target.

"I feel like I'm working a lot on trying to join the play more, get up in counter-measures. I tend to play it too safe, and think too 'worst-case scenario,' so I was just trying to join," Coffey told TBS after tallying her second international goal.

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The match also saw the international debut of 32-year-old midfielder Lo'eau Labonta, who became the oldest player to earn a first cap in USWNT history with her entrance in the game's 70th minute.

"When they called my name, I was sitting being the best cheerleader I could be on the bench," LaBonta joked after the win. "I was like, 'This is amazing. I've never been field-view watching the national team.' It was so cool."

The US will go again against No. 40 Jamaica on Tuesday, but it appears that Hayes's roster reshuffling hasn't yet hindered their ability to control games.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Jamaica friendly this week

The USWNT will take on the Reggae Girlz at 8 PM ET on Tuesday in St. Louis, Missouri, with live coverage on TNT.