NWSL is first pro sports league back, which earns a national TV audience

The National Women’s Soccer League understood that being the first professional sports league in the U.S. to return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic would have its ups and downs.

The ups were obvious. For a league long starved for attention, the chance to be on the field alone in a nation desperate for live sports meant the spotlight finally would shine on the NWSL and its World Cup-winning stars. And it worked, with CBS making Saturday’s game between the North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns the first women’s club game to be shown live on a national broadcast network.

But the downs were just as obvious. The newfound attention meant any slip-ups heading into the month-long Challenge Cup in Utah also would play out on a national stage. That, too, came to pass when the Orlando Pride was forced to withdraw from the tournament Monday after six players and four staff members tested positive for the unique coronavirus.

The teams hadn’t even left for Salt Lake City and already the tournament was off track, with Orlando’s absence meaning the event would go on without Brazilian superstar Marta, a six-time FIFA world player of the year. The news got worse Tuesday when the remaining eight teams released tournament rosters that did not include national team stars Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath and Christen Press, who opted out because of COVID-19 concerns, and U.S. teammates Carli Lloyd and Mallory Pugh, who are injured.

U.S. captain Alex Morgan is out also after giving birth to her first child last month. Women who don’t participate in the tournament will still get paid, according to the labor deal the league and its players’ union negotiated last month.