After multiple NWSL scheduling stumbles, Bethany Balcer has had enough.
The OL Reign attacker lit into the league and its broadcast partner CBS, taking to social media to criticize the scheduling of Sunday’s Challenge Cup final.
“It BLOWS my mind that we have had the challenge cup for [three] years and we still are making the same mistakes,” read an Instagram story Balcer posted Wednesday morning.
Balcer then laid out the details of her complaint: the Reign are the Challenge Cup’s top seed, with 14 points and zero goals conceded in group play.
Nonetheless, because CBS has mandated a 12:30 p.m. ET broadcast for the final on September 9, a win over Racing Louisville on Wednesday night would result in the Seattle-based club boarding a plane to take on either the Kansas City Current or North Carolina Courage.
“Last year, we got the top seed, but couldn’t host the semifinal due to field scheduling conflicts that the league wouldn’t let us work around,” said Balcer, alluding to the Reign having to give up a home-field semifinal in 2022’s tournament.
In that incident, the Seattle Sounders’ CONCACAF Champions League final created a scheduling conflict, with that match and the Challenge Cup semifinal falling on the same day.
In a convoluted sequence of events, the match was initially scheduled for Segra Field — a widely disparaged exurban venue that the NWSL had once deemed insufficient to host a Washington Spirit league match — before being moved on short notice to Audi Field (which itself appeared to have a scheduling conflict that required some shuffling to alleviate).
The Reign would fall to the Spirit on penalties, having spent the entire week in the D.C. region to play Washington in a coincidentally-scheduled league match just days before the Challenge Cup semifinal.
“This year we got the top seed (AGAIN), and we actually get to host the semifinal (yay progress), but if we win we can’t host the final because the game would have to be at 9 a.m. [Pacific] because our CBS deal doesn’t give us any other time slot,” continued Balcer. “This happened with the NWSL Finals two years ago, because CBS gave us a horrid time.”
In that episode, the 2021 NWSL Championship game was scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, again due to a broadcast window on CBS. The league initially awarded hosting rights to the Portland Thorns, but that required a 9:00 a.m. local kickoff time, something that sparked widespread pushback from players, fans, media, and just about anyone else in the NWSL’s orbit. Racing Louisville’s Lynn Family Stadium was the eventual host as the Spirit defeated the Chicago Red Stars in extra time.
Balcer: ‘Screw CBS and put that game on YouTube for all I care’
For Balcer, repeating the same issues at the potential detriment to the competition itself is enough of an issue to say that she’s essentially done with the CBS broadcast deal altogether.
“Screw CBS and put that game on YouTube for all I care,” stated Balcer. “No wonder we struggle to get the exposure and views we want…because what the league is giving us is S—.
“Once again, our reward for being the top seed is having to travel across the country to play a team who we should be playing at home during a 3 game week where we have the least amount of time to turnaround going from Sunday to Wednesday to Saturday.”
As any writer of persuasive essays will tell you, it’s good to offer a clear, concise, and strong expression of your overarching point. Balcer delivered on that front, calling out anyone that might have been involved in a decision that does not follow the competition’s own rules.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results…well our league is looking pretty insane to me,” said Balcer. “Put the game on at 7pm local time for whoever is the top seed. If that is too difficult, you aren’t in the right job and you don’t care about growing the women’s game.”
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