While no official announcement has been released, it appears that the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) will have its first televised game on Sunday, November 22.
Kat Hasenauer Cornetta notes on Twitter that the New England Sports Network (NESN) has Sunday’s match between the Boston Pride and New York Riveters listed on their TV schedule for Sunday at 3pm. The schedule notes that they will not only air the game, but they’re going to be carrying it live.
Looking ahead, we see that the November 29 game in Boston will also be carried by NESN, making it look like the network will be giving Boston home games a home.
Sunday’s game will be the second half of the Pride and Riveters playing each other twice in a row, with the Riveters grabbing their first win of the season in a 3-2 win this past Sunday. That Riveters win was a bit of revenge for the 7-1 loss they took at the hands of the Pride in October.
Sunday’s match will also be the first regular season home game for Boston, despite them having played four games already. They’re the only team that has not yet played their home opener.
It will be the Pride’s debut at Harvard Bright-Landry Center, as they played their two preseason matches against the East Coast Wizards at the Edge Sports Center.
From all appearances it looks like we’ll have the first ever NWHL game on TV this Sunday. It’s another big step for the NWHL in their inaugural season as they continue to build momentum and make a statement. No word from the NWHL if this will in any way impact Sunday’s Cross Ice Pass free streaming service for all games. There also has not been any announcement of who will be calling the game live.
We expect an update with details from the league later today and we will provide an update once all the details have become clear.
UPDATE:
The NWHL has officially announced their partnership with NESN, which will include eight Boston Pride home games.
NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan praised the partnership saying, “This is a great opportunity for women’s hockey to reach the four million viewers in NESN’s coverage area.”
“The broadcast value of the women’s game has never been better, and we’re happy NESN is providing a stage for and shining a spotlight on some of the best players in the world.”
All games broadcast by NESN will continue to be viewable on the NWHL’s Cross-Ice Pass for viewers outside of areas covered by NESN.
Here’s the full broadcast schedule of Boston Pride games from the league:
Sun. November 22nd vs. New York Riveters 3PM (ET) – NESN
Sun. November 29th vs. Connecticut Whale 3PM (ET) – NESN
Sun. December 6th vs. New York Riveters 3:30PM (ET) – NESN
Sun. December 20th vs. Buffalo Beauts 3PM (ET) – NESNplus
Sun. January 3rd vs. Buffalo Beauts 3PM (ET) – NESNplus
Sun. January 10th vs. New York Riveters 3PM (ET) – NESNplus
Sun. January 17th vs. Connecticut Whale 3PM (ET) – NESN
Sun. February 14th vs. Connecticut Whale 3PM (ET) – NESNplus
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