Catch a ride with one of the rising clubs of American soccer with our San Diego Wave TV schedule.
One of NWSL’s newest clubs has not yet made a splash on the field, but they’ve emerged as a model for future expansion teams.
San Diego Wave on TV and streaming: U.S. only:
Racing Louisville FC vs. San Diego Wave (NWSL)
Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave (NWSL)
San Diego Wave vs. Bay FC (NWSL)
Founded: 2021 (First NWSL Season 2022)
Stadium: Snapdragon Stadium
Manager: Casey Stoney
NWSL Titles: 0
Other Titles: NWSL Shield (2023)
Starting in 2024, the NWSL has a four-year national broadcast rights deal split between ESPN, CBS, Amazon, and Scripps Sports (ION).
Friday night games each week will feature on Amazon’s Prime Video service. Prime video will also carry one of the league’s playoff quarterfinals.
The CBS Television Network and CBS Sports Network will air a minimum of 21 games throughout the year, including a quarterfinal, semifinal, and the NWSL Championship all on the main CBS network. Games on over-the-air CBS will also stream on Paramount+, the network’s subscription video on demand and live streaming service.
20 games will be televised on ESPN platforms (either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and/or ESPN Deportes). All of these games will be simulcast live on the streaming service ESPN+.
And finally, 50 regular season matches are set to be aired on the ION TV network (available over-the-air and on most cable/satellite plans) as part pf 25 Saturday night doubleheaders.
The remaining regular season matches not part of the national TV schedule will be streamed directly by the NWSL.
San Diego Wave Fútbol Club was founded in 2021, and began play in 2022. However, the club actually wasn’t initially supposed to be in San Diego at all.
Originally, in January 2021, the NWSL expansion team owned by Ron Burkle was announced for the northern part of California, in Sacramento. However, in June of that year, San Diego was instead announced as the home of the club. This was a double-blow for the California capital, as their concurrent MLS expansion bid – that was also officially announced – had fallen apart as well.
In November of 2021, the name of the club was unveiled, using the Spanish word “Fútbol”. San Diego, of course, bumps right up to the Mexico border, creating a combined multinational metropolis with Tijuana to the south.
The Wave started out at San Diego’s Torero Stadium, which was shared with USL’s San Diego Loyal. Near the end of their first season, they moved into the brand-new Snapdragon Stadium. That venue sits on the former site of Jack Murphy Stadium, which for many years hosted the NFL’s Chargers and MLB’s Padres. The Wave will share the new ground with the incoming San Diego MLS side.
Boosted by USWNT star Alex Morgan, the Wave finished third in the league in their very first year, and fell in the playoffs semifinals. They’d follow that up with an even better sophomore campaign in 2023. San Diego won the NWSL Shield, the best regular season record. With that came the top seed and a first round bye in the NWSL playoffs.
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