The United Soccer League (USL) recently announced a renewed broadcast agreement with large American broadcaster SiriusXM to become the exclusive satellite radio home of the USL Championship and League One until 2025.
As part of the agreement, which will run through the 2023 season, SiriusXM FC, SiriusXM’s exclusive 24/7 soccer channel, will air a USL Game of the Week to its audience across the United States and Canada, alongside a weekly show named USL All Access, which gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look at the United Soccer League.
Since 2020, the SiriusXM FC channel has been the home of the USL Championship and considered by both parties to be a huge success with more to come in the extension of the current agreement.
USL Chief Commercial Officer Court Jeske sang the praises of their fellow partner’s work over the past three years.
“At the USL, we want to ensure that our games are available to our fans wherever they want to experience them,” he said in a press conference announcing the deal.
“SiriusXM has been a great partner the last three years and extending this relationship on the men’s side was an easy choice. We are also incredibly proud that they will offer coverage of the USL Super League, our new women’s professional league, with the inaugural season beginning in August of 2024.”
Eric Spitz, SiriusXM’s Vice President of Sports Programming had similar positive words for the USL via a statement.
“The USL has a terrific and dedicated fanbase across the country and we’re pleased to deliver those fans both the action on the pitch and a show dedicated to their league,” he said.
“We’re excited to not only renew our agreement with the USL for multiple years, but also expand our coverage and be the exclusive audio home of the USL Championship Final, League One Final, League Two Final and the new USL Super League Final.”
Mike Watts continues as the play-by-play voice of the USL Championship, where he started in 2015, and his calling expertise is a great addition to the broadcast.
Joining him as a co-commentator and analyst will be Devon Kerr, continuing on from his role as lead analyst of the USL championships, a spot he has accompanied since 2018. Kerr is also currently an analyst for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as well as the FOX Sports family of networks so his experience and knowledge will be key to the success of the broadcast and the business partnership.
The deal is significant for the USL in order to provide a high-quality broadcast that covers on-the-pitch results as well as the off-field news in a way that is engaging and will attract newer fans to the second division of American soccer.