The PWHL announced its first season-long U.S. television deal with Scripps Sports on Wednesday.The national broadcast rights agreement will include a weekly Saturday “Game of the Week” that will air exclusively in the United States on ION during the 2026-27 season. ION will also return as the exclusive U.S. home for the PWHL’s Walter Cup Finals and will air a Walter Cup playoff series, according to a joint news release.While the PWHL has had national rights deals in Canada — split among TSN, Sportsnet, CBC and Prime Video — its TV distribution in the U.S. has largely been through local and regional outlets, making the deal with Scripps an important milestone.“A season-long national television presence in the U.S. is something we’ve been working toward and represents a significant step in our continued growth as a league,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations. “Scripps continues to be a committed partner in shining a spotlight on women’s sports, and for the first time, our American fans will have the opportunity to follow the league on national television throughout an entire season, making the PWHL more accessible than ever before.”As part of the agreement, Scripps Sports Network — a free streaming channel — will broadcast a Saturday “Game of the Week” and two additional PWHL games per week. Scripps’ local stations in Detroit and Las Vegas will also broadcast games for two of the league’s expansion franchises, according to the release.The PWHL and Scripps initially partnered last season for the league’s first national TV broadcast in the United States, a March “Takeover Tour” game between the New York Sirens and the Montreal Victoire. They teamed up again later in the season to broadcast the Walter Cup Finals on ION, which saw the Victoire capture their first league championship.Scripps has emerged as a leader in women’s sports broadcasting. ION is already a weekly home for nationally televised WNBA and NWSL games, with Friday night WNBA doubleheaders drawing solid ratings over the last few seasons. Last month’s Indiana Fever win over the Dallas Wings on ION was the most-watched WNBA game ever on the network, averaging 1.62 million viewers and peaking at 2.2 million viewers. Scripps also has dedicated studio shows for the WNBA and NWSL.“Women’s sports is a cornerstone of our mission to create meaningful connections between communities and the sports and teams they love,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports.Through ION, which is available over-the-air, via pay TV, connected TV, and on streaming platforms, PWHL games will consistently be accessible to more than 128 million U.S. households. Every game this season will continue to stream live on the league’s YouTube channel and website to fans in the U.S. and worldwide outside of Canada, according to the release.Lawlor told The Athletic in March that Scripps’ goal was to broadcast PWHL games on ION on a more consistent basis “so that the whole country gets to see the quality of play.”“I think our platform will bring in a ton of new fans,” he said. “And my expectation is that many of the fans who watch our game will probably then go and start to follow (the PWHL) on YouTube, where they can watch every game and pick their teams.”