The NWSL announced it had agreed to a new deal with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports for the next four years, worth a reported $60 million per year.

“These partnerships fundamentally change the game for our league and the players who take the pitch each week,” Berman said. “On behalf of the NWSL, our owners and players, I want to commend CBS Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Scripps for investing in our league and affirmatively declaring to the marketplace that this league is exciting, valuable, and important.

“We have taken great care to ensure our games are discoverable by increasing our reach in order to expose new audiences to everything that makes our league special, without compromising the economic value of our product. This is the beginning of our future.”

Beginning next season, 118 games will be broadcast.

Each Friday night, matches will be available on Prime Video.

Saturday night, there will be a doubleheader on ION, which aired WNBA games this season.

There will also be games aired on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+, and there will also be games aired on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.

There will be a minimum of 21 games for CBS, 20 for ESPN/ABC, 27 for Prime Video and 50 for Scripps Sports/ION.

The key for all fans is that, according to the league, “all matches, regardless of where they appear, will have consistent and up-leveled production quality due to increased and uniform investment across all platforms.”

ION will air the NWSL draft in January.

Also next season, with the arrival of Bay FC and Utah Royals FC, the number of playoff teams will increase from six to eight.

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  Angel City FC defender Sarah Gorden, center, kicks the ball against the Portland Thorns FC during the first half of an NWSL soccer match at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Angel City FC won 5-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)

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  Angel City FC defender Sarah Gorden chases the ball during the first half of their match against OL Reign on Sunday night at BMO Stadium. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

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  Angel City FC defender M.A. Vignola, left, celebrates after scoring a goal against the Portland Thorns FC during the first half Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, at BMO Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)

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  Angel City FC defender M.A. Vignola, right, pushes off on Portland Thorns FC midfielder Natalia Kuikka during the first half of an NWSL soccer match at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Angel City FC won 5-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)

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  Angel City FC midfielder Savannah Mccaskill kicks the ball during the first half of their NWSL match against the Orlando Pride on Monday night at BMO Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)

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  Angel City FC Savannah Mccaskill, right, kicks the ball chased by North Carolina Courage Kaleigh Kurtz during the first half on an NWSL soccer match at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 9, 2023. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)

Angel City Football Club defenders Sarah Gorden and M.A. Vignola and midfielder Savannah McCaskill earned NWSL Best XI honors for the 2023 season.

The teams were announced Monday morning.

The best of the best in the NWSL.

Your 2023 @Mastercard Best XI first and second teams! pic.twitter.com/4s1GFEhwxm

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 6, 2023

Gorden, in her first season back from an ACL injury, played every minute of every game for the Angel City and was selected to the first team. Gorden is also a finalist for the NWSL’s Defender of the Year award.

This is the second time in her career that Gorden has earned “Ironwoman” status, by playing in every minute of every game. Gorden led Angel City in successful passes (799) and blocks (11).

Vignola, in her first season, was selected to the NWSL’s second team. Vigola, who missed the majority of 2022 with a knee injury, played in 19 games this season, recording 20 tackles and 79 possessions won. Offensively, she also scored three goals with an assist in a season that saw her earn her first U.S. national team call-up.

McCaskill was also selected to the second team. The midfielder scored four goals and added three assists.

Angel City finished fifth in the NWSL, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in the team’s short two-year history.

Superstars at every position.

The 2023 @Mastercard Best XI first and second teams are stacked.

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 6, 2023

Hernandez, who missed the majority of last season with an ACL injury in his right knee, joined the Galaxy for the 2020 season from Sevilla FC, on a three-year contract. An option for 2023 was picked up after his 2022 season. His contract expires at the end of the year.

In an Instagram post, the 35-year-old forward said: “Life becomes exciting when you allow yourself to change and evolve to new challenges. Thanks to everyone who was involved in my journey these 4 years. Thank you for everything.”

The Galaxy later confirmed the move.

Considered one of the greatest Mexican players, Hernandez played in just 12 games in his first MLS season and scored two goals. He bounced back in 2021 and scored 17 goals in 21 games and in 2022 scored 18 in 34 games. His 38 goals rank him seventh all-time in Galaxy history.

This season, Hernandez suffered the knee injury in a U.S. Open Cup game against Real Salt Lake on June 7. He went down on a non-contact play.

“I know with his work rate and with his passion and desire to be out there, he’s going to do the work and he’s going to put himself in position to come back and continue to play the game,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said days after the injury.

Hernandez’s departure gives the Galaxy two open Designated Player slots, with Douglas Costa also departing. Hernandez was the fourth-highest paid player in MLS, with a base salary of $6 million and a guaranteed compensation salary of $7,443,750.

Angel City FC was in 11th place in the 12-team NWSL standings after the first 11 games, but in the second half of the season, she led the second-year club on a turnaround that resulted in a fifth-place finish and a berth in the playoffs.

On Thursday, months after joining Angel City ahead of the 2023 season in an assistant coach role, Tweed had the interim tag officially removed and was announced as the team’s head coach at a news conference at the club’s Santa Monica offices.

“The second half (of the season), you saw the team transform,” Angel City defender and captain Ali Riley said. “Her honesty, her clarity, how she held us accountable, I think this group of players, that type of mindset works really with us. Because we want to win, we want to improve, but we also want to have really high standards in our training environment. I think the competition she brings out in us and the way she found the ability to bring out the strengths in each player.”

Angel City went on an 8-2-5 run in league and Challenge Cup competition to conclude the regular season, including an impressive 5-1 rout of the Portland Thorns in a must-win game to get into the playoffs. The run ended with a 1-0 quarterfinal loss on a late goal by OL Reign in Seattle.

Despite that, General Manager Angela Hucles Mangano still had to do her job, conducting a “thorough search process.”

With an original target date to hire of Oct. 15, Mangano said there were 52 candidates, but that Tweed stood out due to the club’s performance.

“That was a huge piece that she had an advantage,” Mangano said of the club’s performance under Tweed. “I was able to see the behind-the-scenes of how she handled the day-to-day, how she worked with staff, how she talked with players, how she got the buy-in, the respect that she earned and the tough conversations that she had to have at different moments.

“These are things that you would want to see from a head coach and hope to see, but you’re never quite sure, just sitting across from someone in an interview process. I was able to see those things and ultimately she portrayed confidence and vulnerability, all at once. The passion and the energy that she showed up with every single day, the confidence that she instilled in the players, the language changed with these players and I think it was infectious and it was powerful and her process led to the results that we had.”

Tweed joined Angel City after three seasons with NJ/NY Gotham FC. She also had an assistant job with the U.S. U-20 Women’s national team.

Fast-forward to this season, she is one of three finalists for the NWSL Coach of the Year award and now preparing for her first offseason as coach as Angel City turns its attention toward its third season.

“You never know what’s going to happen, you just have to be prepared for whatever happens,” Tweed said of the recently completed season. “Everyone asks, ‘When do you know if you’re ready to be a head coach?’ I don’t think you ever know. You’re put in a position where, it was obviously for me, we can still do something this season and my goal and intention was to always make playoffs. We knew that if it got hard, we just have to be a little better every week.

“Once you’re put in those situations, you find out a lot about yourself and who you could be and who you really are.”

The Athletic’s Meg Linehan first reported last week that the club was set to make the announcement official this week.

The move shouldn’t come as a surprise considering how the club performed under Tweed after she was promoted to coach in June after the club fired Freya Coombe.

The move made an immediate impact in both league play and Challenge Cup competition. Angel City posted an 8-1-5 record under Tweed and finished fifth in the league, qualifying for the NWSL Playoffs. In league competition, ACFC went 6-1-4 under Tweed.

Tweed was also one of three finalists for the NWSL Coach of the Year Award.

Tweed was hired as an assistant coach in January after three seasons as an assistant with NJ/NY Gotham FC. Tweed also served as an assistant with the U.S. U-20 Women’s Team at the U-20 World Cup in 2022.

The club set Thursday morning news conference at its team offices in Santa Monica.

Angel City defender M.A. Vignola said of Tweed at the end of the regular season:

“Becki has done an amazing job. … She knows how we work and how to say things to us. She knows how each player works.

“You can even tell at training that she’s very in tune with everyone individually. That helps us as a collective because it enables us to be able to talk to each other in certain ways. We push each other and get through the nitty and gritty. That’s what she does best that was missing.”

In the end, he summed it up probably as best as anyone with the Galaxy could.

“It was very weird, very strange …” he said during Monday’s end-of-the-season media availability. “I’m glad it’s over.”

It was a roller-coaster for the Galaxy, starting with a supporters boycott, a transfer window ban and a long list of season-ending injuries. Javier “Chicharito” Hernadez (torn ACL), Martin Caceres (left knee avulsion fracture), Gaston Brugman (torn meniscus) and Lucas Calegari (torn ACL) all had their seasons cut short due to injuries and later Jalen Neal (sports hernia surgery) was lost for the season, as was Delgado (concussion).

It all added up to another season missing the playoffs and a team that tied the franchise record for most goals allowed (67).

“It was embarrassing,” Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida said. “We need to come back, full of energy, ready to fight for the season.”

Yoshida joined the Galaxy in August as the club, trying to overcome a summer transfer ban, tried to add players who could help the team make a playoff run.

In some ways, the moves worked, but down the stretch, the Galaxy wilted, allowing at least two goals in its last nine games, eventually leading to being eliminated from playoff contention with two games remaining.

“It was one of those years where it was bracketed into different types of seasons throughout one season,” defender Eriq Zavaleta said. “With the tough start, you put yourself behind the 8-ball right away, it’s pretty difficult to have success in this league.

“We had one of the better runs for a span of 10-15 games and even that wasn’t enough to close the gap. We had a whole lot of different players play in different positions, different partnerships, which is difficult to overcome in a season. We found some good stretches, but obviously it wasn’t good enough in the end.”

The Galaxy went 1-6-3 in its first 10 games. The turnaround came late, starting after the Leagues Cup break, but the club never escaped 13th place in the Western Conference.

“To not make the playoffs is embarrassing,” defender Raheem Edwards said. “It’s a feeling that you don’t like. You look back at key moments of the season and obviously, you like to have some things back, but it’s the nature of this sport and you use it as fuel for the next year.”

The Galaxy, which will enter next year 10 years past its last MLS Cup championship, has missed the playoffs in five of the last seven seasons. Two of the last three misses have come under Coach Greg Vanney.

“We had a hard time getting early results and that builds stress,” Vanney said. “The quality wasn’t there for us as a group. All of us. We had ebbs and flows of the season and we were never able to have that consistency that you need to have. We never really got onto the right side of this season, ever.”

The roster rebuild doesn’t figure to be extensive, but it could be. Vanney said the club would like to sign Tyler Boyd (seven goals, four assists) to a new contract. Boyd, one of the bright spots, joined the Galaxy in the offseason and played in every game (34).

“He showed up late into preseason and once he got fit and got himself integrated into the group, you saw he was different because he was dynamic,” Vanney said of Boyd. “We would like to keep him. I know he wants to be in L.A., we want him here, so I hope there’s a deal there to be done.”

The team expects to have two Designated Player spots open. One became clear Monday afternoon as Douglas Costa announced he was leaving after two seasons.

“Today another chapter of my career closes,” Costa said in an Instagram post. “The Galaxy and I reached an agreement to no longer be together.”

Earlier in the day, Costa said that he hadn’t had any discussions with the club about possibly returning. His contract expires on Dec. 31. If there is another open DP spot, it will come after the club decides what to do with Hernandez. “Chicharito” played in just nine games this season after suffering an ACL injury. He was the fourth-highest player in the league ($6 million base salary).

“When we talk about our DP’s, we have to know that our DPs are going to be on the field and available as much as possible,” Vanney said. “There are levels of qualities of players in the world, but even the highest of highest player, if they’re not on the field, they can’t help you. That’s the evaluation that’s going on.”

Vanney is headed into his fourth season as coach. He also took on the Sporting Director role this season. Next season is the final one on his current contract, adding to the importance of this offseason for the Galaxy.

“We have to get some things right and we have to get healthy,” Vanney said. “We have to get off to a solid start and then keep improving through the course of the season. I think if we put together a really solid squad, stay healthy and continue to grow, I believe 100 percent, we could be capable of winning a championship.”

OCSC, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, defeated El Paso Locomotive FC 1-0 at Championship Soccer Stadium at Orange County’s Great Park in front of a sellout crowd of 5,550. This was the sixth sellout this season for OCSC.

OCSC nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute, Bryce Jamison got on the end of a corner kick, but his attempted was turned aside by a diving El Paso goalkeeper Benny Diaz. A minute later, Diaz came up with another save to keep the game at 1-0.

Diaz would also get a red card, after he was caught out of position late and fouled Iloski, who was in on a breakaway.

El Paso didn’t record a shot on goal as OCSC booked a trip to next week’s conference semifinal, Oct. 28. Orange County will host either No. 3 San Diego Loyal SC or No. 6 Phoenix Rising FC.

Orange County missed the playoffs last season, finishing last in the Western Conference. In 2021, Orange County won the USL Championship final.

It’s a book that they would soon like to burn.

FC Dallas (11-10-13, 46 points) scored three goals inside the first 30 minutes and never looked back, sending the Galaxy (8-14-12, 36 points) to another ugly loss, ending 4-1 in front of 22,491 in the regular-season finale.

“There were a lot of emotions today,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “It’s been a challenging year, it’s been a grind. We had a lot of guys sacrifice physically for the course of the season.

“We wanted to be successful, they sacrificed. We try to stay as healthy as we could, they battled and did the best they could, but down the stretch we didn’t have enough. I wasn’t able to connect the new pieces and I will probably beat myself up for that.”

The Galaxy, who has struggled to keep opponents off of the scoreboard, tied their club record for most goals allowed on the season (67). That mark was previously set in 2017. That team finished in last place in the Western Conference.

The Galaxy closed the regular season with a streak of nine consecutive games allowing at least two goals.

Raheem Edwards scored the only goal of the game for the Galaxy.

“I’ve never seen a season like this with so many season-ending injuries,” Vanney said. “I hope we never duplicate this again.”

Riqui Puig came on as a second-half substitute, for his first appearance after suffering an ankle injury.

“This can’t happen again,” Galaxy defender Raheem Edwards said. “We didn’t do our job this season.”

The Galaxy started the 2023 season on the road against FC Dallas and suffered a 3-1 loss, so it seemed somewhat fitting, especially how this season has gone that things ended in the same fashion, but this time on Fan Appreciation Day at home.

“Last year, coming out of the playoffs and into this season, we felt like we had a core group and then for various reasons, between guys personal reasons, injuries, fines, then the group gets to be a little bit picked at, much more than we had anticipated,” Vanney said. “I think we have a lot of information on the players that we have and how pieces fit together and now it’s going to be really pointed in terms of who we add and what are the dynamics or the types of players quality that we really need to take our group to another level.

“One thing in our league, is that your best players need to be your best players and the best players need to be on the field. If you do that, you give yourself a good chance and you’re a lot less vulnerable to a season like this. You can’t always predict everything, but you want to do the best you can and make sure that’s consistent.”

FC Dallas’ win clinched seventh place in the conference and a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.

For the Galaxy, the club still hasn’t made the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2015-16.

“We never had any continuity on the backline,” Vanney said. “As a former center back, that’s your foundation. We conceded too many goals.”

In its 10-year anniversary season, OCSC fired its coach early in the campaign and had doubts about its future.

However, earlier this month, a new deal was reached with the city of Irvine to keep the club at Championship Stadium at Orange County’s Great Park for the next 10 years.

Five months prior, Morten Karlsen took over as interim coach, replacing Richard Chaplow in May. Karlsen led OCSC from a 1-4-3 record (9 points) to a 17-11-6 mark (57 points) and a second-place finish in the Western Conference.

OCSC will host El Paso Locomotive FC in Saturday’s first round (7:30 p.m., ESPN+) of the USL Championship playoffs.

“For any fan supporting a team, it is a roller coaster,” OCSC president of business relations Dan Rutstein said. “In 2021, we embarked on an incredible run to win (the championship) and last year, we followed that up by finishing at the bottom of the league.

“This year, we turned things around, our coach has done a remarkable job and we finished with the No. 2 seed, guaranteed of playing at home (for the first two rounds).”

The club also revealed an investment program allowing fans to buy a piece of ownership stake in the club, starting at a minimum investment of $100 up to $25,000.

“Orange County residents can’t own a piece of the Ducks or Angels, but you can own a piece of your local soccer club,” Rutstein said. “Soccer is growing quickly and we’re part of that growth. We’ve had more sellouts than ever before. We’ve sold two more players to Europe.

“There’s so much happening and we’re excited to see who wants to be part of the ownership group.”

Fans in Europe will also get an opportunity to buy an ownership stake. Orange County has partnerships with Rangers in the Scottish Premiership and Feyenoord of the Dutch Eredivisie.

El Paso won the first meeting against Orange County 1-0 on April 8. The second one ended in a scoreless draw Sept. 9.

If Orange County wins Saturday, it would host the winner of the San Diego Loyal SC-Phoenix Rising FC game in the second round.

“We’re hoping to have a deep run and eventually get a second star on our chest,” Rutstein said.

The Galaxy will host FC Dallas (6 p.m., Apple TV+) and wrap up a season that wasn’t expected to go this way.

“I felt like the guys have battled and have been resilient through the course of the season and I think that has to be the spirit in which we finish this season,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We owe it ourselves, we owe to everybody around and it’s the way you do it always as a professional.

“Obviously Dallas is playing for a lot, they’re not locked into the playoffs, so this game is vitally important for them. And so on our level, it has to be just as important.”

FC Dallas is in eighth place in the Western Conference and will need a win to lock in an MLS playoff spot.

For the Galaxy, the attention has already started turning toward 2024. After missing the playoffs on the last day in the 2021 season in Vanney’s first year, the Galaxy returned to the playoffs in 2022, but everything fell apart this season due to inconsistent play and numerous season-ending injuries.

“Getting guys healthy, getting the core group back together is one of the things,” Vanney said regarding what’s important for next season. “Continuing to increase our team’s athleticism. We need to become more dynamic because our league requires that you be dynamic. Obviously, we conceded a lot of goals. For me, a big part of that is a lack of continuity in the back and that’s why I say healthy.

You have to get a group of guys who can be on the field together, who can train together and who are working toward each other’s nuances, who are reading plays the same, who are supportive in the right positions to help other, all those kinds of things.

“We understand we have some decisions that we have to make and we have some team building that every offseason that you have to do, but I think there’s opportunities for us to really keep progressing and putting together a group that both can be solid but can also continue to grow together into this build of where we want to be.”

Puig update

Midfielder Riqui Puig (ankle) has been sidelined for the past four games. He participated in training Thursday and could be a game-time decision.

“He really wants to be part of the team, he’s committed to the group and wants to be there for the last day,” Vanney said. “I have a lot of respect for that. We will make a decision based on his health and safety. We will see what his involvement really looks like.”

Midfielder Mark Delgado (concussion) will be out.

MLS salary guide

The MLS Players Association released the second salary guide of the season earlier this week.

The Galaxy checked as the third-highest-spending club in MLS ($25,038,692) this season. All three top-paying clubs, including Inter Miami and Toronto FC, missed the postseason.

FC DALLAS AT GALAXY

When: Saturday, 6 p.m.

Where: Dignity Health Sports Park

How to watch: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass)