TAMPA, Fla. – On the heels of the USL’s announcement of USL Productions earlier this week, many of the League’s executives heralded the rollout of the standalone division, and what it means for all teams and those that follow the sport.

Developed with some of the top minds in the broadcasting and digital strategy world, USL Productions will produce more than 1,000 hours of live USL match coverage in 2017, in addition to ancillary programming that will give the League the ability to produce content as brief as 10 seconds in length to up to 2-plus hours of live match coverage for use digitally and socially through all media and digital platforms.

“Our collective efforts as teams within the league to meet customers' demands, desires and wishes to consume our product is key to our long-term success,” said Warren Smith, Co-Owner and President of Sacramento Republic FC. “This effort will help us meet those needs."

The establishment of USL Productions means USL fans will have far greater access to not only games, but social media content and USL shows. The League recognizes the appetite of today’s soccer fan and its goal is to feed those fans with more content and experience the sport at the highest standards of production with unparalleled access.

“The broadcast initiative is unique and special for us as a team… our content will now be consistent across the board for all of our teams,” said Bob Funk, President of Prodigal LLC, the owners of OKC Energy FC. “I am so glad to hear that the League has taken the lead on this and putting it out to all our teams. We are very happy to be the beta, or the pilot test, for this technology this year. VISTA [Worldlink] have been great partners to work with, and been seamless and easy to work with. It will be the same for all our clubs.”

USL Productions continues the League’s mission to be the most sophisticated, best operated and most competitive soccer league under MLS. USL Productions will benefit the League’s team owners, partners, players and its community of supporters with an elite, high-quality broadcast and digital unit for USL content using the latest media technology.

“The USL Productions initiative is truly a significant step forward for USL and its teams,” said Amanda Duffy, President of Louisville City FC. “For USL to take this step after years of consideration, understanding the considerable challenges faced with venues and otherwise, speaks volumes to the focus of the league and teams to elevate standards and be best in class.” 

With coverage of each and every USL regular-season and post-season game, in addition to pre- and post-game content, features and ancillary programming, USL Productions is a major step forward in the League’s digital-first strategy, and will provide video content for use by League teams as well as local, regional, national and international linear and digital partners in 2017 and well into the future.