Changing the game: Orlando Pride's all-woman broadcast team ready to make history

Thursday morning marked a historic day for the Orlando Pride as the club announced a local television broadcast partnership with FOX 35 PLUS to air the seven matches in the Central Florida area, which will include pregame and postgame coverage. In addition, an all-women crew of broadcasters, each with a unique story, were announced to be the voices of these games.

Leah Secondo, who will serve as the play-by-play voice for four of the Pride’s matches, brings over 40 years of broadcasting experience to the table, including time with ESPN, CBS and most recently the 2022 Tokyo Olympics. She also brings an Orlando women’s sports connection, having served on the broadcast crew of the Orlando Miracle in the WNBA in the early 2000’s.

“We bring different facets as well, different generations of broadcasting, playing, and our experiences getting to this level and I think that's important,” Secondo said, “They went out and tried to find people that not only were talented one time on the field but have the background and experience. It brings the level of play that you're going to see on the field through the broadcasts.”

That level of Secondo’s broadcast expertise will be matched in the booth by the knowledge of former U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Kacey White. The former Sky Blue FC midfielder won a WPS championship back in 2009, playing against current Pride captain Marta, who was playing for the Los Angeles Sol at the time.

It becomes almost a full circle moment for her, now being able to be on the broadcast for players she competed against.

“Having been a former player, I'm obviously very connected to the league and the mission of a lot of the clubs,” White said, “Just being approached about what they wanted to put together, the vision of this broadcast team was something that I felt was a shared vision of something I wanted to be a part of and to help grow.”

For the final three games of the season, White will be joined by Maura Sheridan, a voice many NWSL fans will be familiar with. After starting calling games this past season, Sheridan has become one of the featured play-by-play broadcasters for the league and will now bring her talents to Orlando.

“Everyone's so talented and experienced,” Sheridan said, “To have everybody that's ready for this opportunity, to get those chances, I think that's a really beautiful thing. And to be covering a women's league that highlights some of the best women's players in the world. It's just a collaboration that makes a lot of sense.”

Rounding out the broadcast crew is another face Pride fans will be familiar with: Duda Pavão. The former digital host for the Pride from 2019 to 2021, Pavão has gone on to work with U.S. Soccer, NWSL and the FIFA World Cup, where she served as an in-stadium host.

“When I heard about the opportunity, I could not say no,” Pavão said, “It's great to be involved with such an amazing team, with such beautiful people around me and a great opportunity for Orlando to have the women's game broadcast locally.”

For all four women, these seven games become not just an opportunity to bring Pride soccer over the airwaves in Orlando, but also to continue the rapid growth of women’s sports, both from a playing perspective and from a broadcasting one.

“I think little girls need to have someone to emulate their dreams and to be able to work alongside women that have really progressed the game to a different level is a privilege,” Secondo said, “Those dreams started somewhere else and having platforms of broadcasting that are evergreen, allows for that type of opportunity.”

“As people that are involved so much in the game, we want to continue to grow it, and the accessibility piece of that is so important,” White said, “Getting new fans in and showing them that it's here and they don't have to go far to be able to support high-level women’s sports and I think that's a big part of just continuing to grow the sport.”

The Pride’s first local game on FOX 35 PLUS will be this Sunday, March 26, as the Pride go on the road to face the defending champion Portland Thorns FC at Providence Park. Coverage starts at 5 p.m. ET.

Regular season opener: Orlando Pride at Portland Thorns

When: Sunday, 5 p.m.

Where: Providence Park,  Portland, Ore.

TV: FOX35 PLUS, Paramount+