When the National Women’s Soccer League and its consultants at Octagon meet with potential media rights partners in New York this week, the elevated profile of the United States’ top women’s soccer stars following their victory at the 2019 World Cup will certainly be a selling point. The league, however, is making it clear that it expects commitment from its partners outside the context of the World Cup.

“The construct historically of rallying behind the league to ride the wave of USWNT success and then abandoning the league is no longer going to be acceptable,” said Daniel Cohen, senior vice president for Octagon, whose media rights consulting division is representing the NWSL in the sales process for the first time.

The sports and entertainment agency and the league are seeking three-year commitments from one or more English- and Spanish-language programmers for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons — none of which coincide with a Women’s World Cup. They expect to have a short list of serious candidates by the end of the year. The key, Cohen said, will be finding partners willing to dedicate resources to unlocking untapped growth potential.

Cohen explained via email that following each of the national team’s World Cup victories, the NWSL only found broadcast partners — Fox Sports in 2015 and ESPN in 2019 — willing to make short-term, low-stakes commitments aimed at quickly capitalizing on the short-term spike in the sport’s profile. The league reportedly did not receive a rights fee from ESPN for the 14 games aired across its cable portfolio during the second half of the recently completed season, during which Yahoo controlled the league’s digital rights.