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It appears NWHL fans have much to look forward to in terms of coverage.

On Wednesday Alison Overholt, the editor-in-chief at espnW, announced via her Twitter account that the NWHL’s Boston Pride game versus the Connecticut Whale (not the New York Riveters as indicated in her tweet) this upcoming Sunday will be streamed via ESPN3 online and the WatchESPN App. In this case, it will replace the Cross-Ice Pass YouTube stream the NWHL has provided free to fans.

As per the agreement with NESN, ESPN3’s coverage of the game will be blacked out for viewers in the New England region.

Exciting news!! @NWHL_ Boston Pride vs NY Riveters on Sunday at 3pm will stream on ESPN3! First game of new deal to carry the league. ? — Alison Overholt (@alisonoverholt) November 25, 2015

Sources have indicated that this is the first of a season-long deal that will feature the remaining Boston Pride home games and perhaps even a New York Riveters game or two.

Boston has been chosen as the vehicle for the league’s foray into broadcasting due to a number of factors, but largely in part because of the construction of Harvard’s Bright-Landry Center. Clear sightlines, excellent lighting, few obstructions and an elevated, yet distanced center ice camera position all contributed to the choice of venue and, now, broadcast location. Not to mention the fact that Boston is the team most stacked with Olympic players and faces familiar to fans and the media.

ESPN3 is an online streaming service, broadcasting live online sports coverage.

As part of the agreement, when ESPN3 is carrying a game, NWHL Cross-Ice Pass will not be active for that particular game, the league told media. The New York Riveters-Buffalo Beauts game will be streamed via Cross-Ice Pass as it is not being broadcasted on ESPN3.

ESPN3 broadcasts run the gamut of exclusivity; some are exclusive broadcasts, some are alternate camera angles of sports events being aired on other channels and still more are simulcasts of events playing on regional sports networks.

As such, regional sports networks such as New England Sports Network, which the NWHL already has a deal with, can continue to broadcast NWHL games on television. In that same vein, there will be nothing in the agreement with ESPN that would prevent the NWHL from signing more deals with even more networks as the season wears on.

ESPN3 is only available to those whose Internet service providers pay a service fee to ESPN. According to the company, ESPN3 is available to 99 million homes in the U.S. but viewership of of the channel is comparatively low for the company (2.2 million viewers during the month of Nov. in 2013, which was a benchmark for the service at the time) and the rights therefore go for relatively little.

While the NWHL may not see a big payout for these remaining games, the value in this deal is the enormous potential for exposure for the league.

Even with the relatively low number of 2.2 million viewers flocking to that channel in a month, the cross-promotion across the rest of ESPN’s multitude of television and radio channels will certainly draw more viewers who were unaware of the league’s existence before this.

A league spokesperson commented on the news in a statement to the media.

“This is another step in providing fans with access to every NWHL game,” they said, “But more importantly, the power of ESPN3 will provide immense value for the league and potential corporate partners. The ESPN brand has been a significant supporter of the league since our announcement, including inviting [league founder and Commissioner] Dani Rylan to speak at the ESPNW summit, the documentary featuring Hilary Knight and multiple highlights on ESPN SportsCenter.

“Bluntly speaking, we feel that ESPN3 carries significant cache when it comes to talking with corporate and community partners who want to align with the NWHL.”

Rylan herself commented on the news in the same statement.

“We are excited to work with ESPN in growing women’s hockey through this agreement,” said Rylan. “With more than 90 million subscribers, this is a tremendous opportunity for the league, our players and potential business partners to build something special through live broadcasting.

“Since our inception, the focus has been to provide the best experience possible for our fans and this goes a long way in accomplishing that,” she said.