by JAKE NUTTNG

The North American Soccer League revealed today that the second year of its broadcast partnership with One World Sports will see coverage expand to the league’s Spring Season.

One World Sports will continue to air an ‘NASL Game of the Week’, with matches airing on Saturday nights in the spring before moving back to Wednesday nights in the fall.

“We’re proud to continue our great partnership with ONE World Sports,” said NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson. “They were the first national broadcaster to partner with us and they have done a fine job of producing some very exciting television. We’re looking forward to the new streaming component that will allow anyone in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico to watch our ONE World Sports matches.”

The aspect of today’s announcement that will likely come as a relief to NASL supporters is the news that this year’s edition of NASL Game of the Week will now be available to stream at oneworldsports.com to anyone in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, regardless of whether or not their cable provider offers One World Sports. The weekly broadcasts being behind a paywall last year was an annoyance for many followers across the league who had no access to the network.

One World Sports’ weekly highlights and discussion show, NASL This Week, will also continue on in 2016 and will air on Tuesday nights at 6 p.m. ET.

“The NASL has become a formidable presence on the international soccer scene with domestic and imported talent cultivating new fans on a regular basis,” said Sandy Brown, President & CEO, ONE World Sports. “ONE World Sports is investing a significant amount of resources to help grow the NASL audience including access for every fan to view the NASL Game of the Week via the network’s website and the continuation of our league highlight show, NASL This Week.”

In his media conference call on Tuesday afternoon, Commissioner Peterson also addressed recent speculation that the NASL is close to signing on with another Television partner to go along with its deal with One World Sports. According to him, those talks continue and could be completed as soon as this week.

“Yes, we have been in discussion with potential broadcast partners,” stated Peterson. “No, we haven’t been able to conclude those deals and haven’t signed on yet. So we’re going to hold back from discussion any of those.

“What I will say, though, is it’s been a very pleasant surprise to have broadcasters approaching us, understanding the type of competition we have in NASL, wanting to put our matches on the air, working with us on developing partnerships that’ll be fruitful for both sides. If we can get these wrapped up over the next couple of days, we’ll be very happy to let you all know exactly who they are and how that impacts our season for 2016.”

Rumors have connected the second division league with both CBS Sports and BeIN Sports network, though Peterson did not mention any specific broadcaster in his comments.

Along with today’s broadcast announcement, the NASL also dropped the schedule for the NASL Game of the Weeks that are set to air in the Spring Season.