Tampa Bay 1-0 Fort Lauderdale AET: An even USL Super League Final delivered thrills

Too bad the final was buried on Peacock (who made it difficult to find the stream as well)

Saturday night’s USL Super League Final was a great spectacle. Tampa Bay Sun beat Fort Lauderdale United 1-0 AET in what was a superb advertisement for the women’s professional game in the US.

Unfortunately, unlike USL’s men’s professional leagues whose finals are either on ESPN or CBS linear channels, the USL Super League’s final was buried on Peacock.

We knew coming into the match, Tampa Bay’s slow build-up play and high-pressing tactics would be tested against Fort Lauderdale’s pace and ability to play over-the-top. The match played out much as expected. Tampa Bay dominated possession and created the bulk of chances, but the always excellent Cosette Morché was up to the task.

However, it can be argued much as has often been the case throughout the season (except for a dip in March and April) Fort Lauderdale always looked the more dangerous side - the side more likely to score. This is no only because Fort Lauderdale counter-attacks well and is pacey but also because Tyrone Mears has had an uncanny knack all season to make substitutions at the right moment and be pragmatic enough to create mismatches, particularly in wide areas. Additionally, there were spells in the match where Fort Lauderdale had the more labored and logical build-up play - most notably after the first half hydration break and around the middle of the second half.

In the end, Tampa Bay got what can only described as a scrappy goal to win in Extra Time. Fort Lauderdale may well have equalized near the death, but Addie McCain whose goal scoring exploits at times this season have been remarkable given she generally plays deeper in midfield, just missed wide on a chance that I believe was impacted by the turf at Riverfront Stadium- call it “home bounce advantage”.

The match was fantastic but the lack of accessibility for it was not. My plan had been to make the match in person but as our readers learned Saturday morning, I was unable to attend. So I was reliant on Peacock to cover the proceedings. The telecast was fantastic, but that was only after it was found.

I generally only access Peacock to watch the USL Super League (my Premier League consumption has gone significantly down the past two seasons- truthfully I rarely watch the league any more, preferring the Bundesliga by a country mile and of course the EFL which CBS has made more accessible) yet had to search feverishly to find the stream. This is despite constantly watching these two sides during the USL Super League season.

Contrast this with ANY USL Championship or League One stream that I want to watch on ESPN+ or via the Hulu app. The matches I want to watch pop right up on both apps. They know my preferences and that I am not logging on to watch baseball or American football or whatever. Granted, when USL men’s matches end up on Golazo!, that requires an additional step which is to find that FAST channel, but still that is relatively easy.

So last night, I easily found every single men’s game I wanted, while scrolling though Peacock to find USL S Final, and then realizing I should click on the sports tab and even there I was given the option to watch what felt like thousands of golf streams before Tampa Bay v Fort Lauderdale popped up.

This was just year one for the USL Super League, but I hope in the future either Peacock gives the league better placement on its app and/or bigger matches are moved to some NBCUniversal linear channel.

All of this having been said, the production and broadcast were superb, so that is a positive we can end on.