Paramount’s new streaming service just became a must-buy for U.S. Soccer fans

We should probably preface this blog post by saying this isn’t sponsored content, just an honest assessment of the current Soccer streaming landscape that just shifted dramatically for U.S. Soccer fans.

The streaming service currently known as CBS All-Access will be rebranded to “Paramount Plus” next week. With its new look comes a massive acquisition of soccer streaming rights that will make it a must-buy for any hardcore soccer fan, especially those that follow the USWNT and USMNT.

In addition to having every UEFA Champions League (men’s) and Europa League match and acquiring the rights for the Argentine and Brazilian first divisions, Paramount Plus has signed a deal with Concacaf for some very important rights that will affect you.

Here’s a detailed description of the agreement between the two parties announced by Paramount on Wednesday:

Concacaf – offering more than 200 Concacaf matches, starting with the Concacaf Nations League Finals in June of this year, which will feature the U.S. Men’s National Team. Coverage will feature all 41 national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean across different competitions, including the qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, which will feature the defending champion U.S. Women’s National Team.

The most important thing you need to know is that both the USWNT and USMNT will have World Cup qualifying matches streamed on this new platform in some fashion.

For the men’s side, the rights are split between away matches and home matches (plus Mexico away). During the last World Cup qualifying cycle the rights for away matches belonged to beIN sports, which to put as kindly as possible, did not go well. At least with this model, a modest monthly fee gets you access to every away men’s qualifier. When you consider that just ten years ago every single away qualifier (except against Mexico) was only available through closed-circuit pay-per-view, then this seems like an amazing step in the right direction.

The women’s World Cup qualifying tournament rights are included in the agreement in addition to being the home of NWSL.

Paramount will also carry the men’s Nations League Finals this summer and the women’s Nations League beginning in 2023. In addition, they’ll offer plenty of other non-U.S. Soccer related events including the brand new UEFA Europa Conference League (third tier European club competition) beginning this fall.

While all the different streaming platforms that hold soccer rights in this country can be overwhelming, some are better bargains than others. Paramount Plus has jumped up near the top of the list of must-buys, for American soccer fans at least.