As the league enters its 30th season, a historic broadcast schedule – featuring a record 216 nationally televised games – is setting the stage for sustained growth.

 

The WNBA’s 2026 season will tip off in the coming weeks with no shortage of milestones. The league is celebrating its 30th anniversary, operating under a game-changing new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and has reached a level of momentum that makes it impossible to ignore as a sports & entertainment product.

 

Amidst all of this, there’s one shift this season that shouldn’t be overlooked or undervalued – and it’s the league’s recently announced expanded media footprint.

 

In 2026, the WNBA will feature a record 216 of its 330 regular-season games on national broadcasts across an unprecedented mix of partners, including ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, CBS, Prime Video, ION, USA Network, and NBA TV. It will be the most nationally broadcast games in WNBA history. 

 

Worth noting, the league’s expanded media footprint is about so much more than expanding the number of nationally broadcast games – it’s more windows, more consistency, and more regular opportunities for fans to engage. The rollout also includes meaningful upgrades to WNBA League Pass and the league’s app, giving fans access to live out-of-market games, on-demand replays of every matchup, and an expanded archive of past games. A new “Tap to Watch” feature further simplifies the viewing experience by showing fans exactly where and how to access live game telecasts across platforms – so fans won’t have to do as much searching on their own to figure out where to watch games.

 

Why does this matter? To take a step back, sports media is the financial engine of modern sports. Put simply, media isn’t just a marketing tool for sports – it is the glue of the business model. Sports didn’t become a trillion-dollar industry by accident; it became one because media distribution enabled it to expand its audience. Media distribution is the core reason sports is the massive industry it is today – and why the World Economic Forum projects the industry to be valued at $2.3 trillion today, and reach $8.8 trillion by 2050. 

Take the Super Bowl, for example. In 2026, 70,823 people attended the game in person, and 125.6M watched from afar. The Super Bowl is one of the most valuable sporting events in the world — not simply because tens of thousands attend — but because millions can watch from anywhere. Across the sports & entertainment industry, media transforms reach, and with it, revenue, fandom, and cultural relevance.

 

For decades, the WNBA – and women’s sports on the whole – have operated with limited media coverage and distribution, which in turn has constrained audience growth and commercial investment, and has led to limited revenues from media rights fees. Now with an expansive media deal that draws investment from multiple networks, the WNBA has unlocked sizable new revenue opportunities that significantly impact the league’s bottom line. And while the league is receiving some initial negative feedback from fans who are frustrated that they now need to subscribe to multiple platforms in order to watch every game, ultimately, the commercial and media revenue from this expanded distribution is a huge driver in the growth of the league – and a key factor in why players' were able to negotiate for higher salaries during CBA discussions. 

 

At the end of the day, it’s important to understand that the “issue” with women’s basketball has never been demand; it’s been accessibility. The "question” wasn’t whether the product of women’s basketball was good – it was whether people would actually be able to see it. What makes this moment for the WNBA so significant is that this expanded broadcast schedule isn’t just about increasing the number of games on television; it’s about creating a reliable, easy-to-find product for fans to discover at scale.

New weekly programming blocks, prime-time windows on major broadcast networks, and integrated streaming partnerships all contribute to a more professionalized and cohesive viewing experience. All of this works together to create more mainstream opportunities for fans to tune in. For a long time, accessibility has been an afterthought in women’s sports. Now, it’s a proven growth strategy, and this expanded distribution will inevitably take the WNBA’s business to a new level in 2026.

The Takeaway? As we’ve seen over and over again in women’s sports, when you put women’s sports on TV, people watch. When you make women’s sports accessible, the audience grows. When you market women’s sports, fans get hooked. Every time women’s sports have been given a consistent, primetime platform, the results have followed: strong viewership, sold-out arenas, and growing fan engagement. 

For the WNBA 30th’s season, all of the pieces are in place for this year to be the biggest one yet. At long last, media coverage – and distribution – is starting to catch up to the quality of the product on the court. 

 

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Quick Guide for Where to Watch

How to Watch the WNBA in 2026, via Sports Illustrated: 

• Cable / Live TV: ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, USA Network, ION

• Streaming: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+

• League Pass: Out-of-market games (blackouts apply)

• Preseason: All games stream free on WNBA League Pass; four games will air on ION.

WNBA on TV by Day of the Week

• Mondays: USA, Peacock

• Tuesdays: ESPN

• Wednesdays: USA

• Thursdays: Prime Video

• Fridays: ION

• Saturdays: ESPN, CBS

• Sundays: ABC, NBC, ESPN

 

MEET CAROLINE FITZGERALD