The WNBA released its broadcast schedule for the upcoming season and it includes 148 national broadcasts through the regular season, a 48 game increase from the previous season.
Last month the league announced its broadcast schedule for ABC and ESPN networks, which includes 25 nationally broadcast games. It is adding 123 games to that schedule across CBS and CBS Sports Network (40 games), NBA TV (46 games), Prime Video (17 games) and Facebook Watch (20 games).
In addition to these 148 national regular-season broadcasts, Google and the Disney networks (ABC and ESPN) will work together to broadcast every game of the league’s newly formatted postseason. This will include up to a possible record-high 27 games.
The league’s regular season tips off on May 6 and runs through Aug. 14.
Fans were clamoring to know why the Sky’s season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 6 at Wintrust Arena was not a nationally televised game, but it’s been added with this new slate of games and will be televised on NBA TV.
One game noticeably missing from the national broadcast schedule is the Sky’s May 24 matchup against the Indiana Fever. This is the same night of the Sky’s ring ceremony, an event that is traditionally broadcast nationally in the NBA.
The Sky have not released their local broadcast schedule yet but the May 24 game will presumably be included in that.
“Our continued goal is to deliver as many WNBA games and as much content to our passionate fans and supporters across platforms that best match the evolution of content consumption,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Providing significant opportunities to view WNBA games across traditional as well as streaming platforms drives additional coverage to our growing fan base. From tip-off weekend in May through our expanded postseason in August and September, our broadcast and streaming partners are continuing to offer an enormous national platform for WNBA players and fans. And we’re not done; we will continue to look for innovative and creative ways to shape the future landscape of media consumption and the WNBA fan experience.”
Sky’s national broadcasts
NBA TV: 10 games
CBS Sports Network: 8 games
ABC: 4 games
ESPN: 1 game
ESPN 2: 1 game
Facebook Watch: 4 games
Amazon Prime: 2 games
