The WNBA just signed a huge airtime deal with CBS Sports
And they said playing ball like a girl was a bad thing...
CBS Sports Network announced on Monday that it will broadcast 40 WNBA games when the season begins next month. This multiyear deal is a major win for the women's league, as it will double its national TV exposure, reports ESPN.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The WNBA's 23rd season opens on May 24, with the matchup between the Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky on March 25 being the first to air on the CBS Sports Network. This new deal is just another addition to the WNBA's already budding network, which has ESPN showing 16 regular-season telecasts, reports ESPN.
Each year, the WNBA's average viewership steadily increases. In 2018, the league's following across ESPN2 and NBA TV went up 31 percent.
Smaller details of the deal are still being finalized. It's unclear how the WNBA will choose which games to air on ESPN versus CBS Sports after this year, and there are still discussions about expanding the coverage to include features and other WNBA programming.
Either way, this seems like the first official win of the season.
-
‘Care fractures after birth’instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Shots fired in the US-EU war over digital censorshipIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Trump administration risks opening a dangerous new front in the battle of real-world consequences for online action
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain
-
TikTok secures deal to remain in USSpeed Read ByteDance will form a US version of the popular video-sharing platform
-
Unemployment rate ticks up amid fall job lossesSpeed Read Data released by the Commerce Department indicates ‘one of the weakest American labor markets in years’
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
