With demand for women’s basketball at record highs and the next WNBA season just a month away, the league will start its 27th season with a new television deal in place that will create a dedicated night for the W all unto itself.
The WNBA will air on the Ion Television network Friday nights this season as part of a new multiyear contract signed this month. This provides the WNBA with another national TV deal and allows it to build a consistent national window for its games. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though the contract will not run past the 2025 season, when the league’s current TV rights deal with ESPN/ABC expires.
The agreement with the E.W. Scripps Company will air games after the opening weekend, starting May 26. The network will air at least one, and sometimes multiple, games each Friday. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert hopes this will create appointment viewing for the league, akin to how the NBA has become synonymous with Thursday nights on TNT.
“It just shows the demand is high for W games, and Scripps really recognized that,” Engelbert said in an interview with The Athletic. “I think it’s just another sign and signal that we’ve been looking for about our growth, and it’s great to see a top organization like Scripps step up here.”
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