WNBA national boost

The WNBA will put a record 216 games and tentpole events on national TV and streaming platforms in 2026, its 30th season. (wnba.com) The league announced the schedule on April 22, one day before training camps opened, and said the regular season starts May 8 and ends Sept. 24. The 2026 season includes 330 regular-season games, meaning roughly two-thirds of the schedule will have national distribution. (wnba.com, wnba.com) Forty games are slated for major broadcast networks: 20 on CBS, 13 on ABC and seven on NBC. The All-Star Game will air on ABC, while the rest of the package is spread across ESPN, Prime Video, Paramount+, ION, USA Network, Peacock, NBC Sports Network and NBA TV. (sportsmediawatch.com, wnba.com) The 2026 schedule is the first full season under the WNBA’s new long-term media-rights structure. In July 2024, the league said Disney, Amazon Prime Video and NBCUniversal would distribute more than 125 games annually from 2026 through 2036. (wnba.com) CBS and Scripps stayed in the mix with separate deals that took effect for 2026. CBS Sports said this month it will carry a record 20 regular-season games on the CBS network, and Scripps renewed ION’s Friday-night package in June 2025 after becoming the league’s national Friday home in 2023. (cbssports.com, scripps.com) The broader TV map also changes the postseason. Disney, USA Network and Prime Video will split the first round, Disney and NBC platforms will split the semifinals, and every WNBA Finals game will air on NBC or USA Network and stream on Peacock. (espn.com, wnba.com) The league is entering that rollout after two years of surging visibility around stars including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, plus continued contention from teams such as the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx. USA Today reported that all 44 Indiana Fever regular-season games are set for national television in 2026. (usatoday.com, cbssports.com) The national push arrives as the WNBA expands again. The Golden State Valkyries joined in 2025, and the league’s 2026 campaign will also include new teams in Toronto and Portland, adding inventory and new local markets for the media partners now carrying the sport. (wnba.com, cbssports.com) For viewers, the practical change is simple: more WNBA games will be easier to find without league-specific subscriptions or local blackouts. For the league, 2026 is the first test of whether a wider national window can turn a spike in attention into a season-long habit. (wnba.com, sportsmediawatch.com)