Report: ESPN is ‘very close’ to adding a daily women’s basketball show

ESPN is seemingly taking note of the increased interest in the WNBA and women’s basketball, as one of its executives recently said that she thinks the company is “very close” to get a daily women’s basketball show.

ESPN's Sara Sara Gaiero on how close we are to getting daily programming on women's basketball:

"I think we are very close…It's become very difficult to turn your eyes and say, ' We can't find space for that.'"

(Q: @kdotlew3H)#WNBA

— Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) July 17, 2024

With its current rookie class headlined by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, the WNBA has seen its popularity soar this season. Just two days ago, it was reported that the league will earn nearly $2.2 billion over 11 years in new agreements with Disney, NBC and Amazon.

“The WNBA’s current media deals, valued at roughly $50 million annually, are set to expire after the 2025 season, with Disney, Ion, CBS and Amazon as its media partners,” wrote The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov. “The new rights fees could have as much as six times multiple of the league’s current media rights fees since the new deals leave room for the WNBA to bring in new partners. The league anticipates it will sell two other rights packages in addition to the ones it has already made agreements for, and projects to bring in another $60 million annually in total in those additional deals.”

It seems like investing time and money into a daily show centered around women’s basketball would be a good idea. Besides the star rookies, there are other standout players across the league that have helped the league grow over the years and should be talked about more often in the sports world.

A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd are some of those players. All three of them are set to play for Team USA at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Partnerships galore for the WNBA

Jul 9, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; The WNBA logo on the court at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

On Thursday, it was announced that the WNBA made DraftKings an official sports betting and daily fantasy partner of the league.

The WNBA and DraftKings announce a new partnership, making DraftKings an official sports betting and daily fantasy partner of the league. Among other elements, the deal gives DraftKings rights to use league and team IP and access to the WNBA's official data feed.

— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) July 18, 2024

Furthermore, it was revealed two days ago that New Balance had become one of the league’s official marketing partners on a multiyear deal, another exciting move.

OFFICIAL: New Balance has landed a multi-year deal with the WNBA to become an official league marketing partner.

Deal provides rights to use in-uniform imagery and New Balance plans to “create authentic broadcast, digital & retail content featuring WNBA rookie Cameron Brink.” pic.twitter.com/NWEDbgOZ94

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) July 16, 2024

With Clark and Reese just beginning their careers, it stands to reason that the league will continue to grow more and more in the coming years.

So far this season, the league has had 15 games with at least one million viewers, which is tied for the most in any season. There are no more WNBA regular season games until August 15 due to the Olympics and All-Star festivities, but there’s still lots of time for the league to break that record.

It’s an exciting time for women’s basketball, and fans will surely want to keep up with the league as it continues to grow.