

The WNBA’s television landscape continues to shift.
On Monday, the league announced that four preseason games will run on national television, the first time in league history that multiple exhibition games will air nationally.
Fourteen of the league’s 15 preseason games will also be broadcast on WNBA League Pass, with the lone exception airing only on ESPN. The wider accessibility of the entire preseason schedule is another milestone moment for the league. The games airing on League Pass will air as part of a free preview being offered by the app.
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The Athletic previously reported that the Indiana Fever’s exhibition against the Brazilian national team on May 4 would air on ESPN. Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and the rest of the Fever will also be on national television, via NBA TV, on May 3, for their preseason opener against the Washington Mystics.
Newly drafted Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers will make her preseason debut on May 2 against the Las Vegas Aces in an exhibition broadcast on ION. That game, tipping off at 7 p.m. ET, is at Notre Dame’s campus and serves as a homecoming for three Irish alums (Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young).
Later that night at 9 p.m. ET, Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith will both play in a homecoming game at LSU as the Chicago Sky face the Brazilian national team in another exhibition airing on ION.
“We’ve seen the demand for WNBA content grow exponentially, and we are meeting that demand by working with our broadcast partners and our teams to make a significant investment by making all 15 preseason games available to WNBA fans,” WNBA chief growth officer Colie Edison said in a statement. “It will be the ultimate way for fans to follow their favorite players as all 13 teams prepare to tip off the regular season in mid-May.”
The lack of accessible preseason broadcasts has drawn ire from fans in recent seasons. There were only two preseason games broadcast on WNBA League Pass two years ago and just four last season. A year ago, a preseason game between the Sky and the Minnesota Lynx was unavailable on a broadcast but totaled more than two million views through a fan’s phone stream on X.
The addition of national TV preseason broadcasts is just part of the broadcast upticks occurring around the league this season. In an expanded 44-game season, ABC is broadcasting 13 WNBA games, its most ever. ION will broadcast the most games across the regular season (50). CBS is also airing the first primetime WNBA regular season games on broadcast television on June 7 and Aug. 9, when the Fever and Sky face each other.
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“The WNBA’s broadcast and streaming partners in 2025 will spotlight the league’s superstars, rising stars and must-see matchups like never before,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert previously said in a statement.
WNBA rosters must be finalized by Thursday, May 15, with the regular season beginning the following evening.
(Photo: Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
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