The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has forged a landmark national television distribution deal that will see more than 125 games each season aired on broadcast, cable and streaming TV platforms.
The deal starts with the 2026 season and will see Comcast’s NBC, the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN and Amazon’s Prime Video distribute games over the course of 11 seasons. The agreement was announced on the same day that the National Basketball Association (NBA) revealed a similar deal with the three media rights holders for professional men’s basketball games.
Comcast will distribute the highest number of games each year, with a minimum of 50 regular-season games offered on the NBC broadcast network, cable channel USA Network and Comcast’s streaming service Peacock. Comcast will also serve as a co-partner for international distribute of WNBA games on Sky Sports and Sky Showtime, with Disney named as the other global distribution partner.
Disney will offer a minimum of 25 regular-season games through ESPN and ABC, while also broadcasting the WNBA All-Star event, including the All-Star game itself. ESPN and ABC will also broadcast the WNBA Draft each year, as well as two first-round series per year, eight WNBA Semifinals and five WNBA Finals. Comcast and Prime Video will share distribution rights to the WNBA Semifinals and WNBA Finals with Disney, the league said.
Amazon will offer 30 regular-season games every year through Prime Video, which will also serve as a global distribution partner for games. Prime Video will additionally serve as the national broadcast partner for the Championship Game of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, and will market and sell WNBA League Pass in the United States and around the world, the league affirmed.
The telecast agreements are non-exclusive, and the WNBA said it is pursuing additional media partners “that will further expand the reach and accessibility” of games in 2026 and beyond.
“Partnering with Disney, Amazon and NBC marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history and clearly demonstrates the significant rise in value and the historic level of interest in women’s basketball,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “These agreements allow the league to continue to build a long-term and sustainable growth model for the future of women’s basketball and sports which will benefit WNBA players, teams and fans.”
We’re proud of our highly productive and collaborative partnership with the WNBA since the league’s inception in 1997,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Wednesday. “Through our marquee collection of rights, which includes the WNBA Finals, we will continue to play an important role in the league’s extraordinary growth trajectory while fueling ESPN’s digital future and super-serving fans as only we can.”
“As the home of the first-ever nationally televised WNBA game, we are excited to have the league return to NBC Universal’s platforms,” said Mike Cavanagh, the President of Comcast Corporation. “We look forward to showcasing the talented players and teams that continue to grow the popularity of the WNBA, while further bolstering NBC’s lineup of premium women’s sports.”
“We’ve been partners with and believers in the WNBA over the last four seasons, and could not be more excited to expand our relationship so significantly with this landmark agreement,” said Jay Marine, the Global Head of Sports for Amazon’s Prime Video. “The league’s recent surge in popularity is of no surprise to us, as these incredible athletes continue to raise the bar and electrify fans. We’re looking forward to providing Prime members around the world with increased access to the W’s biggest events as more and more fans gravitate toward the sport.”
