The E. W. Scripps Company’s sports broadcast division Scripps Sports will produce a handful of nationally-televised women’s professional basketball games in May, the company announced on Monday.
The games will be the first time that Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) pre-season match-ups are produced and distributed by a national broadcast TV network, Scripps Sports affirmed.
The first game will see the Dallas Wings take on the Las Vegas Aces on Friday, May 2 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by a match between the Chicago Sky and the Brazilian National Team scheduled for two hours later. Both games will air on Ion, which is available in most broadcast TV markets and also streams for free on leading platforms like Paramount Global’s Pluto TV, Comcast’s Xumo Play and Plex.
“Ion is a proud home to the WNBA, and we couldn’t be happier to bring the entire country the league’s first two nationally televised pre-season games in its history,” said Brian Lawlor, the President of Scripps Sports. “These two unique and star-studded pre-season matchups will help fans and viewers get excited about the upcoming season.”
Ion’s coverage of the Friday games will start at 6 p.m. Eastern Time with the debut episode of this season’s “WNBA on Ion” studio show.
Citing Nielsen ratings, Scripps Sports said its telecast of the WNBA Friday Night Spotlight — its brand for WNBA games airing on Ion — increased by 133 percent during the 2024 season, with the network attracting more than 23 million unique viewers across games and wrap shows.
Not to be outdone, the Walt Disney Company on Monday said its sports network ESPN will also produce and distribute a WNBA pre-season game, though it will air two days after the Friday night games on Ion.
The ESPN game will feature the Indiana Fever taking on the Brazilian National Team on Sunday, May 4 at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will take place at the University of Iowa — the same venue where Fever superstar Caitlin Clark played during her college basketball career.
ESPN said it will announce the channel or platform for the game at a later date.
