ESPN sets WNBA, NWSL, games for summer Sunday nights

SAN JOSE, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: ESPN camera captures pregame activities before game two of the first round of the WNBA Playoffs between the Minnesota Lynx and the Golden State Valkyries on September 17, 2025 at SAP Center at San Jose in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)

The WNBA and NWSL will be a key element of ESPN’s Sunday night sports strategy this summer.

ESPN announced Thursday that it will carry nine weeks of Sunday night WNBA and NWSL games under the banner “Women’s Sports Sundays,” which the network is characterizing as a groundbreaking programming effort. The 12-game schedule will help fill the vacancy left by ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” package, which moves over to NBC this season. [Related: How will ESPN fill its Sunday Night Baseball vacancy?]

It is not clear how many games ESPN will carry between the WNBA and NWSL. The WNBA the past two seasons has been a dramatically stronger television draw than the NWSL, averaging nearly six times the audience on the ESPN networks during their 2025 regular seasons (1.3M to 228K).

It should be noted that ESPN has long carried occasional Sunday night games from both leagues, usually after the conclusion of the baseball season (though not always; ESPN aired NWSL matches on some “Sunday Night Baseball” off-weeks last season).

There are some high-profile Sunday night games on the WNBA schedule this season, including a Liberty-Sparks game on June 21, the anniversary of the inaugural WNBA game in 1997 between the same two teams. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are set to face A’ja Wilson and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on consecutive Sunday nights July 5 and 12. The Fever also face Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on August 23.

Some of those games are likely to air on NBC, as two of the dates (July 12 and August 23) coincide with off weeks for “Sunday Night Baseball.” (The August 23 game in particular cannot air on ESPN, which has the MLB Little League Classic scheduled for the same date and time.)

ESPN has 24 Sunday nights to fill with the loss of “Sunday Night Baseball.” The “Women’s Sports Sundays” and MLB Little League Classic would account for ten. ESPN is also scheduled to carry the UFL on the first Sunday night of the MLB season March 29, followed by NHL doubleheaders on April 5, 19 and 26, and an NBA doubleheader on the final night of the regular season April 12.

One can assume Sunday nights in May will feature additional Stanley Cup playoff games and at least one NBA game (ESPN’s conference final is traditionally scheduled for a Sunday Game 7). And it would not be surprising to see NCAA College World Series softball and baseball in the Sunday night slot in June.

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Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

St. Louis MO - March 16, 2001 - Savis Center:
On air talent members Robin Roberts, Geno Auriemma, and Muffet McGraw are shown working on air during the NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament Final Four games back in 2001.
(Photo by Rick Graefe / ESPN Images)

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Comments 9

Richard W says:

5 months ago

That is, if there is a WNBA season to be played as I heard the league just rejected the players’ latest offer, so here comes a strike and they still haven’t done their expansion draft yet, which should have been conducted two months ago, so expect the season to be further delayed or maybe not even played at all. As for ESPN, they have to do something to fill that airtime. Maybe move some of the WWE PLEs to Sunday nights then to fill that timeslot.
ESL says:

5 months ago

No surprise. I think May will feature the Stanley Cup playoffs most Sundays. The schedule is great for summer programming.
ds says:

5 months ago

Thank you for the news. ESPN was more important to MLB (~$250 million per year overpay, if nothing else) than MLB was to ESPN. I doubt live sports on every Sunday night is of any great importance. To the extent it is desired, ESPN have a large portfolio that can passably fill gaps
dx says:

5 months ago

I think we all saw this coming once ESPN signed a new expanded NWSL deal. The WNBA and NWSL can comfortably cover July-September Sunday nights for ESPN when you add in playoffs (maybe October too depending on how future schedules look). That’s probably when this programming block will “officially” run.

Plus, it’s smart for ESPN too as the audience will not really overlap with the NFL (or MLB) to a significant degree (just as ESPN already airs the WNBA, NWSL, and women’s college sports on Sunday afternoons now). So the ratings will be fine, if not even a little better, than anything else that could have plausibly aired in the same timeslots going-forward.
- Rick James Bible Owner says:
  
  5 months ago
  
  I initially thought college baseball could do a number on Sundays, but their February-June season overlaps with other (better) offerings, which doesn’t really make that possible. As you said, this is the best course of action.
  - dx says:
    
    5 months ago
    
    As I recall, college baseball is traditionally more associated with Friday night anyway in terms of marquee matchups and also when the aces pitch (especially in the SEC).
    - Rick James Bible Owner says:
      
      5 months ago
      
      True, but there are a few college baseball games on Sundays, and for a sport with a (growing and very) vocal social media minority, an SEC, ACC or BigXII ‘game of the week’ could’ve been a way for some eyes outside the month people really pay attention to college baseball, but as I said, ESPN made a more logical choice.
- ds says:
  
  5 months ago
  
  You made solid predictions about NWSL and WNBA. I agree the (likely) low overlap among MLB and NWSL/WNBA audiences is a positive. SNB on NBC will have much higher viewership, but summer Sunday nights are not an important window to win
  - dx says:
    
    5 months ago
    
    That point about winning Sunday in July is well-taken too. There’s a reason why local news stations historically have allowed their anchors and investigative reporters to take some vacation time in July. Winning July sweeps didn’t/doesn’t affect ad revenue (or PR narratives) the way that November, February or May did/do.