Over the last few years, coinciding largely with Caitlin Clark’s rise to prominence, viewership of women’s basketball has skyrocketed across multiple platforms. The WNBA and its national broadcast partners are coming off a regular season in which 22 games averaged more than 1 million viewers, marking a new record for a single season, and also accounted for over 136 million hours of consumption. The momentum has continued into this season, ahead of lucrative new media rights deals and the looming addition of three new expansion franchises.
Yet with so much of the spotlight on Clark and a handful of other newcomers, the league still faces a certain stigma of unpopularity. ESPY host Shane Gillis, for example, facetiously introduced a fictitious four-time MVP winner to the theater during his opening monologue. With more eyes on the WNBA than at any point in the past two decades, viewers are theoretically exposed not only to Clark, but to her opponents and to narratives around the league. For WNBA broadcasters, including ESPN “WNBA Hoop Streams” hosts Ari Chambers and LaChina Robinson, there is an opportunity to counter those perceptions.
“You have so many players to look towards to carry the torch that comments like, ‘People don’t care, don’t watch,’ just simply are not true,’” Chambers said. “There are millions of people that watch these games — it’s just not true.”
After an extraordinary debut where she set rookie records for points, assists and three-point baskets made, Clark has been afflicted by injuries in her sophomore campaign. Nonetheless, viewership has been largely up this season. For Chambers and Robinson, the digital show is an opportunity to tap into their relationships with personnel to showcase the overall collection of talent in the league.
“We are the only designated on-site postgame coverage, so that in itself really separates us from everything else that’s happening,” Robinson said. “I also feel like ‘Hoop Streams’ is such a relaxed environment — it allows for some unscripted moments. We don’t have to worry about throwing to commercial breaks. We are live and can roll with whatever may happen, which I believe just brings a different level of authenticity to the moment and allows us to cover both pre- and post-event in a new and exciting way.”
Chambers and Robinson accentuate rising stars, showcase established veterans and discuss the WNBA in its entirety, adjusting in real time to accommodate potential interviews and storylines. That flexibility can also elicit deeper conversation, such as discovering why Phoenix Mercury forward Kahleah Cooper feels that basketball sometimes lets her down.
“I really listen to the players, and I think that it’s really important to — when you’re reporting, when you’re a journalist — to listen first and see where you can go, and that’s how we’re able to get unique stories because the players will take you exactly where they want to take you,” Chambers said. “It’s up to you to be able to steer and facilitate and make them feel comfortable enough to share it.”
Robinson added that when in the hosting role, she focuses on knowing her analyst well, which in turn can help align them for success. As a former collegiate basketball player and athletic administrator, she was frequently around environments built on collaboration and values having a connection to the hardwood.
“I just truly believe when you know the people you work with and you have trust, chemistry [and] deep relationships, you can set them up for success because you understand the things that they care about and what really drives them,” Robinson said. “And for Ari, she has been at the forefront when it comes to the growth of women’s basketball, and she has done it at the intersection of sport, culture, [advocacy] and fashion.”
Earlier in her professional career, Chambers worked on in-game entertainment for the New York Knicks and the Torch Patrol hype team for the New York Liberty. At the time, both teams were playing home games at Madison Square Garden, and she noticed the discrepancy between the franchises in terms of media coverage. Confounded as to why people did not want to tell the stories associated with the Liberty, she started recording videos on her phone and posting them online, cultivating a niche audience and gaining traction. The effort ultimately led to her creating the HighlightHer brand and working with Bleacher Report and TNT Sports.
“When I founded it, it was a community to uplift and empower girls and women no matter the age level, ability or sports,” Chambers said. “So it had a unique ability to storytell around all names and not just the top-five athletes of the time, and I had a sense of unapologetic perseverance and boldness in the women’s sports space in a time where the attention was not nearly where it is today.”
The rise of interest in women’s sports does not show any palpable signs of abating. A Deloitte report released this spring indicates that the sector is projected to garner global revenue of $2.35 billion, which would be a 25% increase from the previous year. Basketball revenue by itself is expected to surpass the $1 billion threshold this year as well, fueling the widespread gains for the industry.
“I wouldn’t even say it’s a bet, it’s an investment,” Chambers explained. “It’s proven the cost of inaction has been greater than the risk because you see Mark Davis was able to purchase the Aces for $2 million, and now that is an over $400 million franchise. If you don’t invest, you’re missing out, and it’s proven numerically.”
“It’s a growing business,” Robinson added. “That’s the only argument that there is to make. Every metric of the WNBA right now is trending up, including sponsors really wanting to specifically get behind women’s sports, so there’s not really a case necessarily to be made because it’s very obvious that there is a hunger and a growth of the WNBA that is driving investment, so it’s a good business decision, and I think that’s where that conversation begins and ends.”
Along with acquiring and showcasing women’s sports properties across its portfolio of networks, ESPN recently debuted a new studio offering featuring a rotating panel of women’s commentators titled “Vibe Check.” In addition to Chambers and Robinson, commentators who have been on the program include Elle Duncan, Monica McNutt and Hannah Storm.
When Clark was a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes, she gained popularity for her sublime skillset and athleticism and proceeded to close her collegiate career as the NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader. During her tenure, she competed in the National Championship Game against South Carolina, and despite the loss, the matchup averaged 18.9 million viewers and was the most-watched college basketball game on ESPN platforms.
Clark’s WNBA debut with the Fever and subsequent games have proceeded to yield substantial interest, and 41 of the 44 regular-season contests have been scheduled to air on national television.
Chambers understands the captivation towards Clark and enjoys discussing her play, but she also values talking about other players. Acknowledging a responsibility to be intentional with the storytelling, she eschews solely relying on bigger names and spotlights the history of the sport.
“We did a Cheryl Miller piece during “Countdown to College GameDay,” and a lot of people, shockingly, don’t know about Cheryl Miller’s legacy,” Chambers said. “So it’s on us as talking heads of the company to provide context of how we even got here in the first place in order to have the trajectory that it has this year.”
ESPN has been broadcasting WNBA games since the league made its debut in 1997, and it is going to continue presenting these matchups under a new 11-year media rights deal with the league. Under the agreement between The Walt Disney Company and WNBA, the network will broadcast five WNBA Finals series, eight semifinals series and additional postseason and regular-season coverage. With the concurrent extension of its NBA rights package, ESPN reached a separate sublicensing agreement with TNT Sports to air the award-winning studio program “Inside the NBA.”
“The conversation tends to evolve past the game we just watched into other topics, and to me, that’s what makes that show so special,” Robinson said, identifying a parallel between “Hoop Streams” and the famed “Inside.” “So having the space to allow for different types of WNBA conversations to evolve after the game is over is an important aspect of sports coverage and something that I think NBA on TNT will bring to ESPN in an innovative way.”
Chambers and Robinson recently broadcast live from the WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, Ind. where they were courtside for pregame and postgame coverage. Prior to the matchup, players donned shirts reading “Pay Us What You Owe Us,” a message directed towards commissioner Cathy Engelbert and other league executives as the WNBA and players’ union have yet to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. Without an agreement, a work stoppage could threaten to delay or cancel next season.
“With recent growth of the WNBA, there’s obviously a lot to be discussed as it pertains to percent of revenue, the salary cap and other things that WNBA players are passionate about discussing that will impact their experience in the league over the next few years,” Robinson explained. “The league can’t grow when it’s not active and when it’s not on television and when fans can’t go sit in the arenas, so that’s not ideal, but I understand why that may happen. I just hope that both sides can come to an agreement sooner rather than later.”
As ESPN continues to present WNBA games and other women’s sports leagues, Robinson feels that there should be more media coverage at the national and local levels.
“We have great resources to use, and once we continue to see the growth of women’s sports, I want to continue to be the wave for that,” Chambers said. “I want ESPN to continue to make the waves for women’s sports growth.”
