With Iowa star player Caitlin Clark having declared her intention to enter the WNBA draft after leading women's basketball to previously unimaginable TV ratings heights, the league and its broadcast partner, ESPN, are making plans or what could finally be a breakout season.
On Wednesday, the WNBA and ESPN announced that the league’s 28th regular season, set to tip off May 14, will include at least 25 nationally presented games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
Factoring in 27 potential postseason games — pending how long individual playoff series go — the 2024 WNBA season, presented in sponsorship collaboration with Google, could feature up to 52 games.
In addition, the WNBA All-Star Game, sponsored by AT&T, will air in primetime on ABC from Phoenix (8:30 p.m. ET on July 20) for the second consecutive year.
Each of the league's 12 teams will be shown nationally this year, with some teams appearing up to eight times.
Notable: The Indiana Fever have the No. 1 selection in Monday's 2024 WNBA Draft, a State Farm-sponsored event that will be shown live on ESPN staring at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Fever will almost undoubtedly pick Clark, the top all-time scorer among both men's and women's college hoops.
Not surprisingly, the Fever — which already has WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston on its roster — will be one of the teams that appears on Disney-owned networks eight times.
The season will tip off May 14 with a doubleheader, starting with the Fever visiting the Connecticut Sun for a 7:30 p.m. ET game.
Later that night, the Las Vegas Aces — led by two-time Most Valuable Players A’ja Wilson and Candace Parker— will begin their quest to become the first WNBA team to win three consecutive titles in more than 20 years when they host the Brittney Griner-led Phoenix Mercury.
The game will be preceded by WNBA Countdown, which will feature coverage of the Aces’ championship ring ceremony and championship banner anveiling.
Following the conclusion of the 2024 regular season on Sept. 19, ESPN will once again collaborate with the WNBA to broadcast all playoff games.
