Women's sports are getting a spotlight when summer arrives on the 2026 TV schedule. ESPN prides itself on being the "Worldwide Leader in Sports," and it's taking a major step forward by betting on women as one of its legacy programs fades away.
ESPN is ready to make a big commitment when it comes to female athletes, and surprisingly, it's not via a premium service like the ESPN Unlimited subscription. In fact, it's looking to put a spotlight on the biggest leagues in women's sports here soon, and putting them in the spotlight on Sunday nights.
ESPN Is Dedicating Sunday Nights To Women's Sports In Primetime
Get ready for Women's Sports Sundays on ESPN, as the network looks to put a spotlight on the WNBA and NWSL. Variety reports the block will air primarily in primetime, so expect to see Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to be seen more there, rather than in Gatorade ads or on WWE programming.
The move comes after the sports network announced ratings success for the WNBA, with the previous year representing the best viewership year for ESPN ever. This includes 1.5 million average viewers for the Finals, which lacked franchise face and Taylor Swift superfan Caitlin Clark. It seems the network feels bullish about giving it a bigger platform, to the point it's ready to replace a legacy program.
This Means No More Sunday Night Baseball On ESPN, But It Was Already On The Way Out
ESPN giving a spotlight to women's sports on Sunday nights means the end of Sunday Night Baseball on the network, which was a staple for decades. While comments were supporting the decision, and others were curious to see how it'll play out, there was an expected amount of snark and skepticism that the network was trading out the long-running MLB programming for a collaboration with women's sports:
- Women don't even watch women's sports. They're hoping men watch and save the channel and sport. - @xinexcellence
- Remind me in one year, looking forward to the ratings 😂 - @Gulag_Rat
- I would rather watch paint dry. For real though. - @BolzMary
- Man I am glad I don't pay for cable anymore. - @HiTonedBumpkeen
One important thing to note is that before this decision was announced, ESPN had already decided to move away from Sunday Night Baseball. A re-worked rights deal with the MLB was in place back in November, giving the network the ability to broadcast select out-of-market games and spike in a few midweek games as opposed to what it did previously (via Variety).
Unfortunately, misogynistic comments will continue, regardless of whether ESPN's experiment with dedicating a programming block to women is a success or not. It's nothing the pro athletes aren't used to, as the WNBA had to deal with events like sex toys being thrown on the court during the playoffs last year. Here's hoping, though, that with increased exposure, it'll become more normalized for future generations, and that one day it'll be silly to think there wasn't a market for women's sports on television networks.
Fortunately, there are positive steps that things are shifting in the right direction, at least in terms of Hollywood representation. Check out CinemaBlend's latest story about the kids' sports movie GOAT, and how a co-ed team was always a part of the movie's vision.
