Tegna, which made a deal to broadcast 17 Indiana Fever games featuring top WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark, said it made deals that will put the games on stations in 11 additional markets.
In addition to Tegna’s WOI Davenport, Iowa; WHAS Louisville, Kentucky; and WOI Des Moines, Iowa; the games will air on stations owned by Gray Television, Sinclair, Nexstar Media Group, Coastal Television Broadcasting Group and Weigel Broadcasting.
“This is a pivotal moment for our Fever team and women’s basketball, more broadly, and this groundbreaking partnership with Tegna will ensure more fans than ever will be able to watch this historic season,” Rick Fuson, CEO of Fever owner Pacers Sports and Entertainment, said.
With cord-cutting and the decline of the cable regional sports networks, broadcast stations have clamored to add sports to their lineups. Women's sports, including the WNBA, are also hot, boosted by the popularity of Clark. Some stations are airing the majority of a local team’s games, like in Phoenix, where the majority of Suns and Mercury games are on broadcast. In other markets, a smaller package of games are being broadcast.
“We could not be more excited to make these exciting WNBA games available to more fans, in more homes, across more markets, including Caitlin Clark’s home state of Iowa,” said Brad Ramsey, senior VP, media operations at Tegna. “We are grateful to the Pacers organization, the WNBA and our broadcast partners for their trust and for helping us create a first-of-its-kind fan experience.”
The first game to be broadcast will be May 16 when the Fever plays the New York Liberty.
“This is a key moment for women’s sports and live sports on broadcast television. Continuing Gray’s commitment to live local sports,” added Sandy Breland, chief operating officer of Gray Television. “Gray is beyond excited to bring the Fever free, over the air to local viewers in Cincinnati, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Lexington and South Bend.”
Here are the stations that will be airing Fever games this season:
- Indianapolis, Ind.: WTHR 13.1, 13.3 & WALV 46.1 (Tegna)
- Champaign-Springfield, Ill.: WCIX 49.1 & WCIA 3.1 (Nexstar)
- Cincinnati, Ohio: WXIX 19.3 (Gray Television)
- Davenport, Iowa: WQAD 8.1, 8.3 (Tegna)
- Dayton, Ohio: WKEF 22.3 (Sinclair)
- Des Moines, Iowa: WOI 5.1 & KCWI 23.1 (TEGNA)
- Evansville, Ind.: WFIE 14.2 (Gray Television)
- Fort Wayne, Ind.: WPTA 21.3 (Gray Television)
- Lafayette, Ind.: WPBY 35.1, 35.2 (Coastal Television Broadcasting Group)
- Lexington, Ky.: WKYT 27.2 (Gray Television)
- Louisville, Ky.: WHAS 11.1, 11.2 (Tegna)
- South Bend, Ind.: WCWW 25.1 & WMYS 69.1 (Weigel); WNDU 16.2 (Gray Television)
