After years of talent clamoring for a regularly scheduled women’s sports show on ESPN, the network is due to launch Vibe Check next week on Disney+.
Whether it was talent like Sarah Spain and Kate Fagan leaving over the limited opportunities to cover women’s sports for the Worldwide Leader or men’s sports analysts like Doris Burke, Holly Rowe and Chiney Ogwumike working to create more opportunities on women’s sports properties on the network, Vibe Check is a long time coming.
One of the many women to pass through Bristol over the years, former columnist and host Jane McManus, explored her complicated thoughts on the debut of Vibe Check this week on social media.
“How timid to put this show on streaming — they belong on the network,” McManus wrote. “This isn’t groundbreaking. CBS has had We Need to Talk for a decade now. And ESPN’s late arrival to the space comes after two decades of internal pitches for shows featuring female talent and discussing women’s sports.”
I have a few thoughts on Vibe Check, a new show ESPN has announced on streaming. First off: Glad to see the talented Elle Duncan, Monica McNutt, Hannah Storm, Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter get their own show on ESPN. They will be must-see TV.
— Jane McManus (@janesports.bsky.social) June 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Vibe Check will be hosted by Ogwumike, Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, Hannah Storm and Monica McNutt, all of whom McManus wrote will be “must-see TV.”
“Only thing groundbreaking is how long it took ESPN — when it has had rights to WNBA & NCAA WBB for decades,” the former Sports Reporters and espnW contributor added.
It wasn’t until the past two seasons of NCAA women’s basketball, when popularity surged to the moon with the rise of Caitlin Clark, that ESPN programmed a dedicated College GameDay show for the sport. The opening rounds of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament were not broadcast in full until 2021. The national championship game was on ESPN rather than ABC until 2023.
On the WNBA side, until recently, many games did not have studio coverage during halftime and after games.
While ESPN does air a weekly women’s soccer show called Futbol W, this level of coverage pales in comparison to the volume of game inventory ESPN has for women’s sports. The Worldwide Leader airs NCAA women’s championships for three significant growth sports: softball, volleyball and gymnastics. It has National Women’s Soccer League rights and is the top partner for the WNBA until next season.
“Please celebrate the elevation of some very talented hosts and analysts, but also know that ESPN and many other sports broadcasters have been part of the glass ceiling here,” McManus wrote.
The glass ceiling refers to an artificially constructed limitation placed upon people in certain fields. McManus believes Vibe Check is helping to break through the limitations women’s sports chroniclers have faced for years at ESPN, while reminding viewers that it did not have to take this long to break through it.
Vibe Check will premiere June 30 on Disney+, airing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday after that.
