When ESPN first announced that it was opting out of its MLB contract following the 2025 season earlier this year, there was one obvious solution that stood out when it came to how the network would fill its programming void.
And while we’re still months away from the Worldwide Leader in Sports needing to finalize such plans, all indications appear to be that women’s basketball is up to the challenge.
More specifically, the WNBA, and more specifically than that, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Look no further than this past Sunday’s preseason game featuring the Fever and the Brazil National Team, which drew an eyepopping 1.3 million viewers according to ESPN.
Lebron & Clark
The Brazil/Fever game came in at 1.3M – wonderful for a preseason game
Only 2 of ESPN's 57 NBA preseason games since 2010 drew a higher audience & both featured Lebron
2017 Cavs/Bull- the year the Cavs lost the Finals
2018 Warriors/Lakers- after Lebron went to LA— Flora Kelly (@ESPNFlora) May 6, 2025
The event may have been a special circumstance, with the exhibition marking Clark’s return to the University of Iowa, but the rating was clearly impressive nonetheless. To put that number in perspective, Sunday Night Baseball averaged 1.505 million viewers across its 25 games during the 2024 season, marking the weekly spotlight game’s best performance since 2019.
Considering that Sunday Night Baseball occupies a more prominent timeslot (the Fever game started at 4 p.m. ET) and features games that actually count toward the regular-season standings, the comparison is certainly noteworthy. Meanwhile, the WNBA is coming off a breakthrough 2024 season in which its regular-season games on ESPN averaged 1.2 million viewers.
Although it might be too early to say whether the WNBA can fully replace MLB’s presence on ESPN from a ratings standpoint, the numbers seem to suggest that it can at least come close. And that’s without factoring in the improved timeslots and promotion that a weekly spotlight game — “Sunday Night WNBA,” if you will — would bring.
Financially, the move would make plenty of sense, as ESPN’s WNBA rights are already tied to its NBA deal compared to the $550 million the network has been paying MLB on an annual basis. Money and ratings aside, it would also make sense from a logistical standpoint.
With the elimination of Sunday Night Baseball following the 2025 campaign, ESPN will have 26 Sunday nights to fill from late-March to mid-September. As we noted in February, the most obvious solution for the earliest part of that schedule is the final two weekends of the women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, which has already established itself as a proven ratings draw in and of itself
The NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs could help bridge the gap through the remainder of the spring, but come summer, the pickings become slimmer. Sure, ESPN could turn to the College World Series in June. But if it’s consistency — and upside — that the network covets, then a weekly WNBA Sunday night showcase game makes the most sense.
Especially as Clark continues to solidify her status as one of the most reliable ratings draws in sports while the league continues to fill with young stars from the increasingly popular college game. Imagine the anticipation for Clark’s first nationally televised showdown with current USC star JuJu Watkins in a few years, let alone what it might look like if the Fever’s rivalry with Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky continues to gain traction.
Obviously, the schedule couldn’t exclusively feature Fever games, although if the WNBA’s current national television schedule is any indication, they’d be showcased more often than not. That’s the reality of having a star capable of attracting 1.3 million viewers for a Sunday afternoon exhibition. And if that’s the bet that ESPN was making when it decided to end its MLB contract, it’s already looking like a good one.
