Whoopi Goldberg announces launch of all-women’s sports network

Whoopi Goldberg has long been a public supporter of women’s sports.

Now the comedian-turned-television host is getting in the game with the launch of a global 24/7 television network dedicated exclusively to women’s sports.

“I’m launching the first global women’s sports channel, called AWSN (All Women’s Sports Network),” Goldberg revealed during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. “It will be the home for live women’s sports from around the world. Everything from soccer, basketball, tennis, cricket, curling, you name it; if a woman is playing it, we’re showing it.”

According to Goldberg, the network comes in partnership with CommonSpirit. AWSN has already launched in Asia, the Middle East and India, with an announcement regarding its U.S. distribution expected next week.

“I did this because ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to play sports. My brother could play,” she said. “He played baseball, he played softball, he played basketball, he played everything. And they would say, ‘Oh, hi little girl.’ And it always pissed me off.”

Goldberg is hopeful that the project will help promote women’s sports to a point where they’re viewed as equal to men’s sports, especially among youth. She said that it’s taken 16 years for her initial idea for the channel to become a reality, with the recent boom in popularity headlined by Caitlin Clark’s emergence undoubtedly playing a role.

To that end, it’s also worth noting that Goldberg has previously been publicly critical of the WNBA and its media rights deal with ESPN. It will certainly be worth monitoring how AWSN’s U.S. distribution takes shape, with the network’s official website already providing a glimpse of the type of content we can expect to see.

[The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon]