WNBA '23 On ESPN: Return Of Brittney Griner, More Games, Google, Engagement
Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 09:05PM By Barry Janoff
March 9, 2023: The WNBA and ESPN today unveiled details for the league’s 27th regular season, scheduled to begin May 19, highlighted by the return of Brittney Griner, an expanded role by WNBA Changemaker Google and more than 50 national broadcasts during the regular season and post-season across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
On May 19, as part of WNBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax, Brittney Griner returns to the court with the Phoenix Mercury visiting the Los Angeles Sparks, having last played in the WNBA during the 2021 post-season due to her incarceration in Russia.
The 2023 regular season will include a record-high 40 games per team, up four games from the previous high of 36 last season. Each team will play 20 home games and 20 road games.
During the upcoming season, ESPN will air up to 52 games beginning with the WNBA Regular Season presented by Google and extending through the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google, which could feature some 27 games, including the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV.
Added coverage will be provided by WNBA Countdown presented by Google — ESPN’s pre-game show introduced during the 2022 WNBA post-season — which will now be available throughout the regular season with at least ten editions immediately preceding game broadcasts.
“As we get set to tip off our 27th season, ESPN is once again stepping up as an incredibly engaged broadcast partner for the WNBA,” commissioner Cathy Engelbert said via the league.
“We are grateful that ESPN will provide significant opportunities to tell the stories of the incredible players across the league in 2023 . . . ESPN and Google will continue to serve our growing fan base and deliver a robust national platform for WNBA players with game broadcasts and new, regular-season pre-game shows.”
Griner returned to the U.S. on Dec. 8 after being imprisoned in Russia since February 2022.
Griner will make her home debut on May 21 when the Mercury host the Chicago Sky. Griner is an eight-time WNBA All-Star selection and two-time Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year,
The Mercury also feature Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s career scoring leader and a three-time league champion now entering her 19th season.
Graphic: Phoenix MercuryThe third year of the in-season tournament Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase begins with games on May 19 and runs through July 12 before the top teams play for the title.
On July 15, the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas will air for the first time in prime-time on ABC.
In advance of the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game on July 15, the WNBA’s Skills Challenge and the Starry Three-Point Contest will air on ESPN on July 14.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season on Sept. 10, ESPN will again all playoff games. Wall-to-wall coverage of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google and the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV will feature up to 27 nationally televised playoff games across ESPN platforms.
“As ESPN enters its 27th season with the WNBA, we continue to elevate our coverage of this exceptional league with premier broadcast windows, expanded studio programming and best-in-class storytelling,” Matt Kenny, ESPN vp-programming and acquisitions, said via the network.
“Our ongoing collaboration with the WNBA resulted in unprecedented growth and success last year and we have a marquee schedule that will once again showcase the league’s best players and teams across ESPN platforms.”
The New York Liberty will appear in a league-high nine games across ESPN platforms. The 2022 champion Las Vegas Aces will appear seven times. The two teams, which feature a combined eight 2022 WNBA All-Stars, will meet four times in the regular season.
Breanna Stewart, who starred with the Seattle Storm for six seasons (2016-22) before joining the Liberty this season as a free agent, will face her former team in a pair of national telecasts — when the Liberty visits the Storm on May 30; and July 8, when the Storm travels to New York.
Graphic: NY LibertyThe Liberty also added 2021 Kia WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones and six-time league assists leader Courtney Vandersloot to a roster that already included 2022 All-WNBA selection and 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick Sabrina Ionescu,
The Aces added free agent Candace Parker, two-time WNBA champion (2016, 2021) and league MVP (2008, 2013).
“It’s been refreshing to see women’s sports getting more of the attention it deserves over the past year and a half,” Kate Johnson, Google director of global sports and entertainment marketing partnerships, content and media, said via the company.
“We’re passionate about elevating coverage of women athletes and as we enter our third year as a WNBA Changemaker, continuing to work side by side with the WNBA and ESPN to air more nationally televised games is something we’re extremely proud of. We’ll continue to challenge ourselves and others to raise the bar for representing women’s sports equitably.”
The complete TV and streaming schedule, including games on CBS Television Network, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV, Meta Horizon Worlds, and Twitter will soon be unveiled.
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