Why Sports Radio Should Give the WNBA a Bigger Seat at the Table Before It’s Too Late

Sports radio has origins in a time when baseball and the NFL were America's beloved pastimes. Today, the sports landscape is vastly different, with the NFL and NBA commanding the majority of viewership. The WNBA, however, has seen a surge in interest, breaking records with its best viewership on ESPN in its 30-year history. Despite this growth, sports radio has been slow to adapt to the expanding women's sports audience.

This season, ESPN recorded its most-viewed WNBA season in network history, with an average of 1.37 million viewers per game. The WNBA also secured the largest media rights package in league history, a $3.1 billion, 11-year deal. While the WNBA's averages don't surpass the NFL, NBA, or MLB, the gap is narrower than ever before. Sixty-five percent of the league's regular-season games aired on national platforms, outpacing MLB, NHL, and NBA.

Sports radio stations across the country should be paying attention to this growing audience. The WNBA offers an untapped demographic of interested listeners, and sports radio has a unique opportunity to engage with this audience. The network has already embraced this opportunity by expanding its women's sports coverage, and sports radio should follow suit.

Adding more women's sports content to the sports radio program won't alienate the existing audience; instead, it will broaden the reach and attract new listeners. The potential for growth is significant, and sports radio should not miss this chance to be at the forefront of changing sports viewing habits.