{
  "id": 10359402,
  "title": "Why Sports Radio Should Give the WNBA a Bigger Seat at the Table Before It’s Too Late",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/why-sports-radio-should-give-the-wnba-a-bigger-seat-at-the-table",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-28T04:10:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/why-sports-radio-wnba-bigger-041000572.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "\"Sports radio has spent decades telling listeners what's worth talking about. In today's fragmented media environment, perhaps it's time to listen to what the audience is telling sports radio is worth talking about.\" The post Why Sports Radio Should Give the WNBA a Bigger Seat at the Table Before It’s Too Late appeared first on Barrett Media.",
  "key_points": [
    "WNBA viewership on ESPN hits 30-year high.",
    "ESPN records most-viewed WNBA season ever.",
    "WNBA secures largest media rights deal in league history."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The surge in WNBA viewership and media rights deals signals a shift in sports interest that sports radio can capitalize on by expanding its coverage to attract a growing and untapped audience.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}