April 28, 2025
Four WNBA preseason games to be broadcast nationally
Games will be shows across ESPN, ION and NBA TV
With WNBA training camps in full swing, the league has announced that multiple preseason games will be broadcast nationally for the first time in history. Fans will be able to view four games across ESPN, ION, and NBA TV and stream 14 of the 15 games for free with WNBA League Pass starting Friday, May 2. The 15th game will only be available on ESPN.
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In 2019, the league’s first and only nationally aired preseason game was on ESPN News. It was a matchup between the New York Liberty and the Chinese National Team. The WNBA had two preseason games air on League Pass in 2023 and four in 2024.
ION will broadcast two games, including the debut of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers, who was selected by the Dallas Wings. The Wings will go head-to-head with the two-time WNBA champion, the Las Vegas Aces, at 7 p.m. ET at Purcell Pavilion at Joyce Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
Following that matchup, 2024 WNBA All-Star Angel Reese and rookie Hailey Van Lith, both former LSU players and current Chicago Sky teammates, will take on the Brazil Women’s National Team
— a squad that the Sky’s Kamilla Cardoso previously played for. The game starts at 9 p.m. ET at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
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On Saturday, May 3, NBA TV will air a matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics at 1 p.m. ET. The Fever boast a pair of former No. 1 picks in Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, who were selected in the 2023 and 2024 WNBA Draft. In the 2025 draft, the Mystics scored three first round draft picks: Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Georgia Amoore.
On Sunday, May 4, Clark and the Fever will also take on the Brazil Women’s National Team at 4 p.m. ET. The exact ESPN platform on which this game will be aired is yet to be announced.
Other notable matchups include the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty against the Toyota Antelopes of the Japan Basketball League on Monday, May 12 at 10 p.m. ET, and the league’s newest franchise, the Golden State Valkyries’ preseason debut on Tuesday, May 6. They will take on the Los Angeles Sparks, who acquired three-time WNBA All-Star Kelsey Plum via trade from Las Vegas.
In addition, the Phoenix Mercury will play their first preseason game without longtime guard Diana Taurasi, who retired from the sport in February 2025. On Tuesday, May 6, they will face the Aces at 7 p.m. PT, 10 p.m. ET, with WNBA career triple-doubles leader Alyssa Thomas and two-time WNBA All-Star Satou Sabally, two new additions to their roster.
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“We’ve seen the demand for WNBA content grow exponentially and we are meeting that demand by working with our broadcast partners and our teams to make a significant investment by making all 15 preseason games available to WNBA fans,” WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison said in a statement. “It will be the ultimate way for fans to follow their favorite players as all 13 teams prepare to tip off the regular season in mid-May. And the preseason schedule itself, with superstars returning to the arenas where they starred in college and in some cases, teams from around the world serving as opponents, brings an entirely new level of excitement to the WNBA preseason.”
The 29th regular season of the WNBA will begin on Friday, May 16, and is set to end on Thursday, Sept. 11. Each team will play 44 games, which is a record high for the league. Playoffs will tip off on Sunday, Sept. 14.
