FILE – In this Sept. 18, 2018, file photo, Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird, left, holds the championship trophy with her teammates during after winning Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals, in Fairfax, Va. The WNBA is nearly doubling its national TV exposure with a multiyear deal with CBS Sports. CBS Sports Network will broadcast 40 WNBA games beginning next month when the season opens. “Sue Bird and the WNBA defending champion Seattle Storm will make six appearances on the CBS Sports Network this season.” (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
On Monday, it was announced that CBS Sports will be partnering with the WNBA to broadcast 40 regular season games on its channel this upcoming season.
The deal will be a great boost for the league, which has struggled in the past with gaining national exposure and increasing its fan base. The WNBA already has a deal with ESPN to broadcast 16 regular season games throughout the season.
The games to be broadcast on CBS will be from local broadcasts already airing on the WNBA’s streaming site, WNBA League Pass. The quality of these broadcasts can be a bit iffy at times in terms of the play-by-play announcers and commentators. With some time, people with more broadcast experience will hopefully be able to become the commentators for CBS Sports. It would be great for the WNBA to receive high-quality coverage during nationally televised games.
CBS Sports broadcasting WNBA games almost doubles the league’s national T.V. exposure. When more people have the opportunity to watch female athletes, they begin to see them as more than the stereotypes that may be in their heads. It also gives young people a chance to see female role models that they can look up to. It matters so much when kids have someone to look up to who looks like them. It shows young girls that, if they work hard, they can go into any profession, even if that profession is a professional athlete.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see how CBS Sports advertises the fact that they will be broadcasting the games. It would be awesome to see them produce features about teams and specific players in order to really try to connect fans to the game. Women’s sports will only grow when they receive high-quality coverage.
Mariana Dominguez is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at mariana.dominguez@uconn.edu.
