The Women’s National Basketball Association and CBS Sports have announced a multi-year media-rights deal that begins with the upcoming 2019 season.
Pay-television channel CBS Sports Network will show 40 live WNBA games each season in primetime and on weekends, beginning on Saturday May 25 when the Minnesota Lynx host the Chicago Sky.
“Through our partnership with CBS Sports Network, the WNBA is joining an elite lineup of premium sports programming,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “We thank CBS Sports for making such a meaningful commitment to women’s basketball and for providing another platform to showcase the world-class athletes of the WNBA.”
“We are truly excited to partner with the WNBA, bringing the country’s premier women’s sports league to CBS Sports Network. This partnership is one of the biggest and most impactful women’s sports programming arrangements ever at CBS Sports, offering national exposure of 40 games per year,” said Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports.
CBS Sports held NBA rights from 1981 to 1990 and has broadcast the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament since 1982.