September 29, 2026
USA Sports Averaged 525k Viewers Across 48 Games – Most National Games of Any Broadcaster – Up 25% vs. 2025 WNBA Cable Average Viewership
USA Sports’ WNBA Viewership Up 25% in P18-49 Demo and Up 34% Amongst Women; Women Represent Nearly Half of WNBA on USA Audience
Five Games on USA Network Averaged 1 Million+ Viewers, Including Lynx-Fever on Final Day of Regular Season; Seven Games Eclipse 900k
CNBC Simulcasts Introduced 1 Million New Viewers to the WNBA
Game 2 – No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 8 New York Liberty – TONIGHT at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network/CNBC – Liberty Lead Series 1-0
The WNBA Finals Are on USA Network! USA Sports Presents Games 2-3 and Games 5-7 on USA Network Beginning Monday, October 19
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 29, 2026 – USA Sports has delivered viewership records and milestones in its inaugural season of WNBA coverage on USA Network, which culminates with the WNBA Finals on USA Network beginning with Game 2 on Monday, October 19.
USA Sports averaged 525,000 viewers across its 48 regular-season games – the most national games of any broadcaster – up 25% vs. 2025 WNBA cable average viewership.
Five games averaged more than 1 million viewers, including Lynx-Fever on the final day of the regular season and Fever-Sparks on July 8, which was the most-watched late-night regular-season game in WNBA history. Seven games topped 900,000 average viewers.
USA Sports’ WNBA coverage was up 25% in the P18-49 demo and up 34% amongst women, and women represented nearly half of the WNBA (47%) audience for USA Sports.
CNBC’s game simulcasts introduced 1 million new viewers to the WNBA this season. CNBC’s coverage also represented the highest average household income of any network televising the WNBA and had the second youngest median age.
USA Sports’ WNBA coverage continues tonight beginning at 8 p.m. ET with Game 2 between the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and No. 8 New York Liberty at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. New York leads the best-of-three series 1-0 following a 91-75 win at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Kate Scott (play-by-play), Tamika Catchings (analyst), Sarah Kustok (analyst), and Paris Lawson (courtside reporter) will have the call tonight from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Host Elle Duncan and analysts Chamique Holdsclaw and Renee Montgomery will anchor all first-round studio coverage.
USA Sports will present a deciding first-round Game 3, if necessary, on Thursday, Oct. 1. This season’s WNBA coverage is punctuated by up to five WNBA Finals games on USA Network (Games 2-3 and 5-7, if necessary), with any Finals series longer than a sweep ensuring that the 2026 WNBA champion will be determined on USA Network.
Last year, USA Sports and the WNBA announced an 11-year media rights agreement for USA Network to present WNBA games – including the regular-season and portions of the Playoffs and WNBA Finals in select years – beginning with the 2026 season.
As part of the multi-year agreement which runs through 2036, USA Sports will present at least 50 WNBA games annually on USA Network, including coverage of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel and WNBA Finals games in select years beginning this year.
About USA Sports
USA Sports is home to premier sporting events across USA Network, Golf Channel, CNBC, and Fandango, throughout the calendar year, including NASCAR, PGA TOUR, Premier League, Bundesliga, WWE, WNBA, Pac-12 Football and Basketball, USGA, R&A, LPGA Tour, PGA of America, Atlantic 10 Basketball, DP World Tour, Augusta National, League One Volleyball (LOVB), and more. Golf Channel – the first-ever single-sport cable network which was founded in 1995 – delivers comprehensive live golf tournament, studio and shoulder programming and is the television home of the sport and industry in the United States. USA Sports is a division of Versant (Nasdaq: VSNT), an industry-changing media and entertainment business with a powerful portfolio of iconic and innovative brands, including USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, along with digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and Full Swing.
