ESPN will dedicate its Sunday lineup to women\u2019s sports starting Summer 2026, anchoring the day with WNBA and NWSL games in a move executives call a \u201ccontinuing commitment,\u201d 15 years in the making.<\/p>\n
Featured Image: Joe Buglewicz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
For the first time in its 45-year history, ESPN is carving out a weekly primetime franchise dedicated entirely to women\u2019s sports. The network announced that beginning in Summer 2026, Sundays will officially become \u201cWomen\u2019s Sports Sundays\u201d\u2014a standing appointment for live games, studio coverage, and storytelling centered on female athletes.<\/p>\n
Yes, you read the right. After 15 years of expanding women\u2019s sports coverage across platforms and decades of criticism about visibility gaps, ESPN is finally planting its flag. <\/p>\n
The move comes after the network ended its 35 year run of \u201cSunday Night Baseball,\u201d following a reworked media deal with Major League Baseball. Instead of anchoring Sundays around baseball, ESPN will now use the day to spotlight the WNBA, NWSL, women\u2019s college basketball, softball, and other marquee matchups.<\/p>\n
we get rid of the worst baseball broadcast AND get more women’s sports? dub https:\/\/t.co\/jZ1zY4bO1J<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 todd bonzalez (@doinkpatrol) February 19, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cSundays are a day of the week when we see a ton of our best women\u2019s sports programming, and we will have events outside of our primetime window,\u201d Susie Piotrkowski, ESPN\u2019s vice president of women\u2019s sports programming and espnW, told Variety<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cWe saw an opportunity to have access in what I would call women\u2019s sports season, the summer months. This was an opportunity to be intentional and make sure our most premium women\u2019s sports properties [were shown regularly].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIntentional\u201d is the key word here.<\/p>\n According to Rosalyn Durant, ESPN\u2019s executive vice president of programming and acquisitions, this isn\u2019t a trial run. \u201cWomen\u2019s Sports Sundays isn\u2019t an experiment,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cIt is a flag in the ground, and a continuing commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n Durant pushed back on the idea that women\u2019s sports need a novelty hook to draw audiences. \u201cWe are setting in an expectation,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe want it to be a mainstay and part of a sports fan\u2019s plans.\u201d She added that fans today are less concerned with whether men or women are playing and more focused on the athletes\u00a0themselves and the quality of competition. <\/p>\n The franchise will be anchored by live games from WNBA and the NWSL (National Women\u2019s Soccer League), along with studio programming and expanded digital and social coverage. ESPN is expected to announce full schedules and commentator lineups in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n The shift also reflects the undeniable momentum in women\u2019s sports viewership. From record-breaking WNBA ratings to surging attendance in the NWSL and women\u2019s college basketball, the demand is there, and has been for years. <\/p>\n So yes, it\u2019s long overdue. Fifteen years of building, negotiating rights, expanding coverage, and responding to cultural changes. But now, instead of squeezing women\u2019s games into leftover slots, ESPN is restructuring its Sunday identity around them. We\u2019re getting\u2026somewhere. <\/p>\n