Sunday, December 22, 2024

How to watch the full 2024 WNBA season

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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark made her regular WNBA season debut this past Tuesday. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

The WNBA’s 28th season has officially tipped off, and between the Caitlin Clark Effect and the already fast-growing fanbase, there are likely to be some new fans of women’s basketball tuning in this year. So whether you’re brand new to streaming the sport or you’re a seasoned WNBA fan who simply can’t keep up with the ever-changing list of channels you might need to watch every WNBA game, we’ve got you covered. The 2024 WNBA regular season will see a whopping 149 games air live on national TV or streaming. The catch? Those games will be split across eight channels and streaming platforms: ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS/Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, Amazon Prime Video, Ion, NBA TV — with even more games streaming on WNBA League Pass.

To make sure watching WNBA live streams this season is a slam dunk for you, we’ve broken down every way you can watch WNBA games, including the best subscription to stream the most WNBA games this season, ways to watch games for free, how to watch Caitlin Clark’s next game and more.

  • Fubo TV

    Best way to stream (almost) every WNBA game: Watch ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, CBS Sports Network, Ion and NBA TV

  • Amazon Prime Video

    Stream WNBA games on Amazon Prime Video

Dates: May 14 – Sept. 19, 2024

TV channel(s): ESPN Network, CBS Network, Ion, NBA TV

Streaming: Amazon Prime Video, WNBA League Pass, Freevee, Fubo, DirecTV, more

You can check out the full WNBA season schedule (complete with which channel every game is airing on) here.

This season, WNBA games will air across the ESPN suite of channels (nine games on ABC, 14 games on ESPN and two on ESPN2), CBS/Paramount+ (eight games), CBS Sports Network (12 games) ION (43 games), NBA TV (40 games) and Prime Video (21 games).

That’s eight channels to keep up with (and nine if you count local games streaming on WNBA League Pass)! Plus, ESPN+ and Disney+ are now getting into the mix, with select WNBA games streaming live on those platforms. Luckily, a large number of games are airing on ION — which you can probably access free through Amazon’s Freevee or another free streaming platform — and Prime Video, which plenty of people already have access to for free with an Amazon Prime membership.

The most consistent ways to watch this WNBA season will be Thursdays on Prime Video, Friday Nights on ION, and weekend games airing across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS Television Network. Looking ahead, ESPN platforms ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will broadcast every game of the WNBA Playoffs (that’s up to 27 games) including the WNBA Finals. And now, Disney+ has added itself into the mix with the announcement that the streamer will have Tuesday night’s doubleheader streaming live on the platform.

So, what do you actually need to sign up for to watch or stream this entire upcoming WNBA season with ease (without paying a ridiculous amount of money and adding multiple subscriptions to your arsenal)? We’ve got answers for you. Here’s what we recommend for the best ways to watch the WNBA season:

(Photo: Fubo)

AT $90/month, Fubo TV’s Elite tier gives you access to ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV, Ion and 200+ more live channels. The live-TV streaming service is definitely one of the priciest options on this list, but it still leaves you with major savings compared to a traditional cable package and will get you access to the most WNBA games you can watch with just one subscription. Fubo subscribers also get 1,000 hours of cloud DVR storage. The platform offers a free trial period.

Try free at Fubo

(Amazon)

It’s Amazon’s fourth season serving as one of the streaming homes for the WNBA. This year, Amazon Prime Video will stream 21 WNBA games free to all Amazon Prime subscribers. 18 of those games will be on Thursday nights. 

On top of Amazon Prime Video, an Amazon Prime subscription includes free shipping, exclusive deals, access to the Prime Day 2024 sale event, Amazon Music, a year of free GrubHub+ and more. A standard Amazon Prime subscription is $15 monthly or $139 annually, but discounts are available for students and those on qualified government assistance. You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days.

$15/month at Amazon

(Photo: Freevee)

The Ion channel is currently available to stream totally free on Amazon’s free streaming service, Freevee. This ad-supported, totally free streaming platform also offers popular titles like “Mad Men” and the Freevee original “Jury Duty.” Freevee is available through Amazon Prime Video and as its own stand-alone app.

$0 at Amazon

Clark plays with the Indiana Fever tonight at 10 p.m. ET on WNBA League Pass.

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

A select few WNBA games will stream on both ESPN3 and WNBA League Pass this season. While you can’t always access ESPN3 directly through a live TV streaming service like Fubo or DirecTV stream, you can watch ESPN3 live on ESPN.com when you login with your TV provider (such as Fubo, DirecTV or Sling, or a traditional cable provider). That being said, only a few games right at the start of the season are scheduled to be on ESPN3 (including two opening night games), while those same games, plus many more, will be streaming live on WNBA League Pass. So if you’re hoping to watch a larger portion of the 2024 WNBA season, League Pass is probably the way to go.

Watch on ESPN

(Photo: WNBA League Pass)

With WNBA League Pass, you can stream out-of-market WNBA games (certain national exclusions and local blackouts apply), get access to full-length and condensed replays of every game, rewatch hundreds of past classic games and use the platform’s live game DVR. WNBA League Pass is only $35 for the season, but you can also buy a pass for a single game for $3 per game, a great option if you only need the service to stream one of your favorite team’s games this season.

$35 for the season at WNBA

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