The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) will broadcast its inaugural 2026 campaign on ESPN after striking a new media rights agreement with the Disney-owned sports giant, as well as national network Scripps.
The WPBL, the US’s first professional women's competition since 1954, will begin on August 1, with the season running through its September 22 championship series, with each of its four franchises playing 15 regular-season games, followed by postseason playoff games, a mid-year All-Star game and the Championship Series finale.
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The league’s four franchises are based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston, but all games in the inaugural campaign will be staged at the 5,200-capacity Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois, a fiscally sustainable neutral venue for use as the competition builds its profile towards a more permanent set of homes.
ESPN has committed to streaming every game of the inaugural season, a minimum of 37, including exclusive coverage of the entire postseason, which will consist of two semi-finals in a best-of-three format, and a best-of-five finals series.
Meanwhile, 11 of the 30 regular-season games that ESPN will show will also be simulcast on the Scripps Sports Network linear platform.
All game broadcasts will be produced by WPBL itself, and made available on ESPN Select, formerly ESPN+, the name of the broadcaster's streaming-only option.
Speaking on the announcement, ESPN vice president of programming Ashley O’Conner said: “Bringing the WPBL to ESPN is an exciting addition to our growing baseball offerings.
“This agreement enhances our already strong baseball lineup, underscores our dedication to women’s sports, and provides fans with access to a compelling new professional league.”
ESPN’s baseball portfolio already includes top-tier MLB action, as well as games from various college conferences.
For Scripps, the addition of a slate of WPBL games further expands its burgeoning women’s sports, which includes NWSL soccer action, WNBA basketball and PWHL ice hockey, the top women’s tiers of those three sports in the US (and Canada for the latter two).
Most recently, Scripps secured the rights in the USS for the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup 2027, which it will air in both English and Spanish.
