How Game 1 of the WNBA Finals ended up on ESPNews

The 2018 WNBA playoffs have delivered excitement and star power throughout. From the two rounds of single-elimination drama through a pair of Game 5 semifinal thrillers, the road to the WNBA Finals was paved with highlights and close finishes.

And television viewers have been watching.

Through the end of the semifinals, the WNBA on ESPN is up 31 percent in viewers over the 2017 postseason, the network told SB Nation. That’s 69,000 more viewers per game than last year. With the WNBA Finals matchup featuring the top-ranked Seattle Storm and No. 3 seed Washington Mystics, the climactic best-of-five series should provide more must-see moments.

The catch?

The first game of biggest series in one of the best season WNBA seasons ever will air on — wait for it — ESPN News. Not ESPN, not ESPN2, or ABC.

Note: The second half of Game 1 will air on ESPN due to the U.S. Open ending sooner than expected.

The game will also stream on the WatchESPN app, but if you don’t have a premium cable subscription or cord-cutting package like Sling TV Orange, you’re likely out of luck. Time to hit up the bar or drive over to a friends house unless you want to wait around for Game 2.

ESPN also announced late on Thursday night that in addition to ESPNews, locals station in Seattle and Washington would air the game.

Game 2 will air on ABC, and all subsequent games, some if necessary, will air on ESPN2, but still. Why is the first game of the WNBA Finals relegated to ESPNews?

Game 1 of the Finals was set to air on ESPN2 had it been played on Thursday night as it may have had Seattle not qualified. But Key Arena had been booked for a Game of Thrones live concert, forcing the league to start its Finals on Friday night.

On Friday night, ESPN already had pre-negotiated agreements with the U.S. Open and MLB to air games on ESPN and ESPN2, the network told SB Nation. Those slots were long filled.

Every four years the WNBA plays condensed schedule in order to wrap up before the FIBA basketball international tournament begins in late September. In addition to making the schedule more grueling for players, the schedule shift complicates things for TV programmers too.

“It’s a big puzzle piece,” Carol Stiff, ESPN’s Vice President for Women’s Sports Programming, told SB Nation. “And we try to figure out the best opportunity that’s allowed for us to get our contractual obligations in.”

Playing the postseason into mid-September rather than August forces the WNBA to compete with the U.S. Open for air time on ESPN networks. This problem isn’t completely unique to the WNBA either. The NBA’s had its postseason games moved to ESPNews as well. Just not its Finals.

The numbers play as you’d expect with ESPN2 leading ESPNews by a wide margin in viewership. Here’s the average audience breakdown per station, according to the league: