The WNBA has never been more popular, with viewership and attendance numbers setting records throughout the 2026 season. But two prominent voices in sports media think the league is getting in its own way with its media policies.
On their podcast this week, Jemele Hill and Cari Champion argued that the WNBA’s media policies are “stifling to the growth of the league,” with Champion claiming that the league has tried to “quietly bully” journalists who don’t cover it the way it wants.
Record Popularity
The WNBA averaged 771,000 viewers per game during the regular season, a 26-year high. And that momentum has carried into the playoffs, even after Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were eliminated in the first round.
Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries averaged 2.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Game 1 in WNBA Finals history.
But the league has also faced criticism over how it treats the media. In June, the Fever revoked Scott Agness’ media credentials after he reported on an injury that the team wanted to keep quiet.
‘What Are You Doing?’
Hill opened up about the issue on the most recent episode of the Flagrant and Funny podcast.
“I think there’s some media policies that they need to address,” Hill said, via Awful Announcing. “Because I think some of them, frankly, are stifling to the growth of the league.”
Hill brought up an example of an issue during Golden State’s semifinal series.
“I believe in the semifinals, a reporter made note of the fact that the Valkyries, they went three days without media availability,” Hill continued. “I’m like, it’s the playoffs. What are you doing? Every single day, you want people talking about these women. You want them writing about these women. You want all the press, especially during what is your signature time of year.”
Champion suggested that some journalists have been holding back on their coverage as a result.
“A lot of it has to do with the fact that we have heard from critics that women can’t take the critique. And a lot of journalists are tiptoeing around honest stories because franchises, the front offices, don’t like to be criticized,” Champion said. “Don’t like to be talked about in this way, don’t want to hear what people are saying, the good and the bad. There might be some truth to that.”
‘Quietly Bully’
Champion went on to claim that the league will “quietly bully” certain journalists for the way they cover the league.
“I think that they’ve used that approach for a very long time where they’ve tried to quietly bully certain journalists and/or people who cover them and, you know, let them know that they’re not welcome to the party if they don’t cover them the way that they want to be covered,” Champion said. “And you can’t do that, not when it’s growing up, and it’s being big.”
“You got to take the good hits with the bad hits. The people behind the scenes, the folks who are working in the communications department, that entire infrastructure needs to have a mind update. This is not the W of 30 years ago. This is the W of today,” she continued.
The WNBA will have a new commissioner next season with Cathy Engelbert retiring. Champion hopes that the new commissioner is more prepared to deal with this reality.
“And technology is different, personalities are different, people are moving different, and you’re gonna have to adjust. And I hope that this new commissioner brings that mentality in as well,” Champion added.
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