The WNBA season is officially on, as owners and the players’ union reached a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement this week. That means the league’s television partners, including ESPN, Prime Video, and NBC, can now begin to solidify their broadcast rosters ahead of Opening Night on May 8.
According to Front Office Sports, NBC has finalized its slate of play-by-play announcers as the WNBA returns to the network that aired its first-ever game in 1997.
Noah Eagle will reportedly expand his portfolio to include the WNBA starting this summer, while Michael Grady will continue to work for both NBC and Prime Video during the WNBA season after doing so this NBA season. Zora Stephenson will get her first opportunity in a full-time pro play-by-play role calling WNBA games this season.
Eagle previously called the women’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
And Grady, according to The Athletic, is projected to be the top WNBA announcer for Prime Video, working alongside future Hall of Famer Candace Parker.
NBC has rights to one semifinal series as well as the WNBA Finals this season, after which it will rotate those rights with ESPN/ABC and Prime Video.
When NBC Universal split off its cable networks into a new company, Versant, last year, it broke up its WNBA package. USA Network will still air WNBA games — including playoff and Finals games — under the Versant umbrella. Veteran announcer Kate Scott will be the lead WNBA voice for USA Network.
Another looming question for NBC is who will work as game analysts for the network. LaChina Robinson called the Olympics alongside Eagle in 2024 for NBC Sports.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.