WNBA fans will be seeing a lot more of Sophie Cunningham in 2026.
On Tuesday evening, Cunningham announced on Instagram that she’s joining USA Sports as a contributor for the upcoming WNBA season, appearing in select studio shows, digital content, and special segments as her playing schedule allows, according to Indiana Fever beat writer Scott Agness.
Cunningham has previously done on-air work as a recurring analyst for Phoenix Suns broadcasts, launched the podcast Show Me Something with West Wilson last summer for Colin Cowherd’s The Volume — it has nearly 50,000 YouTube subscribers and has already made news for her defense of Caitlin Clark, her fines from the WNBA for referee criticism, and her takedown of Skip Bayless — and hired 3 Arts Entertainment for off-court representation in January, according to Sports Business Journal. The podcast itself nearly landed at Barstool Sports before Dave Portnoy passed on the deal, citing concerns over exclusivity.
Cunningham joins a broadcast team that USA Sports has been assembling since signing an 11-year deal with the WNBA last September to carry at least 50 games per season. Elle Duncan — who left ESPN in December and whose Netflix deal allows her also to host the USA Sports coverage — anchors the studio alongside Renee Montgomery, with Hall of Famers Tamika Catchings and Chamique Holdsclaw as analysts, Kate Scott and Meghan McPeak splitting play-by-play duties, and Sarah Kustok as a color commentator, with with Paris Lawson and Edona Thaqi filling out the starting lineup. The Versant sports division also recently announced that longtime WNBA commentators Amy Audibert, Lea B. Olsen, and Carlan Gay had joined the network’s WNBA coverage.
USA Sports will have a huge presence in WNBA coverage in the years to come. When the NBA struck its new media deals with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon, it also negotiated WNBA rights as part of the package. But after the NBC Universal split, where its cable networks were spun off into the new media company Versant, USA Sports now exists as the sports outlet under that umbrella.
Cunningham, 29, suffered an MCL tear in her right knee in August that ended her season after 30 games. She averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists before the injury, and is currently an unrestricted free agent as the WNBA negotiating period opened Wednesday.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.