Topline
WNBA viewership has surged in the last five weeks as the league finds itself the target of outrage, largely manufactured by right wing figures, over the possible inclusion of transgender athletes in the women’s sports league.
Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx and Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever on Aug, 2, 2026.
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Key Facts
The WNBA scored an audience of 2.5 million viewers or more for a fifth consecutive week last week, the latest Nielsen data available shows, when 2.56 million people tuned in to the Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game on ABC.
At least one women’s basketball game has hit 2.5 million viewers every week since July 12—four Indiana Fever matchups and WNBA All-Star Game on July 25, per Nielsen. Overall, viewership of regular season WNBA games are up 15% from last year.
The more recent surge in viewers for Indiana games lines up almost perfectly with the start of a now-viral transgender controversy, which was first triggered by comments from Fever star Sophie Cunningham that included a White House-praised call to “protect” young girls in locker rooms.
The comments triggered a surge of pushback and support from various groups and kicked off a trolling of the WNBA from right-wing figures and former NBA athletes including Outkick founder Clay Travis, Enes Canter Freedom and Royce White.
Key background
The initial comments from Cunningham, who has been called “MAGA Barbie” online, about not supporting transgender players in the WNBA were buried in a larger story from ESPN and didn’t initially draw an overwhelming amount of furor. The topic was later turned into a culture-war firestorm by Fox News-owned sports outlet OutKick, however, when it goaded a French transgender basketball player into admitting she’d like to play in the league via Instagram message. The outlet then published her response and attacked the WNBA for not having recruited the talented player, with Outkick founder Clay Travis calling the league “transphobic” on X. From there, former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White—who recently lost his GOP bid to be a Minnesota senator—announced they would “declare” for the WNBA draft because the league’s eligibility rules allow for it (it’s unclear how true that is). Kanter, who legally changed his name to include “Freedom” in 2021, said he’d reviewed the league’s eligibility framework and should qualify under the “self-identification and inclusion” rules. White told Fox News, “I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purposes of… professional basketball,” and has since posted videos of himself wearing a wig.
CAN MEN PLAY IN THE WNBA?
No. The WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement is what defines player eligibility and it clearly states, “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” But the policy does not explicitly define the term “woman” or specify any criteria about biological sex, hormone levels or physical attributes. There is no clause that allows someone to be eligible simply by “declaring” or self-identifying as a woman.
CHIEF CRICIS
Kanter and White have faced a wave of criticism for wading into a culture war that doesn’t impact them, and for causing issues with a policy that had previously been unproblematic. WNBA Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller said the men are “outsiders looking to hijack our network” and called their involvement “horrible energy.” Former NFL player Ryan Clark called them “absolute clowns” and argued that they’re making a mockery of a serious conversation about transgender athletes. Former NBA champion Stephen Jackson argued they are trying to enter the WNBA because they aren’t good enough to be playing in the NBA anymore, and questioned the legitimacy of their stunt.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“If you cannot gift trans people with visibility, humanity and acceptance, could you at least gift them with silence?” Van Lathan, co-host of Higher Learning podcast, said of the controversy. “Could you at least shut the f**k up about it?”
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
If the WNBA creates a policy. A task force of team presidents and general managers met Wednesday to discuss the topic but did not agree to implement any new eligibility rules, ESPN reported.