
WNBA All-Star 2024: ESPN Readies for Competitive Showdown Between WNBA Stars, Team USA VP, Production Sara Gaeiro: Well have our normal game hat on. By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, July 19, 2024 - 12:27 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The biggest WNBA season ever has reached its midway point and prior to a month-long Olympic break the league and its lead broadcast parter, ESPN, has descended upon Phoenix for All-Star Weekend.
On Friday, ESPN will televise the Skills Challenge and the 3-Point Contest at 9 p.m. ET while ABC will carry a special onsite edition of WNBA Countdown on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET followed by the All-Star Game from Footprint Center at 8:30 p.m. It's the second consecutive year the All-Star Game has been broadcast in primetime.
Hype aside, this year's All-Star Game features a uniquely poignant matchup as a team of WNBA All-Stars will face the U.S. Women's Basketball Team set to head off to Paris for the Olympic Games, which begin next week. With all of the unique matchups between WNBA and Team USA stars, the prospect of super rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese playing together for the first time, and the promise of mre eye balls than ever on the festivities, this is shaping up to be anything but your typical All-Star Game.
We've taken an approach that is somewhat different from a traditional All-Star Game where this is going to be very competitive, says Sara Gaiero, Vice President, Production at ESPN who oversees all women's basketball pro and college for the network. It's not going to be sort of exhibition style in terms of what you normally expect when you tune in to watch the All-Star Game. We very much conversed about how best to document and deliver, knowing that it will be competitive, knowing we've got these really unique pairings and matchings that will just generate interest. I think that will just provide some really fun elements for people. I think it's going to be very, very competitive. We'll have our normal game hat on, if you will, as opposed to more of an entertainment hat.
ESPN says that the camera complement on this event will rival that of the network's efforts during the WNBA Finals. Additionally, the production and operations teams will continue to lean into access through audio, including mic'd up players and coaches and in-game interviews.
Hopefully with some of the player mic opportunities that we have, we can gain some really cool insight into what it's like to be on that team, what the teammates are saying to each other, says Gaeiro. I hope that can be a really fun piece that just humanizes these players a little bit, and we get a little bit behind the curtain during the game with that level of access that we have.
The WNBA has been scorching hot through the first half of the season with ESPN setting numerous records, including the most-watched WNBA game on ABC ever (Indiana Fever vs. New York Liberty: 1.71 million on May 18), the most-watched WNBA game on ESPN networks ever (Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun: 2.1 million on May 14), and the most-watched WNBA game across all networks in 23 years (Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky: 2.3 million on June 23).
Going into the season, as with any season, the goal was to see an increase in viewership, Matt Kenny, VP, Programming and Acquisitions at ESPN said to ESPN Front Row. However, I'm not sure anyone could have expected the spikes we've seen this year. In addition, the fact that viewership has sustained throughout the season, smashing multiple records along the way, shows that this recent trend is not a novelty. Instead, it is evidence that this new audience is here to stay-and expand. One of the best aspects of ESPN is that the status quo is never an option. We will continue to collaborate across the company to celebrate, showcase and elevate the league, its players, rivalries and more. We have so much to be optimistic about, and in many ways, we are just getting started.
From my standpoint, adds Gaeiro, the visibility of being able to deliver what we're all experiencing boots on the ground [in Phoenix] is a great moment. We can share the WNBA with the world and that feels so great because the investment that the cities and the league are making in All-Star is definitely a change too from the previous three, four years that I've seen. You can see that excitement from people who are here. The crowds that are coming; the fans. You just feel it and that just speaks to the level of where the game is at right now, and that's what makes it fun.
Additionally, this game is a high-profile sendoff for the U.S. Women's Basketball Team, which plays its first game at the Paris Olympics on June 29 against Japan. The US is shooting for its eight consecutive Gold Medal and haven't lost an Olympic contest since 1992.
It's our opportunity to highlight what the Olympic team is going to prepare and get ready to go do in Paris, says Gaiero. We'll take that opportunity to go tell some of the stories for that team composition and what they've got ahead. That's a really unique opportunity for us, as well, as we hand it off to our NBC colleagues.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
25/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/03/2026
SipRadius, specialists in secure, low-latency media transport, will drive innovation and interoperability still further with the launch of the SipMX Alliance at...
25/03/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote contribution solutions, will showcase its award-winning StudioPro ecosystem at The 2...
25/03/2026
Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, will once again be present at NAB Show, the leading global event for the broadcast, media and entertain...
25/03/2026
PC, a leading provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 Show debut in Booth C 3341. The company will highlight the newly branded On...
25/03/2026
Open video transport network simplifies satellite transition with new partnerships and global reach as spectrum auction nears
LTN will demonstrate how its purp...
25/03/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present the full range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix T&M solutions at the NAB Show, which takes pl...
25/03/2026
MNC Software, a global leader in network management and operational support systems tailored to the broadcast and media industry, today announced the appointmen...
25/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/03/2026
Starfish highlights flexible TS Splicer releases and new Monitoring Dashboard at...
25/03/2026
XLNTSOUND Elevates Video Production with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 24, 2026
0 Comments
Audio company upgrades workflow with Blackmagic Cine...
25/03/2026
First Time Exhibitor IPC Introduces One Link Keypanels for One Connect Intercom ...
25/03/2026
At the half-time whistle of the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 football match betwee...
24/03/2026
Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI/IP Innovations at the 2026 N...
24/03/2026
Mediaproxy will showcase an updated version of its LogPlayer interface at NAB Sh...
24/03/2026
C gep de Jonqui re, a public college in Qu bec, has upgraded its TV studio complex with five Calrec Brio consoles and a Dante IP network. The installation was c...
24/03/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has announced new and r...
24/03/2026
National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT) used Ateme's KYRION platform fo...
24/03/2026
Grass Valley has expanded its relationship with ImSoPROD, the TV production entity of FDJ United, with the deployment of LDX C98 compact cameras across its nati...
24/03/2026
The E.W. Scripps Company is launching Scripps Sports Network (SSN), a free, ad-s...
24/03/2026
NEP Group has launched NEP Platform, a new software orchestration system that un...
24/03/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks to design, manufacture and install a new LED video display and three ribbon boards at Chase Field in Phoe...
24/03/2026
Grass Valley has completed an upgrade of University of Pittsburgh Athletics'...
24/03/2026
Daktronics is upgrading eight LED displays at Wrigley Field in Chicago, totaling more than 8,300 square feet, using the Daktronics Renew product line. The upgra...
24/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group has appointed Kevin Poole as Senior Project and Support Manager within the ASG Workflow and Tools practice. The position is newly created...
24/03/2026
In an increasingly streaming-centric world, protecting high-value live sports co...
24/03/2026
Mediaproxy will showcase an updated version of its LogPlayer interface at NAB Show, April 19-22 in Las Vegas, booth W1423. The update includes AI tools, native ...
24/03/2026
The production studio has worked with content juggernauts such as MrBeast, The R...
24/03/2026
The event will also feature a State of the Industry address from sports-media veteran and strategic advisor Patrick Crakes....
24/03/2026
Victory , a free sports streaming service owned by A Parent Media Co. (APMC), has launched its NWSL Sunday Night Soccer franchise. The platform says the launch ...
24/03/2026
Sports content in free streaming is still relatively scant, but it's growing, right along with its monetization capabilities
Streaming-tech company Wurl re...
24/03/2026
Directed by Greg DeHart, the doc will feature Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famers...
24/03/2026
For the first time ever, Tubi - Fox's free streaming service - is working w...
24/03/2026
As the music industry gathers for Canada's Juno Awards, the local edition of...
24/03/2026
Behind every great song is a complex web of people, stories, and inspirations th...
24/03/2026
Few filmmakers have shaped popular cinema as profoundly as Steven Spielberg. So ...
24/03/2026
Latest Eurorack modules revealed
ALM/Busy Circuits have just introduced another two Eurorack modules, delivering a powerful new modulator that builds on the...
24/03/2026
Smallest, most affordable MPC to date
Akai Pro have just introduced their most accessible standalone sampler to date, making the iconic MPC experience avail...
24/03/2026
Create & manage presets on Windows & macOS
Electro-Harmonix have announced that their free Mac/Windows application now allows users of their Oceans Abyss re...
24/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz amplifiers enable high-field immunity testing expansion at IB Le...
24/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...
24/03/2026
L3Harris ramps up production of its VAMPIRE C-UxS system....