Welcome to Rose-Colored Buckets, a newsletter for new (Portland-based) WNBA fans to learn, share, and celebrate a wonderful sport, league, and collection of people. This is a guide for watching the games in the 2025 season, and where to find accessory information, analysis, and more fun stuff.
I’ll start off by stating what seems obvious, but to me is a godsend: the standard website for the league itself, https://www.wnba.com/, is actually good. It gives you what information you want, it is simple, it is obvious. This has not always been the case for sports leagues, and for different eras of the internet. We are in a good spot, currently, and we can let things be easy. The schedule, where to watch each game, simple stats: they’re all right in front of us on the league website. Whew!
The WNBA’s 2025 season will be shown on ABC, ESPN, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ION, NBA TV, Prime Video, and WNBA League Pass. That’s a lot of networks! Let’s talk about using each one.
League Pass
The WNBA’s League Pass is the online streaming and VOD platform, and the best way to see the most games in the league. It’s $34.99 for the entire season, which is an incredible bargain. If you want to be a fan of the league this should be the #1 place you invest time and money. Not only will it give you the best bang for your buck, it will give you the best material for becoming a real Ball Knower: full, uncut games.
Portland fans, take advantage of this now! Next year, when the local team starts playing, there will likely be blackouts for Portland games. That will only happen if a local TV provider picks up broadcast rights, which will certainly happen. When the team announces where to watch local games, I’ll be sure to share that information.
Students get a nice discount!
WNBA on ION
ION is going to be a big carrier of games this year, and is available through cable providers and even on antenna channels!
ABC and CBS are also available over antenna, so that is a decent way to see a chunk of games “for free” this season. And next year, there is a chance for local coverage to be available via antenna. Fingers crossed!
Portland Locals:
Everyone else can check your local options here: https://iontelevision.com/find-us
Cable
YouTubeTV continues to be my platform of choice: it has a bazillion channels, unlimited cloud storage for recording programs, and can be used anywhere on any device. It has access to the cable networks that will be broadcasting the W this year: ABC, ESPN, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ION, and NBA TV. The price tag is huge relative to most/other apps ($82.99/month), and I continuously have a hard time justifying that cost, but it is the easiest and best way to have access to most sports and other live events these days. I can follow teams, so it records every game that is available. I can follow the entire league, so that it records every single game that is available. Plus, it has a 24/7 Portlandia channel and a 24/7 Mad Men channel, so when games go to commercial, I always have things to turn to.
As of 5/20/2025, YouTubeTV has had every game available except for tonight’s Sun vs Aces game. That’s 10 out of 11 games.
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Another good option could be fubo.tv, which is a sports-centered cable network provider.
YouTube
The WNBA’s Youtube Channel does what every sport does now, which is upload a ~10 minute shortened version of every single game, several hours after it wraps up. These are great for entertainment, and I watch most of them every day. They are not, however, great for real learning. All of the nitty-gritty details of the game are totally lost. I recommend these for checking-in on games you weren’t planning on watching, but sticking to League Pass or a YouTubeTV equivalent for sticking with the real thing.
Analysis, Commentary, and Other Media
I am absolutely not planning on being a full-time analyst of the W, nor of the Portland team when they launch. I am aiming to be more of an accessory and a guide. If you want deeper or daily coverage, there are many outlets, and seemingly many more every day as the sport continues its rise.
Sue Bird’s Bird’s Eye View podcast
The Ringer WNBA Show
Seerat Sohi, podcaster and writer at The Ringer, was given the task of running her huge website’s WNBA show in 2024, and she did wonderfully. She is a long-time NBA fan and writer, and now has a full season of full-time WNBA coverage under her belt. I like her stuff, she gets great guests, and the show gets better and better.
Her Hoop Stats - podcast, substack, etc.
I just discovered this group of writers and analysts, and they put out a ton of stuff, literally every week day.
I’m sure there are literally dozens of other great resources out there, and probably other cable providers, ways to watch, etc. I’m trying to get this post out the door quickly, since the season is/has started!
Please reply with any other good stuff you know of. No gatekeeping, here! I will edit in all of the cool stuff everyone sends me.
Keep your head up, and keep getting buckets out there.