ESPN To Replace ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ With ‘Women’s Sports Sunday’
by Justin Hermes · February 20, 2026
The new deal not only saw ESPN acquire the streaming rights to all out-of-market games through MLB.tv, but it also gave The World Wide Leader the rights to all in-network games for the Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies.

MLB
Finally, ESPN also kept the rights to roughly 30 games on its linear network.
Changes
While the new television deal means that Major League Baseball will remain on ESPN this season, there will be a major change.

Photo: ESPN
As part of MLB’s broader television strategy, Sunday Night Baseball will be moving to NBC. Instead of Sunday night, ESPN will air its linear MLB games throughout the week.
‘Women’s Sports Sundays’
With a new void looming in its schedule, ESPN has announced a new Sunday night programming block.
Beginning this summer, fans will be able to tune into Women’s Sports Sundays.

Photo: Disney
The premier showcase will feature must-see matchups from the WNBA and NWSL.
“We saw an opportunity to have access in what I would call women’s sports season, the summer months,” said Susie Piotorkowski, vice president of women’s sports programming and espnW.

Credit: Michael Hickey/Getty Images
After years of investing in women’s basketball, ESPN is finally giving the WNBA and NWSL a real showcase. It will be interesting to see how the new block competes with the established Sunday Night Baseball.


