THE ATHLETIC’s Sabreena Merchant wrote broadcasters Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings will join USA Network’s WNBA broadcast team for the 2026 season. Holdsclaw, a former WNBAer, will “appear in studio coverage” alongside commentators Elle Duncan and Renee Montgomery. Catchings, a Basketball HOFer who previously worked for SEC Network, “will call games as an analyst” with play-by-play voices Kate Scott and Meghan McPeak. This is the first year of USA Sports’ 11-year media rights deal with the WNBA (THE ATHLETIC, 3/26).
NEW GENERATION: In London, Martyn Ziegler wrote the BBC and ITV reached a new deal with FIFA that will allow each to show “five World Cup matches in full on their YouTube channels and the first ten minutes of every game.” FIFA has told rights holders that they will be allowed to show “ten of the 104 matches on their accounts on the streaming platform in full.” The idea is to “appeal to younger audiences for whom YouTube is often their main viewing platform.” The BBC and ITV will also have the right to show “extended highlights, interviews and other content on their YouTube accounts” (London TIMES, 3/26).
