Liberty Land New TV Deal, Games to Be Broadcast on Fox Affiliate WNYW
With dreams of a WNBA title, the New York Liberty are thinking outside the (cable) box.
The team announced a new television partnership on Tuesday, one that will lead to locally broadcast Liberty games appearing on local broadcast network WNYW. Games will be shared between the flagship of Fox's broadcast television network as well as sister station WWOR. Games will also stream on the FOX Local App.
Tuesday's new deal will bring Liberty games into over 7.5 million households in the tri-state area. The partnership will begin when the Liberty open the 2024 season on May 14 against the Washington Mystics, a game that will be broadcast on WWOR.
Brandon Todd, NY Liberty
“As an organization, we are committed to bringing Liberty basketball to as many households as possible, and we are incredibly proud to enter this groundbreaking partnership with FOX5 New York,” Liberty CEO Keia Clarke said in a team statement. “Expanding our local reach and ensuring we are widely accessible wherever fans watch Liberty games is imperative in today’s ever-expanding media landscape.”
WNYW and WWOR (often referred to as "FOX5" and "My9" respectively) previously held broadcast rights to New York Yankees baseball games. Fox5 continues to air Fox Sports' national coverage as well, which currently includes college basketball and football, MLB, NASCAR, and the NFL while My9 has often been used as an overflow channel for Brooklyn Nets basketball games.
Liberty games previously aired on YES Network after Joe Tsai's purchase of the team in 2019 after their first 22 years were spent on MSG Network. Moving to WNYW/WWOR ensures not only a wider audience but also avoids conflicts with the Yankees' season, which would sometimes move games to the YES App.
"We’re fired up to welcome the NY Liberty and their voracious fans to our roster of incredible sports programming," WNYW senior vice president and general manager Lew Leone said in the aforementioned statement. "This partnership of two winning teams is a slam dunk. FOX 5 cannot wait for the 2024 season tip-off to bring the exciting play of WNBA to our audience.”
Armed with the return of their illustrious starting five headlined by three-point queen Sabrina Ionescu and reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, the Liberty will look to build upon last season's success, which saw them win a franchise-record 32 games and their first WNBA Finals berth since 2002. New York also took home the WNBA Commissioner's Cup in-season title in August and sent three players (Ionescu, Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot) to the All-Star Game.
