Elle Duncan Lands New Role Covering WNBA After ESPN Departure

Elle Duncan left ESPN last month when she joined Netflix to lead the streaming service’s sports coverage. She gave up her SportsCenter co-hosting role at ESPN, along with her hosting women’s basketball coverage on the network.

It sounds like Duncan won’t be absent from women’s basketball coverage for long though. On Thursday, Sports Business Journal reported that Duncan has been hired to be the studio host of USA Network’s WNBA coverage for the 2026 season.

USA Network will showcase 50 WNBA games each year under a new media deal agreed upon last September. The coverage will include games in the regular season, the playoffs and the WNBA Finals. Wednesday nights will include pre-game and post-game coverage for double-headers featured on the network. The belief is that Duncan will host those studio shows.

While Netflix allows Duncan to explore other opportunities outside of the streaming service, ESPN fully parted ways with Duncan, meaning she won’t be back at ESPN while holding the new position at Netflix. Duncan will make her Netflix debut on Friday, Jan. 23 during Skyscraper Live, where free solo climber Alex Honnold will attempt to scale Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

Duncan previously hosted WNBA Countdown on ESPN and also hosted the women’s college basketball Final Four coverage on the network.

More WNBA on Sports Illustrated