NBC Sports is returning to the WNBA in a way it has not for nearly 25 years, building a broadcast roster for coverage that begins May 17 on NBC and Peacock. The package includes more than two dozen regular-season games, exclusive Finals coverage and a new studio show built around some of the league’s most recognizable voices.

The centerpiece is WNBA Showtime, a pregame program that will also carry halftime and postgame coverage throughout the season. Maria Taylor will host alongside LaChina Robinson, while Cheryl Miller and Sue Bird join NBC Sports as analysts. Noah Eagle, Michael Grady and Zora Stephenson will handle play-by-play, with Robinson also contributing analysis and commentary during games.

The lineup matters because NBC Sports is not easing back into the league; it is reentering with a full production push across studio, game and sideline coverage. Sarah Kustok is joining the team to add her WNBA experience, and Ashley ShahAhmadi, Jordan Cornette and Caroline Pineda will report courtside as NBC and Peacock spread the coverage across the regular season.

Bird and Miller bring immediate credibility to the booth and the desk. Both are Basketball Hall of Famers, and Miller is a 13-time WNBA All-Star, giving the network a pair of analysts with deep ties to the league’s past and present. For NBC, the move also restores a relationship with the WNBA that had been absent from its air for nearly a quarter-century.

That gap is what makes the timing notable today. The WNBA returns for its 2026 regular season this month, and NBC and Peacock will open their coverage on May 17 with a schedule that stretches through the league’s biggest games. The Finals exclusivity gives the network one of the sport’s highest-profile stages as the season unfolds.

The question is not whether NBC can cover the league; it is whether this roster signals a long-term stake in the WNBA after its return. By pairing veteran voices such as Taylor, Miller and Bird with reporters and play-by-play announcers across NBC and Peacock, the network is saying the league will not be treated as a side project. It is treating the WNBA as a main event, and starting May 17, viewers will see that difference right away.