ESPN announced this week that it has extended its partnership with the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC) for an additional two years, ensuring that the league’s flagship IX Cup Championship Game will continue to air on ESPN2.
A New Era for Women’s Tackle Football
The championship will be broadcast live on Sunday, June 21, from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, a venue that has become synonymous with the league’s growing national footprint.
Alongside the broadcast agreement, ESPN executives will collaborate with WNFC leadership on a suite of innovative marketing and promotional initiatives, leveraging the broader ESPN portfolio — including the NFL Network — to amplify the sport’s profile.
The WNFC, which comprises 16 teams spread across the United States, has seen its audience expand rapidly, a trend fueled in part by the surge in flag football participation among youth and college athletes.
The league’s ecosystem includes partnerships with streaming platform Victory+ and sponsors such as Dove, Ridell, and Adidas, creating a multi‑channel presence that extends beyond traditional television.
In a programming shift that underscores the growing demand for women’s sports, ESPN will replace its long‑running “Sunday Night Baseball” slot with “Women’s Sports Sundays,” a block that will feature not only the WNFC but also WNBA and NWSL contests.
The move reflects a broader ambition to integrate women’s tackle football into the mainstream sports conversation, a goal that league officials say is within reach as the sport gains traction at the grassroots level.