Hannah Storm returning to WNBA coverage as ESPN studio host

Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

WNBA coverage will have many new faces this season as the league adds new broadcast partners, but returning studio host Hannah Storm may be the most prominent.

Storm will be one of the anchors on ESPN’s WNBA Countdown this season, marking a full-circle moment for the former NBC Sports host and women’s basketball fans. Storm was the play-by-play announcer for the first-ever WNBA game, and also anchored studio coverage for NBC during the first several years of the league’s existence.

ESPN announced this week that Storm will rotate as a host for WNBA Countdown and contribute reported features to the pregame show and SportsCenter.

The network is shuffling its WNBA coverage this year following a handful of departures, including top studio host Elle Duncan. To replace Duncan, the Worldwide Leader is broadening Malika Andrews’ role. Storm will seemingly fill in as Andrews’ backup.

ESPN also lost veteran announcer Pam Ward to retirement and veteran game and studio analyst LaChina Robinson to NBC and Prime Video. In their place, ESPN announced that Tiffany Greene and Carolyn Peck will slot in on the No. 2 broadcast team, with Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli working “select assignments.”

The Worldwide Leader will broadcast 30 WNBA games this regular season, a slightly pared-back schedule as NBC, USA Network, and Prime Video join as national partners, as well as a handful of playoff games. For the first time since 2002, ESPN will not air the WNBA Finals, as NBC/Peacock and USA Network join forces to air the 2026 championship series, which will rotate throughout the league’s new broadcast rights deal.