FOX News host claims he 'hates WNBA' but is being forced to cover it
FOX News host claims he 'hates WNBA' but is being forced to cover it
Oscar Maung-HaleyWed, August 5, 2026 at 12:17 PM UTC
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Jesse Watters has said he "hates the WNBA" -Credit:Jemal Countess, Getty Images
FOX News host Jesse Watters has admitted on air that he "hates the WNBA" despite the network heavily covering the league this season.
The 2026 WNBA season has been heavily politicized, with Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham recently offering her thoughts on whether trans athletes should be allowed in women's sports, dividing the league in the process. Last weekend, during the Fever's 108-100 defeat to the Minnesota Lynx, opposition head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a 'Trans Kids Belong' T-shirt, earning praise during ESPN's broadcast of the game.
Meanwhile, Cunningham's teammate, Caitlin Clark, the face of the WNBA, has also found herself in the headlines this season, in part due to Republican lawmakers threatening league commissioner Cathy Engelbert with a federal probe over the treatment of the Indiana guard on the court if she is not protected.
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Both the incidents involving Cunningham and Clark have been heavily covered by FOX News.
However, in a startling admission, FOX News host Jesse Watters has confirmed he "hates the WNBA," despite his daughter's playing basketball. The 48-year-old launched into a tirade live on air to voice his disgust for the WNBA, adding he hates covering it and that he doesn't "want to cover women's basketball."
Speaking on The Five, Watters said: "This is week three of The Five covering the WNBA, and I have to say, I’m done.
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"I hate the WNBA. I don’t mind women’s basketball. My girls play basketball, but I don’t want to cover women’s basketball. I don’t want to be a WNBA analyst. We get paid to have an opinion about everything. And this is something I don’t care about."
He continued: "Every time I open up the rundown and see the WNBA in it ... we have to do this again? Really? This again? Someone wore a t-shirt at a WNBA game?
"I remember when they were throwing dildos, remember that? That was funny. That's a news story. This isn't a new story. It doesn't matter; there will not be a man in the WNBA.
"We don't even cover the NBA! Why are we covering the WNBA! This is ridiculous, I feel like boycotting this segment."
However, for Watters to get his way, he will need conservative media platforms to stop talking about the WNBA, something which is not going to happen anytime soon.
Following the Fever's defeat to the Lynx last weekend, Clark herself was asked to give her view on the trans athletes debate, with the Indiana star declining to take a side. "I think, for us, it's not really a discussion we really have in our locker room," Clark said diplomatically.
"I think it's for leagues and the governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions, but our focus is on basketball. That's what we talk about and how we can get wins, and, obviously, we didn't do that tonight."
In response to Clark's comments, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly labeled the former a "coward."
Source: “AOL Sports”
