The 2025 WNBA playoffs are spread across ESPN, ABC, CBS, ION, NBA TV, and CBS Sports Network—great for exposure, tricky for fans. If you want one service to cover most of it, Sling TV is the simple play. Sling Orange bundles the ESPN family, ESPN3’s ABC simulcasts, and optional NBA TV, so you’re set for the bulk of nationally televised games, including the best-of-five WNBA Finals starting Thursday, October 10 on ESPN.
How to watch every WNBA playoff game on Sling
Sling Orange costs $46 per month and includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPN4K. That’s the spine of the WNBA playoffs. ESPN and ESPN2 carry the heaviest load; ESPN3 typically simulcasts ABC playoff windows, and select events are produced in 4K when available on ESPN4K.
Want every nationally televised matchup possible inside Sling? Add the Sports Extra add-on for NBA TV. It’s the simplest way to catch NBA TV’s playoff coverage without switching apps.
Quick setup checklist:
- Choose Sling Orange ($46/month) for ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN4K.
- Add Sports Extra if you want NBA TV.
- Log in on your device (Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, Android, many smart TVs).
- Search by team name or “WNBA” in the guide; ESPN3 simulcasts usually appear as ESPN3 events inside Sling.
- Turn on Cloud DVR to protect against overtime and late starts. Sling includes a base DVR (50 hours) and offers a paid upgrade for more storage.
Two practical notes that can save headaches. First, Sling Orange allows one stream at a time, and that includes ESPN channels. If your household will watch different games at once, plan your viewing or consider a second plan for the month. Second, 4K availability varies by game and device—if ESPN4K is listed for a particular matchup in your guide, you’ll see it.
What about ABC? Most ABC playoff games are simulcast on ESPN3, which Sling carries. Those ESPN3 streams show up in the Sling guide and don’t require an antenna. If a specific ABC window isn’t simulcast, you’d need a separate way to watch (more on that below).
What Sling covers—and what it doesn’t
Here’s the clean channel map for the postseason:
- Covered in Sling Orange: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN4K.
- Covered with Sports Extra add-on: NBA TV.
- Not in Sling: ABC (over-the-air), CBS (over-the-air), ION, CBS Sports Network.
Workarounds for the gaps:
- ABC and CBS: A cheap indoor antenna will pull in your local stations in HD in most cities. If a playoff window is on ABC and not simulcast on ESPN3, the antenna solves it.
- ION and CBS Sports Network: Those channels aren’t on Sling. If a game lands there, you’ll need a different live TV service or to watch at a venue that carries them.
- Prime Video: Thursday night WNBA exclusives sit on Prime Video and aren’t available in Sling. If a playoff game is designated exclusive there, you’ll need Prime Video for that night.
- ESPN+: Select ABC broadcasts are also streamed on ESPN+. These are separate from Sling; you’d need an ESPN+ subscription if a game is flagged as an ESPN+ exclusive simulcast in listings.
WNBA League Pass is not offered through Sling and won’t help with playoff games anyway, since the postseason is nationally televised. If you want full-season archives and extras, buy it directly from the league, but don’t expect it to unlock playoff telecasts.
Why this matters in 2025: the audience is booming. ESPN said 2024 regular-season viewership jumped 170% year over year, and the Finals rose 115%. That surge carried into this season with rookies Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron, and KiKi Iriafen joining headline acts alongside Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Expect more prime-time windows and more casual fans dropping in—which means more channels involved and more confusion without a plan.
A quick look at the bracket context helps you plan which nights you care about most. The expansion Golden State Valkyries made history as the first WNBA expansion team to reach the playoffs, sliding in as the 8 seed. They draw the Minnesota Lynx, last year’s runner-up, in a tough first-round series. The Valkyries went 0–3 against Minnesota in the regular season, but with Veronica Burton emerging in the backcourt and MVP candidate Napheesa Collier leading the Lynx, that storyline alone will pull national windows. If you’re circling must-watch dates, check ESPN and ESPN2 first—those are your likely homes.
To make sure you never miss a tip, a few practical tips:
- Set team-based DVR recordings so your box catches early pregame shifts or overtime.
- Leave a 30–60 minute buffer at the end of recordings—playoff finishes run long.
- Confirm ESPN3 access inside the Sling app before a game that’s listed on ABC.
- If you need two screens at once, plan ahead since Orange is single-stream for ESPN networks.
Cost snapshot for budgeting the postseason month: Sling Orange at $46 covers most playoff games on ESPN networks. Add Sports Extra if NBA TV has matchups you care about. If a specific night lands on Prime Video, factor that subscription in. For stray ABC or CBS broadcasts without an ESPN3 simulcast, a basic indoor antenna often costs less than a single bar tab and lasts for years.
What about picture quality and devices? Sling’s ESPN4K feed carries select events in native 4K on supported hardware; not every playoff game is produced in 4K, so you’ll see it in your guide when available. Sling runs on the big platforms—Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV/Google TV, iOS, and Android phones and tablets—so you can move from the living room to your phone if a game goes late.
If you want the short version: Sling Orange is the backbone for the WNBA playoffs. It gets you ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPN4K—plus NBA TV with Sports Extra—and covers the Finals on October 10. Plan ahead for ION and CBS Sports Network nights, keep an antenna handy for the odd ABC or CBS window not on ESPN3, and grab Prime Video on Thursdays if a playoff game is exclusive there. Do that, and you’ll have the postseason covered from the first round to the trophy lift.
