Wave Sports + Entertainment, WNBA To Produce The BUCKETS Five, The 26 Digital Shows in New Content Partnership

Wave Sports + Entertainment (WSE) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has announced a content deal for the league’s 2022 season. For the first-time, WSE and the WNBA will work together to create social-first, short-form programming highlighting the best moments from past and present seasons and will launch new original series that authentically celebrates the league and its players.

Programming will be distributed primarily on WSE’s flagship basketball brand BUCKETS that features highlights, coverage, and more of global basketball’s most interesting stories, with additional distribution across WSE’s SWAY, TBH, Break Ankles Daily, and PHENOMS brands.

“BUCKETS is quickly becoming the go-to destination for Gen Z and Millennial basketball fans on social. Our partnership with the WNBA will not only enable us to bring the best on-the-court moments from the league to our audience, but also showcase and promote inspiring, culturally relevant player-centric stories through our talent-led original programming efforts,” says Brian Verne, Founder and CEO, WSE. “We look forward to collaborating closely with the WNBA to grow our respective communities, create innovative programming, and feature some of the best athletes in the world.”

The first series to debut under this new partnership will be The BUCKETS Five, a fast paced and informative weekly show that explores the hot topics and unique culture of the WNBA in 5’s, an homage to the five players of a starting lineup. The BUCKETS Five will be hosted by Jordan Ligons, a prolific journalist and sports commentator highly regarded for her coverage of women’s basketball. The premiere episode of The BUCKETS Five drops May 5 on the BUCKETS YouTube Channel with clips and cutdowns distributed across BUCKETS’ TikTok and Instagram channels.

Coming later this summer is The 26, an exciting and original look at the top 26 players from the upcoming WNBA season from the POV of current and former players. This celebration of the league’s 26-year history will culminate with a live stream featuring the league’s most prominent voices discussing the most impactful 26 players of the season. Ligons will also host The 26.

In addition to The BUCKETS Five and The 26, the companies will look to launch additional series as the season progresses into the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google and the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV.

WSE will have access to the league’s highlights, player interviews, archival content, and tentpole events that will be featured throughout WSE’s basketball ecosystem that boasts more than 21 million followers, 84% of which are in the elusive 13-34 demographic. Programming will include robust coverage of the league’s daily news making moments and key storylines, in addition to deeper storytelling focused on the players themselves and their cultural impact off the court.

When not filming on location, content will be filmed at Wave Sports + Entertainment studios in Santa Monica.