WNBA League Pass, the subscription-based platform that's meant to make it easier to watch teams play games each season, costs fans $39.99 annually or $15 a month. That's a decent price, especially for what the service promises: an easy way to watch on-demand and/or live games.
But the gulf between what League Pass wants to do and what it's actually capable of providing appears to be widening, per fan reports shared on social media platforms like Reddit, X, and Bluesky.
The WNBA no longer has a deal with YouTube
Things started to get murky in 2025, after the NBA signed a deal with Amazon that made the streamer the exclusive channel for NBA and WNBA games. That meant that fans who previously added WNBA League Pass to their YouTube subscriptions lost access to the 2026 season — and to any recordings they might have saved.
This left with a few options: buy League Pass through the WNBA for $39.00 or add it on to their Amazon subscription for $15 a month. The first option works if you watch the games on a computer (the app is not available on most TVs), but not everyone does. And as fans are noting on social media, the WNBA app is proving to be pretty buggy this season, which makes watching games on a phone or iPad difficult. (Note: the WNBA app is available via Roku.)
As one fan noted this weekend, "I got league pass through YouTube tv last two seasons and it was great. They parted ways this year so I have to use the wnba app and it’s HORRIBLE." There were also reports that the app was freezing at inopportune times, and fans were frustrated that they weren't able to access full screen mode on their devices.
A second fan even said that the screen freeze kept him from purchasing League Pass through the WNBA — and that it was embarrassing for the league. "I was thinking about buying League Pass this year but the iPad app won’t even go full screen and it’s way too buggy. Pass. Embarrassing for the league," they wrote on Bluesky.
"The new WNBA app is horrible and the fact they took YouTube away as an option to stream League Pass makes me really upset," another fan noted. It's unclear how fans learned they could no longer watch games on YouTube.
Game blackouts cause more frustration
The WNBA app also makes it hard for fans to watch games if they're local to the team. That's likely designed to encourage fans to attend games in person, but ticket prices can vary wildly, and not every fan wants to be in that kind of environment. (Blackouts are also usually tied to local broadcasting deals.)
Some fans on Reddit have noted that they can't watch games at all because they live overseas, a confusing scenario since it's pretty cost prohibitive to show up in person. "Nationally televised games (on stations like ABC, ESPN, Amazon Prime or CBS) are not available live in the app," one fan explained. "The only exception is Ion Friday night games, but that’s because they have an agreement."
The WNBA does not appear to have an international version of its app.
The timing for these problems is tough
The WNBA is kicking off its 30th season this year, and regular season games begin on Friday, May 8. The problems some fans are experiencing couldn't be coming at a worse time — now, more than ever, fans want to watch games in real time.
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