ESPN reporter Ben Baby has ignited outrage among the WNBA fanbase by questioning why reporters aren’t allowed in locker rooms after games to interview players.
The 2026 season started on Friday night, marking a new era for the league after a fresh collective bargaining agreement left teams working with bigger budgets than ever before to build their roster.
That, combined with the emergence of Caitlin Clark over the last couple of years, is considered key by many to help grow the league into a huge force across the United States.
But Baby, who covers NFL team Cincinnatti Bengals for ESPN, said on Saturday that coverage of the league is held back because reporters can’t enter locker rooms to speak to stars after the game.
‘It still remains wholly ridiculous that the WNBA doesn’t have an open locker room media policy.’ he wrote on X. ‘The only major sport in the U.S. that doesn’t have it. Bad for the fans and the growth of the game.’
But inevitably, a man suggesting that reporters should be allowed into a personal space where female athletes get changed before and after games was not met with a completely positive response.
Caitlin Clark in action for the Indiana Fever as the WNBA season returned this weekend
Angel Reese pictured arriving for her WNBA debut for her new team, Atlanta Dream
‘Media access after the game is fine. Media access in the locker room of any sport is not necessary,’ one abrupt reply read.
Another follower wrote: ‘I sorta see what you’re saying b/c it’s always been the easy way to get quotes and talk to ALL the players instead of just the 1 or 2 who do the pressers after the game….. So it’s either that or the league comes up with a formal way for ALL the players to chat with the media after the game.
‘Now with that said, a MAN complaining about not being able to go in a woman’s locker room just isn’t the right optic though. Lol. This needs to come from a woman.’
Another fan posted to him: ‘None of the sports should have open locker rooms. Journalists have no right/business to be in the athletes personal space at their jobs. A media room session after games or zoom interviews is fine.’
But despite the backlash, Baby did get support from ex-ESPN reporter Jemele Hill.
‘Really? When did this happen? Because when I was covering the W, they did,’ she said. ‘I agree it should be open and as was the case then, should follow the same protocol as the NBA.’
Media access in locker rooms has been a talking point for a while. Travis Kelce notably scrutinized the level of access NFL reporters have on an episode of his New Heights podcast back in 2023.
‘They do actually give us a warning,’ Kelce said on how the access works. ‘I’m not sure why they make it like a free locker room. The only time I feel like it is weird is if you’re ass naked next to the guy that is being interviewed.’
ESPN reporter Ben Baby divided fans with his take about media locker room access in WNBA
In the past, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce joked about media access being awkward
A year later on the same show, Travis joked about ‘meat watch’ amid claims that reporters had been caught staring at NFL players while they were getting changed.
‘I’ve never had a problem with it,’ the Kansas City Chiefs star said about the overall level of access, before joking: ‘I think it’s actually encouraged by the NFL to be clothed. I don’t think they encourage you to be naked.’
The dynamic, of course, is different for the WNBA and while reporters don’t have locker room access, teams are typically very good at making players available before and after games.
Baby responded to one fan who, with a more measured reply, joked about him getting involved in WNBA discourse, adding ‘Water’s unnecessarily choppy, eh?’.
He joked back: ‘Not for the faint of heart!!’
