For many years, access to professional athletes inside locker rooms after games was an integral part of the media process. For journalists, being able to speak directly to players when the decisions and outcomes of the game are still freshest offers the potential for key insights, or at the very least a juicy quote to include in your post-game write-up.
In recent years, we’ve seen several instances of pro teams or leagues pushing back on that access. During the pandemic, many leagues temporarily limited locker room access. The NFLPA made a push in 2024 to limit locker-room access, which was met with strong pushback from media members. Almost all leagues have been reluctant to disallow it altogether, as it often remains the only direct access many media members have to large swaths of these athletes as they try to cultivate relationships, though many players have come to feel they no longer need those relationships.
Several years back, the WNBA changed its media policy to restrict media access to all locker rooms (though they can still request access to players after games). That move was met with harsh criticism by many media members, and continues to be a sore spot, especially when teams don’t make many players available for post-game press conferences. Defenders have long said that the move protects the sanctity of the locker room space for players and coaches, and offers them a respite from media attention and requirements that still exist.
There is also the undeniable conversation around the dynamic created when male journalists enter a women’s locker room, the inverse of the connotations female journalists have been pushing back on for decades.
The debate kicked up again this weekend when reporter Ben Baby, who covers the NFL’s Bengals for ESPN, shared his frustration with the policy on X.
“It still remains wholly ridiculous that the WNBA doesn’t have an open locker room media policy,” wrote Baby 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.”
The comments were like chum in the water for WNBA defenders, some of whom are themselves media members.
Baby, also a journalism adjunct professor, did find a supporter in former ESPN and current The Atlantic personality Jemele Hill, who defended his point and explained why she feels locker-room access is a critical part of the athlete-media relationship.
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For his part, Baby waded into a few back-and-forths with some of the people who engaged with his initial point.
It doesn’t seem as though that policy will change anytime soon, so we can expect this debate to pop up again, likely when the media wants to talk to a player after an important game but is denied by the team (or the player).
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