Recent booms in popularity and interest in the WNBA have been astonishing. The has seen major gains, and ratings this season are already reaching historic levels. All this interest might soon make the WNBA Finals a scorching commodity. ESPN’s Burke Magnus appears to recognize that and then some.
Magnus joined Richard Deitsch for an interviw at The Athletic this week that was noteworthy for a few reasons including the executive’s thoughts on ESPN’s potential life without Stephen A. Smith. With a new WNBA rights deal on the horizon along with the NBA, Magnus also stressed that it’s “really important” for the network to have the WNBA Finals, but he was also open to other networks sharing it.
“The answer I gave you when you asked me this last year for the NBA Finals was ‘must-have,’ and here I think a little bit differently,” Magnus told Deitsch. “Maybe somewhat unselfishly, we look at the growth of the WNBA on the number of various entities involved in it. We see an upside in other broadcasters also being involved. Of course we want the WNBA Finals, I’m sure that at some level that’s going to be a component of the deal.”
More from Magnus:
“But if we don’t have them every single year because it means it is on other networks in a similar fashion, I think that’s actually a good thing for the ultimate continued growth and development and interest in the league.”
Accessibility is significant in women’s basketball’s expanding reach and growth. It’s offered on the major broadcasting networks and several big cable sports networks. Magnus’s willingness to share the WNBA Finals is also a refreshing compared to other aspects of the sports world.
Networks like TNT and even NBC could make sense for this scenario. TNT may well lose the NBA, and as they lean into college basketball while they welcome the Big East, a move for women’s basketball makes all the sense in the world. Peacock is becoming a destination for basketball fans. NBC could add to its already extensive portfolio with the WNBA Finals.
Still, there may be issues. Sports Media Watch outlined a potential one, citing that the WNBA Finals occur in the Fall. And as everybody knows, that’s a hectic time in television, which could create hurdles for sharing, as SMW alluded to.
But in a world where ABC may exclusively broadcast the NBA Finals, another major network, cable or otherwise, airing the WNBA Finals will at least give hoops fans of all kinds one thing: options—as long as we have options, everyone’s typically satisfied.
