Former ESPN president John Skipper has consistently maintained his belief that the WNBA would more than triple its broadcast rights revenue in its new media deal. And this week, he stuck by that prediction as he offered a little more context behind that belief.
During the most recent episode of The Sporting Class with Pablo Torre and David P. Sampson, Skipper doubled down on his stance as he reiterated that he sees a 300% increase in TV revenue for the league in the new deal.
“The NBA deals will get announced shortly after the end of the [NBA] Finals. I would assume the WNBA announcements will come shortly after that. I believe the commissioners of the NBA and the WNBA have both suggested that they’re likely to share the same partners that the WNBA may have as they do now, additional broadcast partners. We’d expect to hear Amazon, ESPN, and NBC deals for the WNBA. And you might also see ION or CBS or somebody else with an additional WNBA deal,” Skipper said.
“I think the deals will be significantly increased from what they get paid now. I believe now they get paid $60 million a year – $40 million from ESPN and $20 million from the other four partners. I don’t know what the mix will be going forward, but I have consistently suggested that the WNBA is going to get a 300% increase.”
Meadowlark Media CEO and Former ESPN President John Skipper has consistently predicted that the WNBA will see a 300% increase in its new media deal.
But why? He explains to @DavidPSamson and @PabloTorre on the new episode of The Sporting Class in their deep dive look into the… pic.twitter.com/ajJ7kGBvOT
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) June 14, 2024
The WNBA ratings were already trending up the past several seasons even before the emergence of Caitlin Clark. But with Clark now helping lead a surge in the popularity of women’s basketball, Skipper previously said that he thinks the league’s television revenue will be closer to $200 million than $120 million in the new deal, which is obviously a substantial step up from the $60 million the league currently gets.
Samson, however, was quite a bit skeptical.
“The NBA will choose whatever number it wants for the WNBA. The WNBA does not have the ability to do an independent media deal, no matter what John’s saying,” Samson responded. “‘Oh, I would pay for that on its own. I would assign a number to that because I’m John Skipper and I like women’s sports.’ That’s fine, but there’s no market out there for a triple of their $60 million for the WNBA.”
Skipper is indeed bullish on women’s basketball generally – he recently partnered with the newly launched Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league – but he also thinks the market reflects his beliefs considering the broadcast deal the National Women’s Soccer League recently got on the open market.
“The NWSL got $60 million a year. I think their rights fees before were less than $20 million. That’s a market indicator. It’s like when you buy a house and they say ‘Well, here’s a comparable.’ Here’s a comparable: the NWSL – which is clearly not as valuable as the WNBA – got $60 million a year in the open and free market,” Skipper said.
That would obviously be a massive jump in revenue, but Skipper seems to think the market is there for it.
[Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz]
