A consensus is building around the WNBA reeling in at least $180 million annually as part of the NBA’s new broadcast rights package. A new report indicates the two pro basketball leagues may not be a package deal much longer.
Ben Strauss of The Washington Post reported Tuesday in a detailed piece on the WNBA’s place in the package that industry insiders believe this is the last round of negotiations in which the WNBA will be tethered to the NBA.
Because the NBA owns the WNBA, everything around the finances of the women’s league is murky. Strauss confirmed previous reporting from John Ourand of Puck News indicating the NBA is not splitting the WNBA out as it finalizes a new media rights package with Disney, NBC Universal, and Amazon.
There is disagreement among executives in basketball and around sports media over whether this packaging will help or hurt the NBA, Strauss wrote.
Still, specific valuations from partners like broadcasters give other companies a clearer idea of the league’s economics. That matters for team valuations, expansion fees, and the next round of media rights negotiations.
That’s why the vast majority of Strauss’s sources agreed the WNBA would go it alone on the next package.
Strauss quoted former ESPN marketing executive Laura Gentile, who said “Women’s sports wants accountability; they want their growth projections to matter.” Another executive told Strauss that media companies “recognize the increasing value of the WNBA regardless of whether they ascribe a specific figure to its rights.”
Cathy Engelbert, who recently highlighted WNBA viewership growth on major networks and among key audiences so far in 2024, told Strauss it was a “huge advantage” to partner with the NBA in broadcast rights negotiations. Engelbert cited the estimated 330 days of programming the two pro basketball leagues provide as an appeal to networks and streamers.
Many believe the WNBA, which is expected to triple its broadcast rights revenue on the new deal, could or should have negotiated its own deals this year. But as the WNBA expands to 14 teams in the coming years and looks ahead to a likely new collective bargaining agreement next year, it could expand its regular season and playoff schedule, adding value to its own media rights over time.
As viewership grows and star college players bring greater celebrity status to the league, the WNBA will come to negotiations with even more leverage in the future.
