WNBA’s media rights deals set league up to receive $2.2 billion over next 11 years: Sources

July 16, 2024

in WNBA

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The WNBA’s new national media rights package has been finalized, with the league set to receive around $2.2 billion over the next 11 years in rights fees. This translates to an average of $200 million per year for the league, with the potential to earn even more over that period, as per league sources familiar with the contracts.

These new deals were negotiated by the NBA during its recent rights discussions, where it struck an 11-year, approximately $75 billion deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon. The WNBA’s national media rights agreements are also with these companies, with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon each holding their own WNBA packages.

While the NBA’s board of governors has approved these media rights deals, they are not yet official as Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT, still has matching rights for an NBA rights package but has not made a decision on whether to exercise them.

The WNBA’s current media deals are set to expire after the 2025 season, with Disney, Ion, CBS, and Amazon as its media partners. The new rights fees could potentially be up to six times higher than the league’s current media rights fees, as the new deals allow for the WNBA to bring in new partners. The league plans to sell two additional rights packages on top of the current agreements, projected to bring in an extra $60 million annually.

These new deals reflect the growing interest and investment in the league and women’s sports overall. The NWSL recently secured a media rights deal worth $240 million over four years, which the WNBA’s new contracts could surpass annually, surpassing Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s expectations for the league.

To protect the WNBA’s interests as it continues to grow and potentially undervalue its rights, there is an agreement in place between the league and its media partners to revisit the rights deals after three years, allowing for a re-pricing to reflect the league’s progress.