Candice Ward/Getty Images
The WNBA is set to receive approximately $2.2 billion over the next 11 years in its new national media rights package, equating to an average of $200 million per year. ESPN, NBC, and Amazon are all on board to have their own WNBA packages as part of the new deal. The current media deals for the WNBA, valued at around $50 million annually, will expire after the 2025 season, with Disney, Ion, CBS, and Amazon as the current media partners.
With the new deals leaving room for the WNBA to bring in new partners, the league expects to sell two additional rights packages beyond the current agreements, projected to bring in an extra $60 million annually in total from those additional deals. Additionally, there is an agreement between the league and the media partners to reassess the rights deals after three years in good faith talks to potentially reprice them based on the league’s growth (source: THE ATHLETIC, 7/16).
