The WNBA has enjoyed a massive surge of attention this season as the arrival of a heralded rookie class, headlined by the one and only Caitlin Clark, has drawn more eyeballs to the women's game than any time in recent memory. It seems the networks who pay the league to broadcast the games believe this upward trajectory is set to continue for a while yet.
On Tuesday, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reported the WNBA's next media package is worth about $2.2 billion over 11 years. It was negotiated by the NBA amidst its own gigantic media rights deal, and negotiations were held with the same networks— meaning TNT is out of the W game, too, unless its parent company exercises its right to match the offers made to the leagues.
This is a huge deal for the W because, as Vorkunov notes in his piece, the new deal is worth approximately $200 million annually. The previous rights deal was worth only $50 million. Four times as much money will come pouring into the WNBA once the new deal kicks in, and in this case, it truly is a rising tide lifts all boats situation.
More money from media rights means more money to both the players and teams. Free agents will get deals more suited to their value and high-caliber rookies like Clark and Angel Reese won't enter the league making fewer than $100,000 annually. More money for the teams to play could mean things like improvements in facilities that benefit both players and fans.
Perhaps most importantly, it is a financial investment into the WNBA to a degree we haven't yet seen. All the viewership records being set this season is fun to celebrate for fans of the W but getting rightsholding networks to pour billions into the future of the league is the strongest sign yet that women's basketball is here to stay in plain view of the sports public. With the budding storylines surrounding the young crop of talent that helped contribute to the spike in interest this year, sports fans should be glad.
A huge deal for the W and maybe a sign of even greater things to come.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as New WNBA Media Rights Deal Worth Over $2 Billion, per Report.
