The WNBA’s boom in popularity is set to be rewarded with a huge rise in revenue from broadcast deals, according to the Athletic.
The deal would be part of the NBA’s reported 11 year, $76bn broadcast deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon. The WNBA’s current media deals, which expire in 2025, bring in $50m a year – the new agreement would quadruple that amount to $200m a year for 11 years and include room for further income from other broadcast partners.
The increased revenue has the potential to transform the lives of WNBA athletes. WNBA players’ median (rather than mean) salary of $78,000 is just 2% of their NBA counterparts. While Caitlin Clark, the most prominent rookie in the league, will earn $338,000 in salary over the next four years, the most recent NBA rookie of the year, Victor Wembanyama, will earn $55m from his first contract.
Low wages have forced many WNBA players to compete abroad during the offseason, a proposition seen as much riskier since Brittney Griner was jailed in Russia and Israel went to war.
The deal comes as the WNBA experiences a surge in popularity. Clark and Angel Reese have renewed a rivalry that started in college, and are battling for rookie of the year honors. At the halfway point of the season, average attendance is 9,311 – a level not seen since the 1990s. Perhaps most significantly, TV viewership has been impressive: ESPN said audiences were up 183% compared to last season.
