Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) rushes onto the courtroom throughout a sport towards the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, July 12, 2024 in Indianapolis Workforce defender Sophie Cunningham (9) competes. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated in April that she needed the league to double its present nationwide media rights price, however in actuality her aim was set too low.
Present nationwide media contracts, although by way of the 2025 season, common about $50 million per 12 months. The WNBA’s new take care of ESPN, Amazon and NBC, authorized on Tuesday, can pay the league about $2.2 billion over the following 11 years, a mean of $200 million per 12 months, and is more likely to be much more profitable, in response to The Athletic.
Name it a part of the Caitlin Clark impact. Engelbert made her feedback on the eve of the league’s draft, anticipating an enormous surge within the WNBA’s recognition, when the Indiana Fever made the school phenom out of Iowa State the No. 1 choose.
The WNBA labored with the NBA, which negotiated the contracts as a part of its personal rights negotiations, leading to offers with Disney, NBC and Amazon price roughly $75 billion over 11 years. The NBA Board of Governors authorized the brand new phrases, however they’re nonetheless pending.
The WNBA’s present media companions embrace Disney, Ion, CBS and Amazon. Along with this subsequent deal, the WNBA can negotiate two separate broadcast rights packages with new companions totaling one other $60 million per 12 months, in response to The Athletic.
The brand new whole would probably pay the WNBA greater than six instances its present price. In keeping with “The Athletic”, the league and its media companions additionally agreed to evaluate the rights contract inside three years to measure the worth of the league’s progress.
–Scene-level media
