Why the WNBA shopping its media rights separately from the NBA matters

On the same day earlier this week that Axios reported that ESPN expects the WNBA to be a part of a media rights renewal deal with the NBA, Front Office Sports reported that while the WNBA is currently engaged in joint negotiations with the NBA for a new media rights deal with Disney’s ABC & ESPN, the league is open to negotiating a separate media deal.

What's the context?

ABC and the ESPN family of networks have aired WNBA games since the league’s first season in 1997 with the rights to these WNBA broadcasts bundled into ABC / ESPN’s larger media deal with the NBA. 

The WNBA media deal with ESPN has been a part of the broader NBA deal as the NBA founded the women’s league in 1996 and owned all of its franchises through 2002.  Entering the 2024 season, five of the WNBA’s 12 teams are owned by the same owners as the NBA team playing in that same city with the San Francisco expansion team (Golden State Warriors) slated to join their ranks in 2025.

The NBA is currently shopping its next media rights deal as its agreement with ESPN and Turner Sports (who does not air WNBA games) expires at the end of the 2024-2025 season.

In addition to the NBA / WNBA deal with ABC and the ESPN family of networks, the WNBA had their own media deals with CBS, ION and Amazon Prime Video to broadcast / stream their games during the 2023 season.  The WNBA earned about $60 million in 2023 across these media partnerships with about two-thirds of that revenue coming from ABC / ESPN.

The WNBA is aiming to increase its annual revenue to between $80 - $100 million in its next media deals.

Why does separating its media deals matters for the WNBA?

Currently the WNBA media rights are thrown into the NBA’s ABC / ESPN deal and come across as an after thought.  At the time of the last NBA - ABC / ESPN media deal announcement in October 2014, the WNBA extending its agreement with ESPN through 2025 as part of this agreement got just a one-sentence mention in the next-to-last paragraph of several media reports like this one.

Being an add-on does not allow the value of the WNBA games to be clearly set by the market and likely undervalues their worth.

To illustrate this, consider the NCAA women’s basketball tournament and its media deal with ESPN.

Unlike the NCAA men’s basketball tournament which is its own unique package of media rights, the media rights for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament are bundled with all of the other NCAA Division I championships minus men’s basketball and football.  The current media rights deal with ESPN for that championship bundle, which expires at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, is worth $34 million with the women’s basketball tournament valued at less than $6 million per year.

In January, the NCAA and ESPN jointly announced that they had struck a new 8-year deal through 2031-2032, valued at $115 million per year with the women’s basketball tournament valued at $65 million a year.

A 10x increase in annual value associated with the NCAA women’s basketball tournament seems significant until you consider what might have been.

In the Kaplan report, commissioned by the NCAA to investigate gender equity issues and released in November 2021, sports media experts Ed Lesser and John Kosner recommended that the NCAA sell the women’s basketball tournament media rights as their own standalone package and determined that they should be worth $81 - $112 million a year.

Over the 8-year term of the just struck media deal between ESPN and the NCAA for the Championship bundle, that means the NCAA women's basketball tournament is missing out on $128 - $376 million.

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Bringing it back to the WNBA, having their media rights bundled as part of the NBA’s deal with ABC / ESPN and earning less than they are worth impacts:

1. The production of the games themselves - think less cameras, lower quality graphics and fewer commentators, analysts and courtside reporters.
2. The marketing of the games, which in turn lessens viewership.
3. Player salaries as the trickle down is less.  After the NWSL signed a new $60 million per year media deal, the NWSL salary cap - which the league sets in its sole discretion - doubled from $1,375,000 in 2023 to $2,750,000 in 2024 for a roster of 22-26 players.  Meanwhile, the annual WNBA salary cap amount was negotiated into the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the players.  The CBA, which runs from 2020-2027, only calls for an annual 3% increase in the salary cap.  In 2024, it is set at $1,463,200 for a roster of 11-12 players … But the WNBA and the WNBA Players Association each have the ability to opt out of the CBA following the 2025 season, a decision either entity may trigger by Nov. 1, 2024.  You can bet the money from a new media rights deal will be factoring into the players’ decision.

Additionally, each of these impacts caused by the WNBA earning less revenue due to having their media rights bundled as part of the NBA’s ABC / ESPN deal compounds year over year slowing the league’s overall growth.

How will this play out?

We will likely learn more by April 22 when the NBA’s 45-day exclusive negotiating window with ABC / ESPN ends.  At that point, any broadcaster or streamer can bid on the NBA’s media rights for the 2025-2026 season and beyond.  The only question is whether WNBA games will still be a part of the NBA’s bundle or if the WNBA will be entertaining bids independently.

Team USA, USWNT learn their Olympic opponents

Draws were held this past week to determine Team USA (women’s basketball) and the U.S. Women’s National Team’s (soccer / football) group play opponents at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.  Here is what fans have to look forward to watching on the NBC family of networks plus Peacock for streaming:

What to watch this weekend

• NWSL: Portland Thorns FC hosts 2023 NWSL Champion NJ/NY Gotham FC in a re-match of the 2023 NWSL semifinals.  The match also serves as Gotham midfielder Crystal Dunn’s return to the Rose City, where she played for the Thorns from 2020-2023.  Sunday at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.
• Women’s March Madness: The tournament is underway with first and second round games continuing this weekend including:
  • #14 Jackson St vs #3 UCONN on Saturday at 1pm ET / 10am PT on ABC
  • #16 Holy Cross vs #1 Iowa on Saturday at 3pm ET / 12pm PT on ABC
  • #16 Texas A&M-CC vs #1 USC on Saturday at 4:30pm ET / 1:30pm PT on ESPN
  • #8 North Carolina vs #1 South Carolina on Sunday TBD
  • #7 Duke vs #2 Ohio State on Sunday TBD
  • #11 MTSU vs #3 LSU on Sunday TBD
• PWHL: Riding a four-game win streak, Minnesota (33 pts, 2nd place) hosts Montreal (30 pts, 3rd place), who has dropped a season-high three straight games. Sunday, March 24 @ 2pm ET / 11 am PT on SN, SN+, Bally Sports North, ICI TOU.TV