The WNBA will reportedly enjoy a massive increase in TV revenue after a new set of deals kicks in for the 2026 season. However, the completed negotiations led by the NBA are not without risk.
Because the NBA owns a majority stake in the WNBA , it hashed out the financial details for the WNBA's TV rights as part of talks surrounding the men's product. According to The Athletic , that's led to an 11-year, $2.2 billion windfall for the WNBA from broadcasters ESPN , NBC and Amazon. The annual value of about $200 million would dwarf the WNBA's current TV revenue of approximately $50 million per year.
When players negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement, they can use rising TV earnings to push for an exponentially higher salary cap. The days of rookies making less than $80,000 per year may end soon.
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That said, there are risks involved for the WNBA in locking in long-term TV contracts for women's basketball at a time of spiking popularity. At the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the women's final outdrew the men , as well as World Series and NBA Finals games from the prior year. So, $200 million per year could prove a bargain for TV broadcasters down the road. Eleven years is a massive time frame, and by the mid-2030s, the WNBA will likely have many more expansion teams in place in lucrative markets.
But the report from The Athletic does note that there could be clauses in the WNBA's TV deals that escalate their value - a possible safeguard for teams and players that could limit the networks taking advantage of their gains.
Why does the NBA manage the WNBA's biggest business deals?
The NBA owns a 60 percent stake in the WNBA. Its financial strength has helped keep the WNBA afloat through lean years. Even as women's basketball experiences a boom, NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes the leagues must continue to be intertwined.
“I think it’s in the leagues’ interest to the extent we can do integrated deals,” Silver said in April. “The NBA promotes into the WNBA season and the WNBA promotes into the NBA [season], and we can all talk about basketball.”
Silver added: “At the end of the day it’s the [same] game. To the extent that we come up with ways to better present the game … in a way that makes it even that much more enticing to fans, there’s real opportunities to scale there when you put the NBA and the WNBA together.”
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Why has the WNBA product become more valuable?
The WNBA is smashing all kinds of viewership and attendance records on the back of a standout rookie class that includes Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese. That duo's NCAA popularity has translated to WNBA interest, and with more college basketball phenoms set to join the WNBA in the coming years, the future seems bright.
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