WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert (r) said the next media deal is “going to be a hybrid no matter what” between traditional TV broadcasts and streaming optionsGetty Images
The WNBA TV rights next come on the table in 2025, and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she hopes to ride the wave expected to come from this year’s ballyhooed rookie class to greater financial prosperity in the media sphere. Engelbert, during an appearance Monday on CNBC, said, “We hope to at least double our rights fees. Women’s sports rights fees have been undervalued for too long. We have this enormous opportunity at a time when ... the media landscape is changing so much.” The league currently partners with ESPN, CBS, Scripps/Ion and Prime Video; SBJ research shows ESPN's current nine-year deal brings in $25M annually. Engelbert said the next media deal is “going to be a hybrid no matter what” between traditional TV broadcasts and streaming options. She sees the new rights deal as a way to change the foundation of the WNBA for the better. Engelbert said, “We’re setting this league up, not just for three-to-five years with this next media rights deal, but for the next 30. ... It is media rights that fund a lot of what happens in men’s sports, as well as corporate partnerships. We’ve been doing great in corporate partnerships; we’ve doubled our corporate partnership revenue in the last three years. But again, this is a long-term sustainable economic model that we’re trying to build to fund things like charter (flights) and higher player pay.”
TRYING TO RIDE THE COLLEGE BUZZ: Iowa G Caitlin Clark leads the aforementioned rookie class that also includes LSU F Angel Reese, Stanford F Cameron Brink, Tennessee F Rickea Jackson and South Carolina C Kamilla Cardoso. Engelbert said, “All these players coming in with big viewership and followership, so we’re hoping that we can capitalize on that in the WNBA.” Clark in particular is being credited as the main reason for the record viewership ESPN saw during the women’s tournament. Sunday’s championship game that saw South Carolina complete a perfect season by beating Clark and Iowa drew 18.7 million viewers, easily the most-viewed women’s basketball game ever. That was up 89% from last year’s LSU-Iowa finale highlighted by the Clark-Reese. Engelbert reflected on the massive audience this year’s tournament saw by saying, “You need three things in sports: household names, rivalries and games of consequence. March Madness had all of that” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 4/8).
STICK AROUND FOR THE RIDE: In D.C., Jesse Dougherty reported that Las Vegas Aces F Candace Parker believes that if the WNBA “can convert more college basketball fans -- especially the new ones -- she predicts a compounding effect” for the league. An increase in interest around the WNBA “would put more attention on top college players, sustaining the surge past Clark and Reese” and into the next wave of college stars like UConn G Paige Bueckers, USC G JuJu Watkins and beyond. A “larger, more engaged WNBA audience would want to know who’s coming next, year after year.” That could mean “this Clark-fueled moment wouldn’t have to be fleeting” and instead “could be momentum instead.” Meanwhile, Parker wants ESPN “to find a prime-time slot when Clark and Reese first match up in the WNBA,” as their sustained rivalry means it “shouldn’t matter what jerseys they’re wearing” (WASHINGTON POST, 4/8).
