Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) rushes up the court docket towards Phoenix Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham (9) on Friday, July 12, 2024, in the course of the recreation at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert truly set her sights too low in April when she mentioned she wished the league to double its present nationwide media rights charges.
The present nationwide media contracts, although the 2025 season, common about $50 million yearly. The WNBA’s new cope with ESPN, Amazon and NBC, authorized Tuesday, can pay the league about $2.2 billion over the subsequent 11 years for a median of $200 million a yr — and it might be much more profitable, The Athletic reported.
Name it a part of the Caitlin Clark Impact. Engelbert made her remark in anticipation of an enormous development in recognition for the WNBA on the eve of the league draft, when the Indiana Fever made the school phenom out of Iowa the No. 1 decide.
The WNBA partnered with the NBA, which negotiated the contracts as a part of its personal rights talks leading to an settlement with Disney, NBC and Amazon on roughly $75 billion over 11 years. The NBA’s board of governors authorized the brand new phrases, that are nonetheless pending.
The WNBA’s present media companions are Disney, Ion, CBS and Amazon. The Athletic reported that along with the subsequent deal, the WNBA might negotiate with new companions on two different separate rights packages to complete one other $60 million yearly.
That new complete might pay the WNBA greater than six occasions its present charges. The league and its media companions even have agreed to revisit the rights contracts in three years to measure the worth towards the league’s development, The Athletic reported.
–Discipline Degree Media
