The Caitlin Clark effect? WNBA ‘could QUADRUPLE its media rights to $240MILLION a year’ under new agreement
The WNBA has become more popular than ever thanks to interest in Caitlin Clark, and that could mean big money in the boardroom.
According to Front Office Sports, the WNBA could be on track to quadruple its annual television rights payout under new negotiations.
Currently, the 12-team league makes a horribly low $60 million per year from its television and streaming deals.
The league has split its rights with Disney, Amazon Prime Video, CBS and Ion.
But thanks to new long-term deals being discussed, the league may be able to increase its payout to as much as $240 million.
More attention in the WNBA, thanks to the likes of Caitlin Clark, could mean a lot of money
The league is trying to negotiate a new deal that could reportedly triple the rights payouts
Front Office Sports says the discussions are being led by the NBA, which owns more than half of the women’s basketball league that started 28 years ago.
The NBA itself is currently in talks with multiple media companies for $75 billion in long-term television rights through the 2030s.
‘The NBA is asking media companies for one overall bid that does not separate the values of the NBA and WNBA rights, according to people familiar with the process, and some media companies involved in the bids are not committing to a specific amount to WNBA rights,” according to The Washington Post.
“That means the NBA’s massive deal could be rocket fuel for the WNBA — or the WNBA’s increased popularity could be more of an afterthought. It can also be a bit of both.’
Front Office Sports adds that the league has reserved the right to negotiate a separate media deal on its own if it doesn’t like the number the NBA gets for them.
While Clark may not be the only reason for the increase in attention, it cannot be ignored that she has been the biggest catalyst.
The league had its most-watched opening month ever, averaging 1.32 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, Ion and NBA TV. That is an increase from 462,000 viewers.
In racial demographics, viewership among people of color rose 60 percent, while viewership among black and Hispanic people rose 96 percent and 67 percent, respectively.
Television viewership, personal attendance and merchandise sales are all up this year
In-person attendance has also soared, with the league experiencing its best-attended opening month in 26 years.
The WNBA saw 400,000 fans attend live games through the end of May.
In addition to all of this, the league has seen sales of WNBA-branded merchandise increase 236 percent year-over-year.