• Loading stock data...
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Tuned In returns to NYC on September 16. Hear from the biggest names in sports media. Click here to get your spot

Streaming’s Next Step: Amazon Acquires Rights to WNBA Finals

  • The WNBA Finals will be aired exclusively on Prime Video in 2028, 2032, and 2036.
  • Digital media expert Tom Richardson explains to ‘FOS’ what could be next for sports and streaming.
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

One of the notable details within the WNBA’s $200 million–per-year media-rights deal with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon is that the Finals will alternate among the three networks.

In 2026, the first year of the 11-year deal valued at $2.2 billion, NBC and Peacock will broadcast the Finals, the first time ABC will not air at least one game of the championship series since 1998. In 2028, Amazon will broadcast the Finals on Prime Video, the first time a championship series of a major U.S. league has been scheduled to air exclusively on a streaming platform.

The NBA, which signed a larger $76 billion deal that includes the WNBA’s package, is keeping its Finals on ESPN networks, as it has since the early 2000s. But Prime Video will broadcast one conference-finals series in six of the 11 years.

This is another step forward in the streaming takeover of live sports, which has accelerated over the last several years, particularly since the NFL moved Thursday Night Football to Prime Video in 2022, followed by the NFL’s much-maligned wild-card playoff game on Peacock in January.

A Template for Others?

Could the WNBA Finals on Prime Video be a catalyst for other leagues moving their championship series exclusively to streaming?

There’s no definitive answer, according to Tom Richardson, senior vice president for Mercury Intermedia and sports management professor at Columbia University. But he referred to this period in media and sports as a “transitional phase,” in that everything is a test to understand the behavior of sports’ audience.

While Richardson admits that much of the move to streaming is about money—streaming companies like Amazon and Apple have the deepest pockets in the industry—the leagues are also looking to test how to present themselves to the new sports viewer, a Gen Z and Gen Alpha audience whose viewership behavior often involves multiple screens.

“The industry can’t expect the next generation to dutifully watch the way their forebearers watched, which was kind of lean back passively,” Richardson says.

What’s Old Is New Again

Unfortunately for consumers, the multitude of streaming services has made the experience of being a sports fan confusing. According to Front Office Sports senior writer Michael McCarthy, there is a world in which leagues consolidate into one or two platforms—which would just be a new-age version of the cable bundle.

“I think there’s going to be a rebundling of the old bundle, except it won’t be on cable; it’ll be on streaming,” McCarthy says. “If you have too many streaming services, it’s going to get just too expensive to subscribe to all of them.”

Richardson isn’t as bullish about the idea of a consolidated streamer, calling the notion of “The Great Bundle” as “overblown.” But he acknowledges there is potential for history to repeat itself in the digital age—comparing leagues moving to streaming to the NFL’s decision in 1993 to take Fox’s bid over CBS, a move that ultimately launched Fox into the powerhouse it is today.

Another potential callback to the old days would be the return of pay-per-view events.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point, the NFL does a pay-per-view Super Bowl,” McCarthy says. “Think about what they can charge for that.”

Richardson agreed that pay-per-view could make a return in the streaming age, though he sees it for made-for-TV events like TNT’s “The Match” or boxing exhibitions rather than championship games.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Chad Ochocinco

Shannon Sharpe, Chad Ochocinco Settle $20 Million Defamation Suit 

It’s the second multimillion-dollar lawsuit Sharpe has settled in recent weeks.

WNBA Struggling to Prevent Repeat Dildo Incidents

The league appears to have no answers to the copycats plaguing games.
NC State

NC State ‘Cardiac Pack’ Team Loses NCAA Suit for NIL Back Pay

The 1983 team was among college basketball’s greatest Cinderella stories. 
WNBA

Crypto Group Says It’s Behind WNBA Dildo Epidemic

The group backs a memecoin that launched last week.

Featured Today

Dec 14, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; President Donald Trump wave during the second quarter of the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Army Black Knights at Lincoln Financial Field

‘Political Gold’: Trump Putting His Stamp on College Sports 

Trump has embraced executive action on hot-button college sports issues.
August 3, 2025

Inked Under Anesthesia: Athletes Getting $50,000 Tattoos

High-end studios, elite artist teams, and hours under anesthesia.
Coco Gauff at New York Liberty
August 2, 2025

How the New York Liberty Became the Hottest Ticket in Town

Once banished to the burbs, the Libs are now Brooklyn’s marquee attraction.
Las Vegas sign
July 29, 2025

College Sports Embracing Vegas After Years of Cold Shoulder

The Big Ten became the latest newcomer to Sin City.
NFL Network host Kimmi Chex gives Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor a draft do-over during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Taylor was drafted in 2020 when the draft was held virtually due to COVID.

ESPN Reaches NFL Draft Rights Extension Following Mega-Deal

The network will continue to broadcast the draft through 2030, say sources.
August 4, 2025

NFL’s Hall of Fame Game Draws 6.9M TV Viewers, Highest Since 2021

The Lions and Chargers played this year’s game in Canton, Ohio.
Apr 2, 2023; Inglewood, CA, USA; Roman Reigns during Wrestlemania Night 2 at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit:
August 6, 2025

ESPN Strikes $1.6 Billion Streaming Deal With WWE

WWE’s premium live events are migrating from NBC’s Peacock in 2026.
Sponsored

Hottest Matchups Following NFL Schedule Release

The NFL released the 2025 regular-season schedule, and anticipation is already building in the ticket marketplace with four months to go.
Jul 15, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts to the crowd as they take on the Connecticut Sun in the first quarter at TD Garden.
July 30, 2025

WNBA Viewership Up Across All Networks Compared to 2024

Non-Fever games are up 37% compared to the full 2024 season.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) celebrates winning Sunday, July 27, 2025, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
July 30, 2025

Amazon, TNT Post Near-Identical NASCAR Ratings in Debut Season

The cable channel is a new media-rights partner this season.
Jul 27, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Kia Nurse (11) drives to the basket against Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) during the second half at United Center.
July 29, 2025

Fever-Sky Draws 1.5M Viewers Despite Clark, Reese Absences

Clark and Reese both missed the game due to injury.
July 29, 2025

WBD Restructuring Shows What’s Old Is New Again

WBD will become Warner Bros. and Discovery Global as two separate entities.