• Loading stock data...
Monday, September 15, 2025
One Day till Tuned In! Get a Last Second Ticket!

WNBA Could Quadruple Media-Rights Fees to $240 Million Annually

  • Caitlin Clark is lighting up the WNBA just as the league negotiates new rights deals.
  • Also: Could TNT return to NFL business after nearly 30 years?
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Caitlin Clark is a force multiplier for attendance, TV ratings—and now WNBA media-rights fees.

Riding the wave that crested with Clark, the WNBA could quadruple its annual rights payout from TV partners, sources tell Front Office Sports.

The 12-team women’s basketball league currently draws a comically low $60 million per year from its TV and streaming deals with Disney, Amazon Prime Video, CBS, and Ion. Under new long-term agreements being negotiated, the WNBA could boost its annual payout to the $240 million range, sources tell me. 

The NBA, which owns more than 50% of the 28-year-old league, is leading WNBA media-rights talks as part of its own larger negotiation for $75 billion in long-term media rights going through the 2030s. 

“The NBA is soliciting one total bid from media companies that does not separate the values of the NBA and the WNBA rights, according to people familiar with the process, and some media companies involved in the bidding are not assigning a specific figure to the WNBA rights,” according to The Washington Post. “That means the NBA’s massive deal could be rocket fuel for the WNBA—or that the WNBA’s increased popularity is more of an afterthought. It also could be a bit of both.”

My take? There’s no way the fast-growing WNBA will allow itself to be an afterthought this go-around. Those days are over. Rights fees are the financial lifeblood of sports leagues. If the WNBA doesn’t get the figure it wants, it has reserved the right to seek its own separate media deal outside the purview of the NBA.

Timing is important during contract negotiations. Right now, Clark is the most-talked-about, most-debated athlete in America. The media loves her. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert now has the ammo to shoot down arguments that her league has not been able to break through into mainstream sports conversation.

Consider: With Clark suiting up for the Indiana Fever, the WNBA drew its most-watched opening month ever across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, Ion, and NBA TV. Game telecasts averaged 1.32 million viewers, nearly triple last season’s average of 462,000 viewers. Viewership is up 60% among people of color, with viewership among Black and Hispanic people up 96% and 67%, respectively.

At the live gate, the WNBA posted its highest-attended opening month in 26 years, with 400,000 fans attending live games from through the end of May. Did we mention the sale of WNBA-branded merchandise rose 236% year-over-year? 

I’m still shaking my head at USA Basketball’s unforced error of leaving the WNBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick off the Team USA roster for the Paris Olympics. Clark is the third-most positively perceived active basketball player in the U.S., according to YouGov, behind only LeBron James and Steph Curry. One-third of all WNBA attendance this year has been for Clark games.

The former Iowa superstar would have been a one-woman Dream Team attraction for NBC’s Olympic ratings this summer. But while NBC will lose short-term in the ratings, the league’s current and future media partners will see a long-term gain.

Could TNT return to the NFL business?

At press time, TNT was hanging on to its 40-year NBA relationship by a thin, thin thread. The league has effectively tabled negotiations until the end of the 2024 NBA Finals. But one of the most fascinating subplots from the latest breakdown in Paramount Global sales talks, is the possibility that CBS’s owner could again seek a merger with TNT owner Warner Bros. Discovery. CBS owns TV rights to the NFL—the ultimate TV beachfront property—through ’33 at a price of $2 billion per year. Don’t forget, the former Turner Sports showed NFL games on Sunday nights from 1990–97, splitting the package with ESPN. One of the main goals of legendary former Turner boss David Levy was always to win back NFL TV rights. Yes, it would be the bank shot of bank shots. CBS would have to agree to share some rights with TNT (the two networks already partner for NCAA March Madness). The league would have to approve. CBS and TNT would have to solve affiliate concerns, etc. But never say never, especially with more networks teaming up to slash costs.

Bob Thomson, the former Fox executive, told me: “I don’t know that the CBS/NFL agreement would allow for games to be shifted to cable, but I could certainly see alt-casts, simulcasts, etc. Especially when CBS has a big, mostly nationally distributed, game.” 

Sports media consultant Joe Favorito sees a possible lane here, too. “I think that the sublicensing to partners, especially when viewers are needed in large platforms to satisfy brand spends, should be common-sensical if that occurs,” he said. “As long as the consumer knows where to find the game—and the NFL does a better job than anyone at cross-promoting, and WBD has been innovators at creating unique viewing experiences—why would the NFL NOT want that to happen. Everyone wins.”


Michael McCarthy’s “Tuned In” column is at your fingertips every week with the latest insights and ongoings around sports media. If he hears it, you will, too.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Jul 27, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Injured Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) looks on from the bench during the first half of a basketball game against the Chicago Sky at United Center.

WNBA Ratings Rise 3% in 2025 Despite Clark’s Absence

Caitlin Clark played in just 13 of 44 regular-season games.
Sep 14, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd (24) gestures to a teammate after scoring against the Seattle Storm in the first quarter during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Aces Surge From Collapse to Contention With Dynasty at Stake

The turnaround started after a 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
Las Vegas Aces

WNBA Playoffs Face ESPN Fall Crunch For Final Time

The games will be spread across three networks next year.

Trump Push to End Quarterly Earnings Has Major Sports Ramifications

U.S. President Trump proposes moving to semi-annual reporting for public companies.

Featured Today

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 19: A detailed view of the MLB Debut patch on the jersey of Patrick Monteverde #44 of the Miami Marlins prior to game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 19, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Tiny Jersey Patch at the Center of the MLB Rookie Card..

Autographed cards containing a piece of baseball history have upended the market.
September 11, 2025

Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Rematch Could Set More NFL Ratings Records

Fox will nationally televise Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
September 10, 2025

ESPN’s ‘MNF’ Ratings Up 8% As NFL Surges to Strong Start

ESPN posts its second-best Week 1 “Monday Night Football” audience.
Sep 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills fans react during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium.
September 9, 2025

As Bills Ascend, Their Next Frontier Lies in Canada

Buffalo and the powerful Canadian entity MLSE come together in a new pact.

US Open Set Attendance Record, Men’s Final Ratings Surged 82%

Attendance and television viewership of the tennis major again reach historic levels.
exclusive
September 13, 2025

Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, Rob Dauster to Lead On3’s College Hoops..

Goodman previously worked for ESPN, CBS Sports, and Stadium.
September 15, 2025

Ken Rosenthal: I Apologized to Photog After Knocking Him Over

Rosenthal backpedaled into the photographer to avoid a Gatorade shower.
Sponsored

How World Series Champ Dexter Fowler Became a Premier League Team Owner

Dexter Fowler discusses navigating retirement and embracing new roles as an owner & investor.
September 13, 2025

YouTube’s Revised NFL Game Rating Still Has Fox, ESPN Execs Upset 

Adjusted viewership metrics from the streamer reignited debate about the game.
Mark Sanchez
September 12, 2025

Mark Sanchez On Fox ‘Rearview’ Show, Caleb Williams’s Slow Start

Sanchez spoke to FOS about his new Fox digital show.
opinion
September 12, 2025

19 Rising Stars in Sports Media

Who are sports media’s rising stars? Here’s an inside look.
September 11, 2025

Paramount-WBD Merger Would Create Sports Superpower

The companies’ combined sports offerings would rival ESPN.