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The WNBA just agreed to a record-setting $2.2 billion media rights deal that could well help lift the league to mainstream status.
But not everybody is a fan of the deal, including women’s basketball legend Cheryl Miller.
Now Bill Simmons suggests that a new league could form in the coming years and challenge the WNBA should a labor strike occur.
“It’s gonna lead to a labor strike is what’s gonna happen,” Simmons said on his podcast with The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson after Thompson pointed out that average WNBA viewership is not far off NBA numbers.
Thompson also noted that in games between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, the ratings often eclipses those of the NBA.
“That’s where we’re headed in the next two years,” Simmons continued. “The thing that I think is gonna happen is I think somebody is gonna try to form an alternate league. Cause it’s not like all of these WNBA players are tied to their teams forever.”
Players often go overseas to play in foreign leagues during the WNBA offseason. And the WNBA salary cap looks set to stagnate despite growing revenue.
Bill Simmoms Might Be Onto Something With WNBA Theory
So Thompson, like Simmons, wonders if we a labor strike isn’t just around the corner.
“If I’m part of a company and I know that I am just as successful and just as lucrative as an employee at some other company who’s making 35 times more than me, why in the world would I stick with that company?” Thompson asked, rhetorically. “It doesn’t make any sense. Of course something is going to happen.”
WNBA Players Association head Terri Carmichael Jackson recently expressed skepticism over the new media rights deal.
“We have wondered for months how the NBA would value the WNBA in its media rights deal. With a reportedly $75 billion deal on the table, the league is in control of its own destiny. More precisely, the NBA controls the destiny of the WNBA. We look forward to learning how the NBA arrived at a $200 million valuation—if initial reports are accurate or even close.
“Neither the NBA nor the WNBA can deny that in the last few years, we have seen unprecedented growth across all metrics, the players continue to demonstrate their commitment to building the brand, and that the fans keep showing up. There is no excuse to undervalue the WNBA again.”
Could Simmons be onto something here? It doesn’t feel like he’s far off track