The WNBA Ripped For Taking ‘Lowball’ $200 Million/Year Media Rights Deal By Women’s Basketball Legend

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Women’s basketball legend Cheryl Miller is not happy with the WNBA’s new media rights deal.

Last week, it was reported that the WNBA had signed a historic $2.2 billion media rights deal that would last for 11 years. The deal was negotiated by the NBA and is a major jump from the WNBA’s current $60 million/year media rights deal.

Via The Athletic

The WNBA’s next national media rights package has come into shape. The league is set to receive roughly $2.2 billion over the next 11 years in rights fees in its new deals — an average of $200 million a year — with an opening to earn more over that period, according to league sources briefed on the contracts.

The NBA negotiated the WNBA’s new deals during its just-completed rights talks, where it reached an agreement with Disney, NBC and Amazon on an 11-year, approximately $75 billion set of contracts. The WNBA’s national media rights agreements are with those companies as well; ESPN, NBC and Amazon will all have their own WNBA packages.

The WNBA Players Association criticized the deal because they felt it undervalued the WNBA in the long term.

“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.”

Women’s basketball legend Cheryl Miller agreed with the WNBAPA’s stance and felt the WNBA got a “lowball” deal.

“I’m not great with numbers,” Miller told reporters in Phoenix. “That’s a lowball.” “We need tough and fair negotiators and visionaries,” Miller said. “And we need a bully, we need a bully behind the table that’s willing to say we’ll break up the pieces and go from there. But there’s a certain number bigger than 2 that we want.”