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Despite record-setting attendance and television ratings, the WNBA reportedly still faces a $50 million loss for the 2024 season.
Caitlin Clark and a high-profile rookie class have led to incredible jumps in both ticket sales and television viewership.
According to the WNBA, more than half of all the WNBA games so far this season were sellouts, which is an increase of 156 percent compared to 2023. The arenas the WNBA teams are playing in have been filled to a 94 percent capacity, a 17 percent increase from 2023.
But even that isn’t enough to see the league dig out of the massive financial hole that it faces.
Ben Strauss of the Washington Post reports that the league is facing a $50 million on its balance for the 2024 season.
“This year, the WNBA and its teams are still expected to lose around $50 million, according to two people with knowledge of the figures, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the league’s finances,” Strauss wrote.
The NBA has spent several years subsidizing the WNBA, and continues to do so today.
“The truth is, this league would be hard-pressed to exist without the NBA,” a WNBA team executive told Strauss.
The NBA Also Takes A Sizable Loss On The WNBA Each Season
Strauss reports that the NBA holds around a 15 percent equity stake in the WNBA. NBA commissioner Adam Silvers says that the league loses around $10 million annually on the WNBA.
And the WNBA is spending an extra $25 million each of the next two seasons on chartered flights.
But the league is headed in the right direction. It recently announced expansion franchises in Toronto and the Bay Area, with talk of two more on the way.
It’s also on the precipe of agreeing to a new TV rights deal. The current deal is worth around $60M. Strauss claims that number could triple in the years to come.
Though the exact amount is determined by the NBA, who brokered the teal as part of its larger rights package and then supplies a cut to the WNBA.
So the league is clearly moving in the right direction. But it still has a long way to go.