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WNBA players don’t seem thrilled with their new media rights deal.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the WNBA will receive $2.2 billion over the next 11 years in its new media rights deal, which the NBA negotiated. $200 million/year is over three times more than the $60 million/year the WNBA was paid in its previous 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.
Despite the massive revenue jump, Terri Carmichael Jackson, the head of the WNBA Players Association, released a statement asking how the NBA came up with the $200 million valuation despite the league’s exponential growth.
“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.”
The WNBAPA appears to be getting ready to start negotiating their next CBA with the WNBA next year and things could get ugly.