WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert excited about league's new media rights deal
PHOENIX (AP) — The WNBA has the framework in place for a $2.2 billion, 11-year media rights deal as part of the NBA's massive, recently approved deal.
WNBA players union executive director Terri Jackson has expressed concerns about the league being undervalued in the NBA's $76 billion deal approved by its board of governors earlier this week, but Commissioner Cathy Engelbert believes all sides will be happy once it's completed.
“I think we’re going to do something historic,” Engelbert said just before the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday night. “Once we’re able to finalize those media deals, I think everybody is going to understand that this is a historic time for women’s sports and the WNBA will be leading that."
The players union may not be thrilled with the valuation of the WNBA's next media rights deal, but it is a huge leap from the previous package.
The WNBA’s current media deal is valued at about $60 million per year and is set to expire after the 2025 season. The NBA, which owns about 60% of the WNBA, has negotiated the new deals.
The WNBA has seen strong growth in recent years and it has skyrocketed this year with the additions of rookies Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink.
“We’ve been preparing for this for several years,” Engelbert said. “We did a lot of work leading up to this on what media partners were looking for, what we needed to do three years ago, two years ago, last year to get our eyes on our game and fans in our seats in order to have the narrative around being a historic league at this time.”
Schedule expansion
The addition of the Golden State Valkyries will give the WNBA 13 teams and a chance to expand the league schedule.
The collective bargaining agreement allows the WNBA to stretch its schedule to 44 games per game and Engelbert said the league is looking at its options for next season with the Valkyries coming onboard.
“We’re looking at the footprint for next year,” she said. “One of the reasons we’re looking at that footprint is we don’t have an international competition like the FIBA World Cup or the Olympics next year. So we’ll be able to look at our footprint without any now any interruption or break, like we’re breaking this year.”
Expansion draft
The addition of Golden State to the league also means there will be an expansion draft, though Englebert said the league is still working out the details.
“It’ll occur most likely in December of this year because we need to do it,” she said. “And then we have the draft lottery and then the NCAA season concludes and then we have our draft. Our teams are aware. We’ll make final decisions and make those announcements in the coming months.”
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