The WNBA is experiencing another major moment in its rise, signing a groundbreaking 11-year media rights deal worth $2.2 billion.
This will give the league’s biggest stars, like A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu, a bigger platform and more nationally televised games.
The silver lining of the deal, which kicks in with the 2026 season, is that the league is open to signing other media rights deals beyond this agreement.
The WNBA has signed a contract with the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and NBC Universal.
More than 125 of the league’s regular season games will be broadcast between the league’s new media rights partners.
The WNBA has signed a groundbreaking media rights deal worth around $2.2 billion
Players like Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson will now have a bigger platform for their games.
As is typical with media rights deals, companies must re-evaluate the agreements, meaning the WNBA could make upwards of $2.2 billion from this deal going forward.
This will be especially true with the current growth of the league, thanks to players like Clark.
“The partnership with Disney, Amazon and NBCU marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history and clearly demonstrates the significant increase in value and historic level of interest in women’s basketball,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a press release.
“These agreements allow the league to continue building a long-term, sustainable growth model for the future of basketball and women’s sports that will benefit WNBA players, teams and fans,” Engelbert continued.
This media rights deal is set to expire in 2036, but will likely be renegotiated to last beyond the 11 years already agreed.
As part of the media rights agreements, Disney platforms will continue to stream all WNBA All-Star Weekend events, including the All-Star Game and WNBA Draft, while Prime Video will continue to stream the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game.
Prime Video Channels will be the global channel store destination for WNBA League Pass, the WNBA’s subscription service for streaming games live and on-demand.
