The WNBA is in the middle of an impressive period of growth. The Golden State Valkyries begin their inaugural season in the league on Friday night, and next year, Portland and Toronto will bring two new teams into the fold as well, with a franchise coming to Cleveland not far behind them.
These expansion franchises are coupled with record numbers for the league in attendance and television viewership. While everything is trending in a great direction for the WNBA, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert feels as if the positive momentum is just getting started.
Engelbert feels as if there’s a lot more broadcast revenue to be garnered in the near future.
“We’re not even done yet. That was our ‘tranche one’ deal … that was a $200 million (average annual value),” Engelbert said, according to Awful Announcing.
“And we were going in with about $40 (million),” Engelbert explained. “But by the time we’re done with tranche two, hopefully, we’re aiming to be (at) about $260 million over many years.”
Engelbert believes that the WNBA being tied to the NBA in its broadcast deals makes things very appealing, as the leagues primarily operate at different times of the year, aside from some slight overlap in early spring.
“We’re the only two leagues that can provide over 320 days of live programming to a streamer,” Engelbert said. “We’re a four-and-a-half-month season … and it’s not as interesting to a streamer who’s on a subscription plan with your subscribers every month. You need to provide year-round content, and that’s why that was an advantage.”
With the way things are trending, $60 million a year may be selling the WNBA short.
