The WNBA is on track to lose 50 million this year

[kilroy69 1,268]

Despite the recent explosion of the popularity of the WNBA, led by stars including Caitlin Clark, the league is hemorrhaging money, with losses expected to rise to up to $50m this year, according to a report.

Popular players such as Clark, Angel Reese and Sue Bird, have all earned individual sponsorship deals off the back of their successes, though the WNBA still lags far behind other major US sports leagues in terms of revenue.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2018 that the WNBA had lost an average of more than $10m per year since its founding. Sources with knowledge of the figures, who spoke to The Washington Post anonymously, said that that loss was expected to increase five-fold by the end of 2024.

“The truth is, this league would be hard-pressed to exist without the NBA,” one WNBA team executive told The Post. The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the league’s finances.

Last year, the league was valued at between $180m and $200m, according to Bloomberg – a fraction of its male counterpart, the NBA, which earns more than $10bn.

 

Despite the growing popularity of the WNBA, backed by Caitlin Clark, the league is hemorrhaging money, with losses expected to rise to up to $50m this year, sources have said (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A deal over next year’s broadcast rights to the WNBA, currently valued around $60m, are under negotiation by the NBA, which owns 60 percent of the league.

Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal reported the deal for the NBA will be worth more than $7bn per year – but for both leagues. Value figures for the WNBA have not been assigned specifically, meaning the league’s rising popularity may not factor much into how much money it receives in the deal.

Several media executives have predicted that through the deal the WNBA could triple its annual rights revenue to somewhere between $180m and $200m. According to The Post however, the value of the rights will ultimately not be decided by media companies, but by the NBA.

“If you’re not getting a number from the media companies, then you are hanging on to the NBA,” Laura Gentile, an industry consultant and ESPN’s former chief marketing officer, told The Post.

 

Sources say that despite its growing popularity, the WNBA is set to lose up to $50m this year (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

“You’re saying it’s a rounding error in the grand scheme of business. Maybe that’s the case, but it doesn’t help the ecosystem grow. Women’s sports want accountability; they want their growth projections to matter.”

Some believe although the NBA may fairly recognize the increasing value and popularity of the women’s league, it will still be somewhat hamstrung by the ties.

“Even if the money is less, I would rather have independent money, because then you have a real business,” David Samson, the former president of MLB’s Miami Marlins, told The Post.

“If a media company says we value the WNBA at X, that’s a real value of what the WNBA’s rights are. Otherwise, it’s like buying social media followers: perceived value but not real.”

[Maximum Overkill 2,412]

The WNBA is on track to lose 50 million this year

How??? It's such an amazing product. 

[patweisers44 864]

Its amazing how they continue to jam this garbage down peoples throats. Sh1t product, bunch of unlikeable people.....

[kilroy69 1,268]

6 minutes ago, Maximum Overkill said:

The WNBA is on track to lose 50 million this year

How??? It's such an amazing product. 

Listen to this dummy talk. She lives in a  dream world where she wants 50 percent revenue sharing in a league that loses 50 mil a year.   33 percent of ALL attendance this year has been for Fever games. Imagine their books without her. They should just admit it is not the same as the NBA, lower the rims and play an entertaining brand of basketball. Maybe they would draw fans. 

[DonS 3,319]

They want "revenue" sharing?  Guess they'd better open up their checkbooks and pay the league back accordingly. 

[kilroy69 1,268]

Just now, DonS said:

They want "revenue" sharing?  Guess they'd better open up their checkbooks and pay the league back accordingly. 

Historically they lost 10 mil a year for a low end estimate of 300 million over the course of its history. Now it is losing 5 years worth of previous losses a year?  If the NBA did not view this as a charity case they would have folded 6 months into existence 

[TimHauck 3,294]

I could see still losing money but how is it 5x worse than prior years?  Clark has basically increased attendance for the entire league.   

[DonS 3,319]

Just now, TimHauck said:

I could see still losing money but how is it 5x worse than prior years?  Clark has basically increased attendance for the entire league.   

BIDENOMICS!!!!! 

 

[EternalShinyAndChrome 4,339]

But is all that loss really worth it to be so unattractive and ghey?  That's for the fan to decide.

[EternalShinyAndChrome 4,339]

As we found out in the Disney thread, losing millions and billions of dollars is actually "winning", so these gals are KILLING IT!!

#payThemTheSameAsMenProbablyMore

[Mike Honcho 5,414]

Compared to Twitter or Trump Media, the WNBA is a massive success.

[TimHauck 3,294]

4 minutes ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

As we found out in the Disney thread, losing millions and billions of dollars is actually "winning", so these gals are KILLING IT!!

#payThemTheSameAsMenProbablyMore

The WNBA is losing money.  Disney is not.

[TimHauck 3,294]

14 minutes ago, DonS said:

BIDENOMICS!!!!! 

 

True, I guess it could be largely driven by rent on the facilities or whatever

[kilroy69 1,268]

15 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I could see still losing money but how is it 5x worse than prior years?  Clark has basically increased attendance for the entire league.   

25 million of that is charter flights but still beyond that they are bleeding money 

[EternalShinyAndChrome 4,339]

3 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

The WNBA is losing money.  Disney is not.

See what I mean? 

I rest my case. 

[seafoam1 3,404]

Who focking cares besides mdcack and pimpledoosh?

[Strike 5,995]

39 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

Compared to Twitter or Trump Media, the WNBA is a massive success.

Didn't Trump make a boatload on the Trump media IPO?   <Charlie Sheen> WINNING!!!! </Charlie Sheen>

[IGotWorms 4,063]

So what?

I don’t watch the WNBA but I wish them success. Why wouldn’t I?

[Mike Honcho 5,414]

44 minutes ago, Strike said:

Didn't Trump make a boatload on the Trump media IPO?   <Charlie Sheen> WINNING!!!! </Charlie Sheen>

Trump  isn't the company, the company is losing money, and IRC, more than the WNBA.

[TimHauck 3,294]

1 hour ago, EternalShinyAndChrome said:

See what I mean? 

I rest my case. 

What I wrote is accurate. 

[TimHauck 3,294]

1 hour ago, kilroy69 said:

25 million of that is charter flights 

Due to inflation, or are they taking more?

[cmh6476 1,115]

I don't watch their championships when my team isn't in it

[kilroy69 1,268]

1 minute ago, TimHauck said:

Due to inflation, or are they taking more?

They had not done charter flights league wide till this year. that added 25 mil a year for the next 2 years. But still even though they lost an extra 25 mil? 

[Maximum Overkill 2,412]

2 hours ago, TimHauck said:

True, I guess it could be largely driven by rent on the facilities or whatever

Or crappy bush league Basketball  

[TimHauck 3,294]

4 minutes ago, Maximum Overkill said:

Or crappy bush league Basketball  

I’m talking about the comparison vs prior years.  The basketball appears to be more fan friendly due to Clark

[edjr 6,890]

they should be paid at least California minimum wage

[Maximum Overkill 2,412]

11 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I’m talking about the comparison vs prior years.  The basketball appears to be more fan friendly due to Clark

The media cares, not humans. 

[Cdub100 3,995]

3 hours ago, patweisers44 said:

Its amazing how they continue to jam this garbage down peoples throats. Sh1t product, bunch of unlikeable people.....

People will consume what they are given to consume.

[TimHauck 3,294]

2 hours ago, Maximum Overkill said:

The media cares, not humans. 

Attendance at games Clark plays in disagrees with you 

[SUXBNME 1,594]

2 hours ago, Cdub100 said:

People will consume what they are given to consume.

So true.  

[TimHauck 3,294]

4 minutes ago, SUXBNME said:

So true.  

Geek Club: lol no one watches the WNBA, they’re losing 50 million!!

also the Geek Club:  why do they keep pushing this garbage down our throats? People will consume what they are given to consume

 

[seafoam1 3,404]

5 hours ago, TimHauck said:

Geek Club: lol no one watches the WNBA, they’re losing 50 million!!

also the Geek Club:  why do they keep pushing this garbage down our throats? People will consume what they are given to consume

 

It's just something to be happy about that hopefully they fail and are out of sports news. 

[Maximum Overkill 2,412]

6 hours ago, TimHauck said:

Attendance at games Clark plays in disagrees with you 

Yet they're still losing a ton of money . 

How could that be? 

[listen2me 23 1,951]

11 hours ago, Mike Honcho said:

Compared to Twitter or Trump Media, the WNBA is a massive success.

Trump!

24/7

[TimHauck 3,294]

12 minutes ago, Maximum Overkill said:

Yet they're still losing a ton of money . 

How could that be? 

I don’t know, I basically asked the same question as it doesn’t make sense that they’d lose 5x more money than past years considering attendance and TV ratings are up significantly 

[Maximum Overkill 2,412]

6 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I don’t know, I basically asked the same question as it doesn’t make sense that they’d lose 5x more money than past years considering attendance and TV ratings are up significantly 

That's my point. Everyone here is saying how it's such a wonderful product yet nobody supports it. 

The payrolls are low, so what's the problem?? 

Perhaps the product isn't so wonderful after all. It's ok to say it, we don't have to pander just because it's women. 

[TimHauck 3,294]

1 minute ago, Maximum Overkill said:

That's my point. Everyone here is saying how it's such a wonderful product yet nobody supports it. 

More people are supporting it than past years

[Maximum Overkill 2,412]

1 minute ago, TimHauck said:

More people are supporting it than past years

It's not enough to sustain. At this rate they'll be shutting down the league in 5 years. The girls get paid like Home Depot employees. 

They want more money as it stands now. 

[Hardcore troubadour 15,911]

Maybe they should soften up their image? Turns out people don’t want to watch unattractive angry black lesbians.  

[TimHauck 3,294]

Maybe they should just sign only hot blondes and have them wear lingerie.

Oh yeah, football already tried that and no one watched that either.