NBA and WNBA Rights Better Bundled, Says Silver

The rapid rise of the WNBA and stars like Caitlin Clark have fueled speculation that the women’s basketball league could pursue a separate media rights deal from the NBA. However, NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes there are compelling reasons for keeping the two leagues’ rights bundled together when renegotiating new TV contracts.

Speaking after the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting this week, Silver outlined several key advantages to an integrated media rights package:

Year-Round Content The NBA season spans around 260 days, while the WNBA covers approximately 60 days with minimal overlap. Together, they provide year-round basketball content - a valuable asset as streaming platforms like Amazon and Apple TV ramp up sports investments to reduce subscriber churn. The lack of an offseason was a factor in Netflix’s $5 billion WWE deal.

Promotion Synergies
“It’s in the leagues’ interest…the NBA promotes into the WNBA season and the WNBA promotes into the NBA [season], and we can all talk about basketball,” said Silver. An integrated deal allows cross-promotion between the NBA’s larger viewer base and the growing WNBA audience.

Shared Tech Investments Both leagues are investing in new technologies like AI, augmented reality and digital fan engagement platforms. Bundling rights lets them better leverage these joint investments across their combined inventory.

Heightened WNBA Interest “The interest is heightened from where it used to be and that’s wonderful to see,” noted Silver. The 2023 WNBA season was the league’s most-watched regular season in over 20 years and had its highest attendance in 13 years, buoyed by incoming stars like Caitlin Clark.

While Disney/ESPN carried both leagues last season, not all current broadcast partners overlap. The NBA also has an exclusive negotiating window with Warner Bros. Discovery/Turner. Silver said the decision on integrated rights would be a “collective choice” between the NBA and WNBA.

There are potential advantages to separate deals as well. A network that misses the NBA’s rights could be motivated to bid more aggressively for the WNBA’s package. And the growing WNBA fanbase could make a dedicated women’s sports network viable for part of those rights.

Ultimately, Silver feels the two leagues promote the same game. “If you can shoot, you can shoot. It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a boy,” he said, quoting WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu. “At the end of the day it’s the [same] game.”

An integrated NBA/WNBA rights package could create year-round promotional synergies and better leverage investments in emerging fan technology platforms across both leagues’ combined scale. But the WNBA’s rising popularity also gives it increasing bargaining power to potentially unlock new revenue streams.