The WNBA isn’t quite done making deals. That’s according to Front Office Sports, who reports that the league is getting closer to selling two additional rights packages after finalizing deals with NBCUniversal, Amazon and Disney in late July. The three packages already sold will fetch $200 million per year, and if it sells the other two packages it can make more than $260 million each season over the 11-year lifetime of the contracts.

Key Details:

• FOS reports that CBS and ION, who already hold WNBA rights packages, are the two most likely to get the outstanding game parcels in the new deal.
• The new WNBA deals take hold after the 2025 season.
• The WNBA has discussed negotiating rights deals on its own but is sticking with the NBA in joint negotiations for now.

In its deals with Amazon, Disney, and NBC which take hold after the 2025 season, the WNBA still has the right to sell up to two more rights packages. FOS reports that CBS and Scripps are the most likely winners of these packages, as each currently holds a parcel of WNBA games. Scripps airs games on ION, while CBS puts them on its flagship broadcast station, CBS Sports Network and Paramount+.

“Scripps Sports is proud of our involvement, investment, and commitment to the WNBA and its growth,” Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor told FOS. “We believe we are an important part of the visibility of the league and hope to be able to continue serving WNBA audiences with appointment TV on Friday nights on Ion for many years to come.”

Outside of those packages, starting in 2026 WNBA games will air on NBC, Peacock, ESPN, ABC, and the new ESPN streaming platform that’s due to launch in 2025, and Prime Video. If the two outstanding rights bundles are sold, the WNBA could make as much as $3 billion over the 11 years of its deals with these broadcasters.

Will the WNBA Try to Go It Alone Next Time?

The WNBA still negotiates its rights deals jointly with the NBA, though it had the option to split off from that league and make deals on its own if it chose. This time, the league decided to stick with the NBA, which secured a deal worth $76 billion over the course of its lifetime from Disney, Amazon, and NBC.

“There’s no other set of two sports leagues that can offer that live programming and sports to a streamer like that,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in April. “I would say probably in that case we need the NBA because we have a smaller footprint with only 40 games, and it’s nice to go to market together.”

When the new WNBA TV deals expire, however, it may be time for the league to split off from the NBA and seek out deals of its own, in order to potentially make more money. Ratings for women’s basketball are continuing to climb thanks to the addition of dynamic rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, and if they stay on the same trajectory it could be time to move past the idea that the WNBA cannot stand on its own in negotiations.

“For the long-term health and viability of the players and the league … there needs to be more independent, dedicated ownership,” Atlanta Dream managing partner Larry Gottesdiener told FOS in October.