Breanna Stewart, #30 of the New York Liberty, dribbles the ball in opposition to Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, within the fourth quarter throughout Sport Three of the WNBA Finals at Goal Heart in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Oct. 16, 2024.
David Berding | Getty Photos
Versant has signed a brand new 11-year media cope with the Girls’s Nationwide Basketball Affiliation, the corporate introduced Tuesday.
The settlement kicks off for the 2026 season and consists of at the very least 50 WNBA video games yearly and parts of playoff and finals video games throughout choose years, the corporate stated.
Versant, the dad or mum firm of cable networks and types quickly to be spun off from Comcast, has been quickly buying sports activities rights and diving deeper into girls’s sports activities specifically.
The newest settlement expands upon a earlier bundle between the WNBA and Versant’s USA Community signed in 2024. The protection will embrace Wednesday evening double-headers, a devoted pregame present and a postgame studio present.
“We’re extremely proud to broaden our multi-year partnership with the WNBA,” stated Matt Hong, president of sports activities for Versant. “USA Community can be a vacation spot for WNBA viewers all season lengthy, as we showcase the star energy throughout the league.”
For the WNBA, at the moment in its twenty ninth season, the deal comes amid record-breaking tv viewership, attendance, merchandise gross sales and crew valuations.
“As demand for ladies’s basketball continues to rise, partnerships like this broaden the visibility and accessibility of our sport,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated in an announcement.
The league signed an 11-year media rights cope with Disney, Amazon and Comcast-owned NBCUniversal final July as a part of the NBA’s media rights negotiation. The WNBA’s deal is valued at about $200 million per yr, CNBC beforehand reported. It additionally signed a brand new media cope with Scripps’ Ion in June.
Versant stated manufacturing particulars, together with studio commentary groups, can be introduced within the coming months.
The brand new WNBA deal will imply that for eight months out of the yr, girls’s sports activities can be broadcast reside on USA Community.
Earlier this month, Versant struck a multiyear deal with League One Volleyball to broadcast primetime video games on Wednesday nights. In August, the corporate signed a deal to prolong its rights with the U.S. Golf Affiliation, price $93 million yearly, in accordance with an individual acquainted with the deal who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate phrases of the deal.
Versant additionally holds quite a few golf rights by way of the Golf Channel, along with rights throughout Premier League soccer, WWE, NASCAR, Atlantic 10 faculty basketball protection and the Olympics.
“We’re on the lookout for sports activities offers that drive distribution, diversify advert gross sales and have a worth,” Versant CEO Mark Lazarus advised CNBC in Might.
Disclosure: Comcast is the dad or mum firm of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would grow to be the brand new dad or mum firm of CNBC upon Comcast’s deliberate spinoff of Versant.
