WNBA expands USA deal, part of that network's Versant future
Published 9 days ago • 5 min read
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WNBA expands USA deal
WNBA and USA logos. (SportsLogos.net and Wikimedia.)
Last July, the Women's National Basketball Association revealed a key part of its 2026-2036 TV rights. That included renewals of its deals with ESPN/ABC parent Disney and Prime Video parent Amazon, plus a new deal with Comcast's NBCUniversal. (The league also has a national deal with Scripps Sports' ION, but that's a separate deal for a shorter term.) However, there's since been a notable change with one of those partners, as Comcast announced its plans to spin its cable networks off last November, putting them in a spinoff company since named Versant.
The initial WNBA/NBCU announcement last year had games set for some combination of NBC, Peacock, and USA. But while those former two services remain under the NBCU umbrella, USA is now part (perhaps the key part) of Versant, and it hasn't been fully clear what would happen with sports properties that had rights set to air with those now-separate companies. In the case of the WNBA, though, they and USA announced a deal Tuesday, which expands the package USA was already set to air. Here's more from the Versant release on that deal:
As part of the multi-year agreement which runs through 2036, USA Network will present at least 50 WNBA games annually, including coverage of the WNBA Playoffs and WNBA Finals games in select years beginning in 2026. The new agreement expands the game package that was to be distributed by USA Network under the WNBA’s historic national media deals signed in 2024.
“We’re incredibly proud to expand our multi-year partnership with the WNBA,” said Matt Hong, President of Sports, VERSANT. “USA Network will be a destination for WNBA viewers all season long, as we showcase the star power across the league in our marquee Wednesday night doubleheaders and build toward the intensity of the WNBA Playoffs and WNBA Finals.”
“Partnering with VERSANT and USA Network marks another significant milestone for the WNBA’s continued growth,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “As demand for women’s basketball continues to rise, partnerships like this expand the visibility and accessibility of our game. By establishing a weekly primetime destination for fans, this agreement will showcase the excitement of the WNBA to more households than ever before and further elevate the incredible athletes in this league.”
There are quite a few notable things in this deal. For one, this package will be anchored by Wednesday night doubleheaders, with those featuring dedicated pregame and postgame studio programming. (That's generally been taken for granted in major men's sports, but it's only been a recent part of coverage for leagues like the WNBA and NWSL, and it's an important one.) It's also helpful for the WNBA to have a dedicated night for these USA games; the league has its rights split across several partners, and there will certainly be some complaints about that from viewers, but dedicated nights for particular platforms are helpful in building a routine and minimizing "Where can I watch it?" questions. And USA will air at least 50 WNBA games annually, including WNBA playoff and Finals games in select years.
This also fits into the wider future of USA and Versant. Richard Deitsch of The Athletic cites a source saying that Versant is now paying more than NBCU for WNBA rights, which is interesting, but factors there likely include the amount of inventory on USA under this expanded deal and the premium (or, alternatively, lack of discount) price paid by companies that can't offer broadcast network distribution. But, as Jessica Golden of CNBC notes, there's a larger Versant sports strategy here. This month saw Versant strike a deal for League One women's volleyball (also Wednesday nights, earlier in the year than the WNBA), and last month saw them included in a NBCU/United States Golf Association renewal (in a somewhat similar split to this WNBA setup). And considering that Versant is headed by former NBC Sports executive Mark Lazarus, who's been very open about the key role sports is expected to play in the spinoff's strategy, it makes sense that they're continuing to add live rights.
Basic cable channels like Versant's USA and Warner Bros. Discovery's TBS and TNT are in a particularly interesting place at the moment. Unlike the likes of ESPN and FS1, these channels haven't been exclusively sports; indeed, sports programming there used to be more of the exception than the rule. But in a universe where most broadcasters have their own over-the-top streaming services, a lot of the viewing of non-sports programming (comedies, dramas, reality shows, game shows, documentaries, etc) has shifted to on-demand viewing via those OTT services. And that's led to more people going away from multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD: cable, satellite, or virtual MVPD) bundles, a trend that's only increasing now that cable bundle anchors ESPN and FS1 have also become available OTT. We've also seen distributors pushing back on carriage fees for channels that have much of their programming duplicated on OTT services.
Live sports rights perhaps represent a path forward for basic cable channels, at least for the moment. Along with news, sports stands out as an area where live viewing is still crucial. And for leagues, well-distributed basic cable channels still have significant reach, often much more than streaming services. They're also currently prompting less complaints from viewers, as many seem to view cable (or an equivalent MVPD package) as a necessary cost, but streaming services as an added one. How long that will be the case for can be debated, but at least for the moment, there are advantages for leagues like the WNBA in having significant numbers of games on basic cable versus streaming-only. And that's why we're seeing the likes of Versant and WBD emphasize sports on these basic cable channels.
For the WNBA, this also adds to the radically-increased interest its product has seen over the last few years. The league has done well to build on the wider interest in women's basketball at the college and pro levels, which has a lot to do with Caitlin Clark, but goes beyond her as well. And it makes sense for them to lock in even more national games while the iron is hot.
There's one further notable element there. For an expanded deal like this, the games have to come from somewhere. In this case, they're likely games that initially would only have been shown regionally or on out-of-market service League Pass. Emphasizing national over regional even more seems to fit with where sports is going, especially with the issues most regional sports networks have been and/or are facing, and that may be an approach adopted by other leagues down the road. (It certainly sounds like MLB may go more towards that in its next deals.) But it is a further shift, and a further potential blow for RSNs and out-of-market packages. And it adds to the interesting times we're living in with these distribution shifts.
Other sports media news and notes:
The MLB playoffs are underway, with four Wild Card Series games across ESPN and ABC today. Fox and TBS get into the action in the divisional round, which starts Saturday.
Prime Video has rolled out some further details on features for its upcoming NBA coverage, including fully-customizable multiview for League Pass and opt-in bet tracking with FanDuel.
The NFL has announced the broadcast details for Vikings-Browns from London Sunday, exclusive to NFL Network and NFL+. NFL Network is set to continue carrying seven games a season even under its acquisition by ESPN, but there will be some extra distribution there thanks to the ways NFLN/NFL+ content is getting rolled into new ESPN OTT packages.
