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As the NBA moves to finalize its next media rights deal, the WNBA is set to cash in on a historic season. 

Why it matters: The interest and investment into women's sports does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. 

Stunning stat: Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor posted Wednesday that 15 games this season have averaged 1 million viewers. Before this season, he wrote, the WNBA hasn't had a game average 1 million viewers since the opening night of 2008.

State of play: Terms of the WNBA's next media rights deal, which are being negotiated in concert with the NBA, are beginning to come into focus. 

According to multiple reports, the WNBA will get $2.2 billion over 11 years from Disney, Amazon and Comcast — the same three that are close to landing NBA rights. 

That would amount to $200 million per year, more than three times the $60 million it currently gets from media partners Disney, Amazon, CBS and Ion. The WNBA is also expected to cut as many as two more media deals on its own that could total $60 million a year, according to The Athletic. 

Ion, the Scripps-owned broadcast network, appears to be a favorite for one of those.

"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," the company said in a statement. 

Zoom out: It's not just the WNBA. Investment in women's sports, particularly soccer, has exploded over the past couple of years.

The National Women's Soccer League signed a four-year $240 million TV rights deal last November.

Team valuations are at an all-time high. On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay bought Angel City FC in a deal valuing it at $250 million. 

Carlyle bought Seattle Reign FC from France's OL Groupe for $58 million.

WNBA to cash in with $2.2B TV deal amid historic season

Disney, Amazon and Comcast are close to landing the rights.

Illustration of a woman from behind with a dollar sign on the back of her sports jersey

Basketball

As the NBA moves to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="finalize" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/media-deals/2024/07/17/nba-tv-deal-wbd-amazon-matching-rights" data-vars-content-id="197f6814-bd13-4a5f-bd3c-7a8e712e4fae" data-vars-headline="WNBA to cash in with $2.2B TV deal amid historic season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/media-deals/2024/07/17/nba-tv-deal-wbd-amazon-matching-rights" target="_self">finalize</a> its next media rights deal, the WNBA is set to cash in on a historic season. Why it matters: The interest and investment into women&#x27;s sports does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.

WNBA to cash in with $2.2B TV deal amid historic season

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