Minnesota Lynx No. 24 Napheesa Collier plays against the New York Liberty during Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on October 10, 2024 Score the winning shot in the team’s game.
Nathaniel S. Butler | Nathaniel S. Butler National Basketball Association | Getty Images
Warner Bros. Discovery Make sure professional basketball will stay on TNT Sports.
Uncivaled, the new upcoming professional women’s basketball league, has signed an exclusive, multi-year media rights agreement to broadcast its games on TNT and truTV, as well as on streaming platform Max. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The three-on-three league was co-founded earlier this year by WNBA star Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Nafessa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx as the popularity of women’s sports, especially basketball, grows.
Rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have given the WNBA a boost this season, with regular-season attendance and ratings increasing significantly. This has continued into the playoffs and most recently the Finals, in which both Collier and Stewart participated. This has even led to changes in the WNBA’s season next year, with the number of games expanding from 40 to 44 and the Finals series expanding from 5 to 7 games.
Unrivaled will operate in the new format during the first few months of the WNBA season, giving athletes another option to play basketball in the United States during the offseason without having to travel overseas. It will also provide players with equity in the new league and the opportunity for a contract with the highest average salary in the history of a women’s professional sports league.
Reese and other top WNBA players have confirmed they will join Stewart and Collier in the new league.
Beginning January 17, more than 45 prime-time regular season games will be broadcast on the TNT Sports platform this season. Games will air three nights a week on the TNT Sports platform, with two games a week on TNT on Mondays and Fridays and an additional broadcast on truTV on Saturdays, according to a press release.
Unparalleled highlights and other content will also be available on other TNT platforms such as Bleacher Report and House of Excellence.
Unlike other sports leagues, Unrivaled’s games will only air on TNT Sports rather than having multiple partners.
“I think consistency is key for us. If you build a consistent home court, the fans will know where to go,” Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said. “The second aspect is you want to work with people who want to tell stories outside of the game and help drive that forward. So their Bleacher Report and House of Highlights…are very good for us. valuable.
As interest in the WNBA grows, the league’s recent 11-season media rights deal is worth up to $2.2 billion, according to a previous CNBC report. The WNBA’s media rights agreement was negotiated as part of the NBA agreement.
The NBA recently signed an 11-year, $77 billion media rights agreement with Amazon, Disney-owned ESPN and Comcast-owned NBCUniversal that will begin in the 2025-2026 season, ending its relationship with Warner Bros. A nearly 40-year partnership with NA Sports. Warner Bros. Discovery has sued the NBA to defend its rights.
The media rights agreement with Unrivaled gives Turner Sports the opportunity to continue airing basketball games if the lawsuit is unsuccessful.
Unrivaled and TNT Sports will work with Mediapro North America on audio and television production.
Star broadcaster and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently said he would not leave TNT Sports even if it no longer owns NBA media rights in the future. Barkley is part of TNT Sports’ popular “Inside the NBA.”
Spokespeople for Turner and Unrivaled said TNT Sports will develop pregame, postgame and other studio content, but specific talent has yet to be determined.
TNT Sports recently expanded its lineup (which already includes Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League) to include a handful of sporting events like the College Football Playoff and French Open.
Star investor lineup
The new league has a popular lineup of investors, which now also includes TNT Sports.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Unrivaled said it “provides continued stability and financial security for all participants and stakeholders until at least 2028.”
When Unrivaled was announced earlier this year, it had just closed a seed funding round from investors including media executives such as former ESPN president John Skipper, former Turner president David Levy and former Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff. Investors also include athletes such as former NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony and others through a venture capital firm led by Alex Morgan. recently retired Star and captain of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team.
Levy made the investment through his Horizon Sports & Experiences, while Skipper spearheaded media rights discussions.
TNT Sports has also agreed to invest an undisclosed amount in Unrivaled’s latest funding round, which is expected to close in the coming weeks.
The investment is in line with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s interest in pursuing sports deals that include ownership of intellectual property rights, CNBC reported earlier.
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