The WNBA has never been hotter than it is right now.
With the success rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have already produced in their first WNBA season, viewership and interest has skyrocketed.
Yet, that isn’t enough to keep ESPN interested in broadcasting the WNBA Finals.
Per a Wednesday report from Sports Media Watch, “ESPN president of content Burke Magnus said on the latest edition of the Richard Deitsch “Sports Media Podcast” that the network sees “upside” in having other broadcasters involved in carrying the WNBA Finals.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese look on during their game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 1, 2024.
© Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images
“He indicated that the Finals will continue to be “a component” of ESPN’s deal, but suggested that alternating years with other rightsholders would be ‘a good thing for the ultimate continued growth and development and interest in the league,’” the report wrote.
ESPN has held broadcasting rights to the WNBA Finals since 2003. It has also exclusively aired the entire WNBA playoffs since 2016.
While the Finals has not done well in terms of ratings historically, if Clark and/or Reese’s teams were to become Finals contenders in the next few seasons, the viewership would surely take a massive jump.
Therefore, ESPN’s plan to stop covering the WNBA Finals’ could make the series a hot commodity in the near future.
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