WNBA: On The Rise
A landmark moment in Women’s sports
By Adrienne Goodson
In its second decade, the WNBA continues to accomplish milestone after milestone. The league has reached an eight year agreement with ESPN to have ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2 televise games throughout the 2016 season. The agreement was announced during the 2007 All-Star Game by the WNBA President, Donna Orender and ESPN Executive Vice President of Content, John Skipper. The agreement extends the relationship to 20 seasons. ESPN began with the league in 1997, its inaugural season.
This is a major breakthrough for women’s sports because there in no female sport in history to ever have a television deal of this magnitude. “It demonstrates an incredible amount of commitment to the WNBA, by our partners at ESPN. They have not only shown commitment to the league but to women’s sports in general. This will allow us to have a 20 year relationship and I look forward to the nine more years”, said Donna with a koolaid smile and look of relief. Mr. Skipper immediately chimed in saying “We are thrilled to continue to be the WNBA’s media partner. This is an increased commitment from ESPN and ABC. We believe in the future of this league. We want to be a leader in women’s sports as a whole. We will work real hard to continue to grow the WNBA.”
The revenue will be shared throughout the league and distributed accordingly. The amount was not disclosed to the public. When asked by a journalist about how the revenue will be shared with the player, the room got quiet but Donna stated, “We are in talks with the teams and players union to prepare for the reopening of the CBA. We will come to an agreement in the near future.” I must say she handled that question very well.
Going back to that CBA article I wrote had me feeling like a few people wanted and expected me to ask a question but I didn’t. This wasn’t the time nor the place to stir up controversy. This was a great moment in women’s basketball and a major move on behalf of ESPN. The All-Star Game was a success, the league is in a state of financial security, more jobs will be created, and little girls all across the globe can aspire to be a WNBA player. Its great to see all of that pioneering pay off.
Here’s a link to the breakdown of the WNBA television partnership with ESPN:
Thank you ESPN for believing in us and to everyone who has been waiting to exhale, I’ll say this, One - Two - Three breathe………………….
22 Responses to “WNBA: On The Rise”
Jul.23 at 1:39 pm
shawn kemp jr. says:
Adrienne, good article. I watch the WNBA sometimes, although i never heard of you.
Jul.23 at 1:39 pm
shawn kemp jr. says:
Adrienne, good article. I watch the WNBA sometimes, although i never heard of you.
Jul.23 at 1:39 pm
shawn kemp jr. says:
Adrienne, good article. I watch the WNBA sometimes, although i never heard of you.
Jul.23 at 1:40 pm
shawn kemp jr. says:
aw i clicked submit to many times
Jul.23 at 2:00 pm
Cheryl says:
Excellent. Been waiting for ESPN to step up.
Jul.23 at 4:04 pm
Madtice says:
This is great news. I’m a coach of a girl team in The Netherlands, and it’s great I can show them that’s women can play on a professional level as well. The WNBA is a great example for my girls, and girls anywhere. This TV-contract is good news! I hope the WNBA will serve as an example for professional women’s competition all around the globe…
Jul.23 at 5:36 pm
Gerard Himself says:
Whoa, another dutch person on slamonline??
Jul.24 at 5:22 am
Chukaz says:
So, is the WNBA season still going?
Jul.24 at 7:58 am
Hisham says:
Hup Holland!
Jul.24 at 8:02 am
Shawn Kemp Jr says:
yes Chuckaz it is
Jul.24 at 8:02 am
Hisham says:
Madtice (matthijs?): My roommate coaches a womens team as well, and i know a girl on the dutch national team.. womens basketball is alright, and actually i think it would be good if more men (boys) would watch the womens game.. more fundamentally sound
Jul.24 at 6:52 pm
Chris O says:
ESPN’s just got to seat all the fans on one side of the arena for their games, make the place look more full than it is. College sports do that when they’re on tv. Maybe that’s just Canada though.
Jul.24 at 7:57 pm
Krys says:
This is great for the WNBA. This will allow the league to grow and expand. GO GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!
Jul.24 at 10:19 pm
Mushface says:
Hey good article…Thanks for the info and this will be an excellent opportunity to expand.
Jul.25 at 12:19 am
hoop says:
That’s great news for the league and for all WNBA fans around the globe! Big ups to ESPN/ABC and Donna O for getting this done!
Jul.26 at 6:55 pm
Suggie says:
ESPN had been promoting the women’s game long
before the WNBA and ABL started. I remember them bringing all those great Women’s College
games, I still remember watching you, Adrienne
when you played great ball at ODU.
ESPN, your AOK, in my book.
Jul.26 at 7:00 pm
Butch says:
I remember the reason I got cable in the first
place, was because ESPN was showing the great
women’s college games and you couldn’t get them
on reg. tv because they didn’t have ESPN.
ESPN shows you why they are a great sports network, and they deserve all of us women’s
basketball fans their support.
Jul.26 at 7:04 pm
Uknow11 says:
This is very good.Thank you Goody for the news. I’m glade that the WNBA will be seen more. This is great
Jul.30 at 2:11 pm
Tyler Murphy says:
The WNBA needs to pay the girls more money, cause the girls overseas that arn’t as good get paid more.
Aug.6 at 5:39 pm
Nathalie says:
does this mean i should come out for the wnba after next season??
Aug.15 at 9:07 pm
Saucy says:
Personally, I love the WNBA and the NBA. However, its clean up time for both organizations. The NBA has gone from courtside to courtrooms…and the WNBA doesn’t appeal to the average sport fan. Why? I think the league needs to use its younger standout players like Ivory Latta to get more people to care and pay attention to the sport. Plus - when men watch women play a sport they still want to see some sort of sex appeal. Take tennis for example. Men love to watch Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams play because they are beautiful and talented. It’s time for more cross promotion with WNBA players. Why not have one of them appear on a reality show as a judge or something? The key is promotion and better marketing. Kudos to ESPN for taking the first step in taking on 20 seasons of WNBA coverage!
Aug.22 at 8:12 am
peterparker says:
Another key issue is
The rules should be changed in order to promote on open style of play, defensive 3s, a charge line these ladies are so talented. It’s a shame that fans don’t get the opportunity to see the real talent night in and night out.