14 May, 2024

WNBA chief growth officer talks ad sales, audience growth in Caitlin Clark era

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The Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark plays against the Dallas Wings during a pre-season game.
Source: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Sport via Getty Images.

➤ The WNBA is expecting the current season, opening May 14, to be its most-watched on record.

➤ The WNBA's audience composition is moving toward gender equity, attracting more women and diverse viewers than historical sports broadcasts.

➤ The league enters the 2024 season with 43 sponsors, a roster that will continue to grow with interest from an array of potential partners.

Interest in women's sports is soaring. Fans, media outlets and advertisers are recognizing that women's sports — whether it be basketball, soccer, softball, gymnastics volleyball or tennis — is a movement, not a moment. Interest has been spurred greatly by Caitlin Clark, the former Iowa basketball star, who helped net a slew of women's viewership records. National media partners ESPN (US), ABC (US), ION (US), Prime Video and CBS (US)/CBS Sports Network (US) will air 36 of Clark's WNBA team's regular-season games nationally.

S&P Global Market Intelligence recently caught up with WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison to talk about what she calls "the league's most highly anticipated season ever." An edited transcript follows.

S&P Global Market Intelligence: Can you assess viewership from last season, which saw ION come in with the doubleheaders and ESPN/ABC finish up strong? This season CBS will broadcast eight games.

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WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison.
Source: WNBA.

Colie Edison: We had our most-watched postseason in 16 years and our most-watched regular season in 21 years. Entering this season, the momentum is super high. We're coming off the most-watched NCAA championship game with 18 million-plus viewers. Viewership of the WNBA draft peaked at 3 million; it was our most-watched draft ever.

The momentum is there, the time is right. I think I can positively say this will be our most-watched season to date.

How important is scheduling consistency? Die-hard fans already know where/when to watch the games. Casual fans, not so much.

It's all about making it easy to be a WNBA fan, and appointment viewing does just that. Thursday games are on Prime Video. The Friday night doubleheaders are on ION. Weekends are on the Disney networks. Big Sunday games are on CBS this season. We also have streaming access on Paramount+, and now, the first live sports on Disney+ ever. The May 14 opening night games — Indiana-Connecticut and Phoenix-Las Vegas — will be on Disney+, ESPN2 (US), ESPN Deportes (US) and ESPN+. It's all about access, and access is of the utmost importance.

Can you talk about the WNBA's audience composition?

When it comes to [sports] broadcasts of any kind, it's going to be predominantly an older, male audience. Our draft averaged 2.4 million viewers. It was our most diverse ever and had the most women, over 1 million, ever. We're moving more toward equity; we're moving in the right direction. Title IX has been around for 50 years. Our rookies have been able to watch the WNBA as long as they have been alive. That wasn't the case for previous generations. If you can see it, you can be it. We want the youth of America, both girls and boys, to have players to identify with.

How many league sponsors for the 2024 season?

We're starting the season with 43 sponsors and probably will announce more over the course of the season. I've been fielding lots of phone calls from partners and potential partners, from brands that are not endemic to basketball, from brands that have not yet been part of the sports space and see the WNBA as a great way to get in. They want to be part of the WNBA not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the right thing to do for their business.

WNBA players are authentic in their brand messaging and are intentional about the brands they choose to partner with.

Talk about your Changemakers program. It aims to elevate and economically empower underrepresented groups through the power of sports in collaboration with the league and its players.

This year's focus is keeping girls involved in sports because they drop out at two times the rate of boys by age 14. We're partnering with mentorship platform VoiceInSport. An athlete from each of our teams is going to engage with youth interested in sports and mentorship opportunities not just on the court, but with their mental and physical well-being in mind. We want to develop more diverse leaders on and off the court.

The WNBA plays largely in the summer when the sports calendar is lighter. But as you get to your postseason in September, the NFL and college football are back and grabbing audiences. Has there been thought to modify its schedule?

We really appreciate the season in which we play. The WNBA has been able to command great windows through our media partners because of the availability of windows. It's not really for me to say if they would ever be moved.

There is a new team coming on board with the Golden State Warriors next season, and there is more expansion on the way.

Golden State is going to be a great market. An amazing stat: We had higher viewership numbers in the Bay Area for the WNBA without having a team there. We know demand is strong in that community and there will be great opportunities for partnership and with media. We're looking forward to bringing them in the 2025 season and more over the course of the next several years as we expand out to 16 teams. [Editor's note: It was announced after this conversation that Toronto will become home to the league's first international team, tipping with the 2026 season.]

There are changing dynamics in the regional sports network arena. Some NBA and NHL teams have inked local rights deals with local broadcast stations. The New York Liberty, the Atlanta Dream and Indiana Fever have moved in that direction. Your thoughts?

As I said, we want it to be easier to become a WNBA fan. If our teams are on board in going that way, that's great.

Can you talk about the WNBA national rights negotiations? They're being conducted in conjunction with the NBA?

Our approach to the rights negotiations in working with the NBA is doing what is best for the WNBA. That will win out. Will that mean coupling with the NBA or decoupling with the NBA? What's best for the WNBA is the direction we'll head in.

Looking at the newcomers, you've got Iowa's Caitlin Clark, LSU's Angel Reese, Stanford's Cameron Brink. The Las Vegas Aces are looking to three-peat as champions. Your sense for on-court dynamics this season?

The best basketball we've seen. Our product on the court has never been better. You've seen a record number of triple-doubles. The Aces two-peated last year. We're seeing a generational group of players enter the league at the right time. A record number of tickets have been sold. Games are being moved from smaller to larger arenas. We're here to meet the demand and are ready to do so. All signs point to this being the most successful WNBA season ever.