A year ago, the WNBA signed an 11-year media rights deal with NBCUniversal (along with Disney and Amazon) that included a slate of games on its USA Network cable channel.
A few months later, NBCU announced plans to spin off USA Network and other cable assets into a separate company, eventually named Versant. With the pending spinoff, Versant has now signed its own deal with the WNBA to keep the league on USA.
Like NBCUniversal’s deal, Versant’s will run from 2026-36. It will also increase the number of games on USA to 50 per year — the language in the 2024 deal said all NBCU platforms would host about 50 regular-season games, split among NBC, Peacock and USA. The Versant deal will feature Wednesday doubleheaders during the regular season and some postseason games.
“We’re incredibly proud to expand our multi-year partnership with the WNBA,” said Matt Hong, head of sports at Versant. “USA Network will be a destination for WNBA viewers all season long, as we showcase the star power across the league in our marquee Wednesday night doubleheaders and build toward the intensity of the WNBA Playoffs and WNBA Finals.”
Added WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, “Partnering with Versant and USA Network marks another significant milestone for the WNBA’s continued growth. As demand for women’s basketball continues to rise, partnerships like this expand the visibility and accessibility of our game. By establishing a weekly primetime destination for fans, this agreement will showcase the excitement of the WNBA to more households than ever before and further elevate the incredible athletes in this league.”
Versant will make women’s sports a key part of its programming, having also signed a rights deal with the fledgling League One Volleyball. Golf Channel airs LPGA Tour events as well.
“Not all women’s sports are the same, but where there is some pattern recognition is that when our team looks at sports or leagues with high growth trajectories, like we spoke about with LOVB, quite a few of the sports in the leagues that we identify with high growth potential happen to be women’s sports,” Hong told The Hollywood Reporter after the League One deal was announced. “So that really drives our interest in this women’s sports strategy, and properties such as LOVB, the WNBA and the LPGA.”