It was an amazing year for the WNBA and the growth of women’s basketball. It all started with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the 2024 Draft class because of the notoriety of the players. New fans began watching after the class joined the league, and the increase in viewership substantially impacted league revenue. The historic season just ended with one of the most entertaining WNBA Finals in league history after a cinematic five-game series.
On the same day as the legendary game 1, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert revealed to the media a list of changes that will impact the league forever. She shocked reporters by revealing that starting in 2025, The WNBA Finals will become a best-of-seven series for the foreseeable future. Her second announcement was the extension of the regular season from 40 games to 44 games, and it was a great sign for the development of the league because fans will be able to watch longer seasons in the future.
Engelbert’s final announcement was the league’s expansion to Philadelphia, Nashville, and South Florida. All three states have NBA teams with the Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Miami Heat. A WNBA counterpart will have an amazing effect on these basketball communities. Giving little girls a chance to see women play professional basketball only continues to grow the game, and more cities will feel the positive effects very soon.
Toronto and Portland have already been announced, bringing the league to 14 teams since its inception in 1997. Engelbert has put the WNBA in a perfect position to flourish over the next decade, and the talent in the upcoming draft classes will cause a paradigm shift in the league. In the next calendar year, collegiate superstar Paige Bueckers will arrive, triggering another storyline that will have a massive impact on the league.
She has been in the limelight since her early high school years, and getting drafted will set her on a course for an inevitable rivalry with Clark. The two-point guards will defend each other for years and both of their massive fanbases will cause an influx in viewership during their matchups. While Bueckers and Clark face off in the league, hardcore fans will be awaiting the arrival of Judea Watkins, who just turned 19 years old in July.
Watkins is widely regarded as one of the greatest prospects in the history of WCBB. Being in the same era as Clark and Bueckers will have a profound effect on the league and trigger revolutionary storylines that will reshape the WNBA. All three of them are generational talents who arguably have the same level of potential and having players of this caliber in the same era is extremely rare.
Some of the biggest organizations in sports including Nike and Gatorade have signed them while 10+ year veterans have never reached their level of acclaim. In the new age of social media, they will attract more eyes than ever before. They appeal to longtime NBA viewers because of their flashy playstyles and unique personalities.
Of course, the league has always had outstanding talent since the beginning. Still, with all the technological advances in the league, the stars have aligned for the WNBA to experience a ‘golden era’ for the next half of the decade.
Their new 11-year TV rights deal with NBCUniversal features partnerships with Amazon Prime Video and Disney. The payout was $2.2 billion for $200 million per year, and any future agreements with more companies will increase their media deals to over $3 billion. Commissioner Engelbert cited the deal as a historic moment for the league and conveyed her excitement for the future.
“Partnering with Disney, Amazon, and NBCU marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history,” said Engelbert. “ (it) clearly demonstrates the significant rise in value and the historic level of interest in women's basketball."
Engelbert has done a phenomenal job in solidifying the future of the W and with their next generation of stars on the way, the league will continue to blossom. 2027, 2028, and 2029 will produce an extraordinary amount of talent as the next decade is about to begin. Stellar prospects like Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Sarah Strong, Madison Booker, Flau’Jae Johnson, Rori Harmon, and many more will be drafted to their respective teams, generating numerous storylines that will produce historic outcomes.
A new era will begin as we enter 2030 and beyond. The expansion teams will be fully solidified by then and more will be in development. Today's stars will be in their late 30s and bonafide legends will be retired. Clark, Bueckers, Watkins, and Reese will be the faces of the league as the next decade unfolds. Fans should get excited because we are about to witness a magical time in women’s basketball and it's only getting started.
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