"No excuse to undervalue WNBA again": WNBPA's Terri Jackson calls out NBA's WNBA valuation amidst new $2.2B TV deal

The NBA has agreed to a new media rights deal for the WNBA, which is reportedly worth $2.2 billion for the next 11 years, according to The Athletic. However, Terri Jackson, the executive director of the Women's National Basketball Players Association, has called out the NBA after the new deal.

The new deal will reportedly pay almost $200 million to WNBA annually for the next 11 years. This is almost four times bigger than the past deal, which was $50 million. Jackson questioned the NBA's decision to agree to a $2.2 billion deal for the league.

“We have wondered for months how the NBA would value the WNBA in its media rights deal," Jackson said to The Athletic. "With a reportedly $75 billion deal on the table, the league is in control of its own destiny. More precisely, the NBA controls the destiny of the WNBA. We look forward to learning how the NBA arrived at a $200 million valuation—if initial reports are accurate or even close.

“Neither the NBA nor the WNBA can deny that in the last few years, we have seen unprecedented growth across all metrics, the players continue to demonstrate their commitment to building the brand, and that the fans keep showing up. There is no excuse to undervalue the WNBA again.”

Currently, the league has only 12 teams, and the 13th team, Golden State Valkyrie, will be added next year, followed by a team in Toronto. With 18 teams less than the NBA, women's basketball doesn't have many jobs available, especially for the players.

According to Front Office Sports, the current salary of the WNBA players ranges from $64,000 to $252,000. With the new deal and the seats being sold out amidst the influx of fans to watch women's basketball, the league and teams will have a higher amount to spend on players and infrastructure.

How is NBA's new media rights deal different from WNBA

Along with negotiating a new deal for the WNBA, the NBA agreed to a deal for itself. According to The Athletic, the league has agreed to a $76 billion media rights deal for the next 11 years with Amazon, ESPN and NBC.

NBC and Amazon are new entrants in the new deal, which may leave TNT out. Only ESPN has retained its media rights deal with the league. The new deal is almost four times more than the previous one annually paid to the NBA. The previous media rights deal paid $2.7 billion annually to the league.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN and NBC, while Amazon will have the streaming rights.

The media rights deal of the WNBA is different only in terms of capital. The broadcasting and streaming rights will be with the same members.