The deal has ION carrying WNBA games on 15 Friday nights during the regular season, from May 26-Sept. 8Getty Images
Scripps landed its first sports rights deal by agreeing to carry WNBA games on Friday nights. The pact, which will be announced formally today, also marks the WNBA’s first broadcast deal. The deal is described as a multiyear agreement though specific financials have not been released yet. The WNBA will oversee production of all the games.
The deal has ION carrying WNBA games on 15 Friday nights during the regular season, from May 26-Sept. 8. Branded as the “WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION,” the broadcaster will use two Friday night windows, with some games made available nationally and others on a regional basis. The broadcaster plans to promote these games via its local stations, national networks, Scripps News and digital multicast network Bounce.
While this is Scripps’ first sports rights deal, it doesn’t look like it will be a one-off deal. Scripps is in active negotiations to pick up national rights from other sports leagues. It also is having conversations with several teams for their local rights. Scripps pitch is that it can offer national distribution via ION and local distribution via its local channels. Former ESPN execs Scott Guglielmino and Rob Temple have been consulting with Scripps for the past year and worked on the WNBA deal.
