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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe WNBA was projected to lose $40 million in 2024, according to reporting by Fortune. That figure is not established as a final audited result in the available sources. It can coexist with a season of sharp audience growth: higher viewership and attendance do not automatically translate into immediate profit, and the new media deal expected to bring in about $200 million a year was not due to start until 2026.
Did the WNBA actually lose $40 million in 2024?
The careful answer is that the WNBA and its teams were reported to be facing a projected $40 million loss for 2024—not that a final, audited $40 million loss has been verified. Fortune reported the projection on October 3, 2024. A later Atlantic account traced the figure to a New York Post report based on an unnamed source. Neither source provides audited financial statements confirming the final result.
The reported figure covers the league and its teams together. The available reporting does not allocate the projected loss between the league office and individual teams, identify an accounting method, or break down expenses. It should therefore be treated as a reported forecast, not a confirmed statement of what every team—or the league alone—lost.
How did a projected loss coexist with rising popularity?
Popularity measures activity and attention; they do not, on their own, show how much revenue the league or its teams retained or what it cost to operate. The WNBA’s own season recap documented large increases across television, attendance, merchandise and digital engagement, while the reported $40 million figure was a combined league-and-team financial projection.
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One important timing factor is media revenue. Fortune reported combined league-and-team revenue of $200 million in 2023. It also reported that a new media deal expected to be worth about $200 million annually would not begin until 2026. That future revenue was not yet part of 2024 operating conditions. The sources do not provide a full expense breakdown, so they do not establish precisely why the projected loss occurred.
What grew during the 2024 season?
The following figures are from the WNBA’s 2024 season announcement; they are league-reported measures, not audited financial results.
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| Measure | WNBA-reported 2024 result | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN-platform average viewership | 1.19 million, up 170% from 2023 | Average viewers on ESPN platforms, not all WNBA viewing |
| Unique viewers | More than 54 million | Unique viewers across the national networks listed by the league |
| Total attendance | 2,353,735, up 48% from 2023 | Fans attending games |
| Average attendance | 9,807 per game, up from 6,615 | Average fans at each game |
| Merchandise sales | Up 601% | Combined WNBAStore.com and New York flagship sales |
| Social video views | Nearly 2 billion | Views across the league’s social-media platforms |
| League Pass subscriptions | Up 366% year over year | Growth in WNBA League Pass subscriptions |
These measures describe different kinds of reach, and should not be treated as interchangeable. The 1.19 million figure is an average on ESPN platforms; the 54 million-plus figure is a unique-viewer total across the named national networks. Attendance counts people in arenas, while the merchandise and subscription figures concern separate commercial channels.
Nor does a rise in ticket sales or merchandise establish how much money the league itself retained. Fortune noted that ticket sales go to teams, while the reported loss combined the league and its teams. The available sources do not give a comparable breakdown of revenue retained by each party.
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What the numbers do—and do not—say about the league’s finances
Agent Allison Galer, founder of Disrupt the Game, told Fortune: “Every metric is up—except player compensation.” It is her characterization of the moment, not an audited accounting of every WNBA financial metric.
The 2024 figures support a clear distinction: the league reported substantial growth in audience and commercial activity, while secondary reporting described a projected combined loss. Those facts are not contradictory, but the available sources do not provide the financial detail needed to explain the projection line by line or confirm the final result.
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- Composite Pebbled Channels: Composite channels are pebbled instead of smooth, creating a consistent texture over the entire surface of the ball for unparalleled control
- WNBA Official: Wilson is the official basketball of the WNBA. This ball features official WNBA branding coupled with the iconic Wilson script
- Pure Feel Cover: Indoor/Outdoor pro-level feel and durability is great for play or collecting autographs
- Caitlin Clark Signature Series Official: Her Signature Series, personally designed and endorsed by the icon herself
Sources
- Fortune’s report on the projected loss, 2023 revenue and future media deal
- The Atlantic’s account of the reported figure’s origin
- The WNBA’s 2024 regular-season audience, attendance and engagement announcement
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