Not even Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese may be able to save WNBA: Why are they losing money?

It will be a while before the league may see profits.

Angel Reese (left) and Caitlin Clark (right).

At this moment, the WNBA is arguably at its highest point ever. The league is littered with talented players, and new stars continue to enter the league, bringing along plenty of new fans who have followed them from college. That is especially true with the 2024 draft class, which featured Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese and more.

With so many stars and recognizable faces, WNBA executives are hopeful for the future. Despite that, not everyone with investment stakes in the league is overly thrilled. The reason? The WNBA is operating at a loss and expected to lose $40 million by the end of this season, according to a report from the New York Post.

Given that a large percentage of WNBA franchises are at least partly owned by NBA owners, those same owners are patiently waiting to see a return on investment that hasn’t come yet.

The WNBA owes the NBA so much we won’t see any windfall for years. We are not even getting any money from WNBA expansion fees… There’s a bunch of owners who see [New York Knicks owner James] Dolan as their hero for pressing [NBA Commissioner Adam] Silver on these questions but Silver is not giving us any answers.

Dolan and other NBA owners appear to want more clarity and honest from Silver when it comes to the numbers. They want to see some profit, but it sounds like Silver doesn’t know when it will happen.

2024 WNBA Finals breaking viewership records

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though. Despite the likes of Clark, Reese, A’ja Wilson and other household names not taking part in the final series of the season, this year’s WNBA Finals has been crushing in terms of viewership numbers.

That will continue to be the case as the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx prepare for a do-or-die Game 5 on Sunday night. There is also a massive media rights deal starting in 2026 that should infuse about $2.2 billion over 11 years.