Disney is calling “bank” on its advertising shot for the upcoming WNBA Finals. The Mouse House, which has the broadcast rights to the highly anticipated tournament, is seeking CPMs, or the cost to reach 1,000 viewers, of $180 for the final round of the playoffs, according to sports advertising executives familiar with Disney’s pitch.

The ad rates are higher than the average NFL game, which can cost about $55 to $75 for a thousand viewers, one of the ad execs told Ad Age, speaking on condition of anonymity. And the WNBA Finals rates are far higher than Netflix’s initial ask of advertisers when it launched its ad-supported tier in 2022. The streamer was looking for $60-plus CPMs, which at the time caused some sticker shock. A Disney spokesperson declined to comment on pricing. 

For WNBA advertisers the only wild card, however, is Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever rookie who has been a ratings multiplier for the league. Clark and the Fever are definitely playing at the start of the tournament, which begins Sunday, making the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but they are not favorites to advance much farther than that. Disney is making a bet that even if the young star is unlikely to make the WNBA Finals, the ascendant league is still must-buy TV. “They’re effectively sold out to the Finals, and then they're charging a significant rate,” the sports advertising executive, who represents major brands, said. “It’s unlikely, I would say, that Caitlin Clark makes it to the Finals, that said, they priced it for Caitlin Clark, essentially.” For those brands who got in early enough, however, the ad executive said rates were lower, around $80 CPMs.

Disney, which owns ABC and ESPN, has found itself in a good position with the WNBA Playoffs. Clark, who has set about as many viewership records as basketball records this year, is guaranteed at least two playoff games with the Fever in the first round, a best-of-three series. A deep playoff run for the Fever would certainly amplify attention on the tournament. But even if Clark’s team gets bounced early, Disney is counting on interest remaining strong, since the WNBA has attained new levels of cultural relevance over the past several years. The revenue Disney derives from the WNBA is surging, too—up 182% year over year during the regular season, and up 418% year over year for its Playoffs sponsorship haul, Disney told Ad Age. In fact, since 2022, Disney’s WNBA revenue increased 641%, according to the company.

“We’re essentially sold out of postseason,” said Jim Minnich, senior VP, revenue and yield management for Disney. “And that's not just Caitlin Clark, that’s the entire league, and we’re seeing demand go through the roof.”

“I mean, even next season, we’re probably close to 85% sold already,” Minnich said. “So we are operating at much higher demand than even the supply is growing.”

Brands off the bench

The amount of ad inventory from WNBA programming is up triple digits, Minnich said, and more games are moving from ESPN’s smaller cable channels to more prominent positions on the sports network and on ABC. The number of advertisers for WNBA has grown more than 60% since last year, Minnich said, hitting nearly 150 advertisers in categories including cars, home goods, insurance, cruise ship travel and computer software. In July, Disney re-upped its deal with WNBA through the 2036 season, but more networks and streamers also got rights, including NBCUniversal and Amazon. The broadcast and streaming deals deliver $200 million a year to the league, according to reports.

The ad rates are rising commensurate with the interest, according to Minnich. CPMs grew “triple-digits” on a percentage basis this year compared to last year, Minnich said. 

The league had plenty of storylines and star-power to appeal to fans this year. The WNBA is coming off an Olympics that fell smack in the middle of the season, promoting some of its biggest players on the world stage. The playoffs will feature other popular teams besides the Fever, including the New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces and Minnesota Lynx. In general, there is just more conversation and fandom following the sport. For perspective, the WNBA All-Star game reached 850,000 viewers on ABC in 2023, and this year, ratings for the game hit 3.4 million viewers. Sports watchers are likening this moment in WNBA’s growth to other sea changes, such as in the early 1980s in the NBA, when new stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird brought a new energy to the league. Others have compared Clark’s effect on the WNBA to Tiger Woods entering the PGA.

Also read: Inside the world of women’s sports marketing

With more attention though, does come more scrutiny. The WNBA is getting more coverage across ESPN and sports talk programming. Players and teams are being analyzed and discussed on social media more often. There are debates about which stars are most marketable—the types of conversations that accompany all sports in year-round media cycles.

Clark, however, seems to have a gravitational pull all on her own. As of last week, the WNBA’s top 10 most-viewed games this year all featured Clark and the Indiana Fever, according to website Sportsnaut, which tracked publicly available ratings. Last year’s WNBA Finals, featuring the Aces and Liberty, averaged 728,000 viewers on ABC and ESPN. The highest rated game of last season, besides the All-Star Game, was game four of the WNBA Finals, with an average of 889,000 viewers. This year, a mid-summer, regular season game between Fever and the Chicago Sky was the highest rated, so far, with 2.3 million average viewers on ESPN.

This year, the WNBA’s regular season ratings, across all networks, were up 201% from last year, and 791% from 2017, Nielsen told Ad Age. The average audience during the regular season this year, across all networks, was 673,000 viewers, compared to 223,000 last year, according to Nielsen.

Brands that have sponsored the WNBA for years are starting to see the results of their patience, according to sports media buyers. “We paid next to nothing and got so much value over the last couple of years,” the first sports ad executive said. The bill is coming due, however, now that advertising competition is rising with the intensity of competition in the league.

Courting advertisers

“There’s been some aggressive asks,” said the second sports ad executive. “[Ad rates] are way outpacing the rate of change that was expected in this space, and that’s their right.”

“Disney owns the broadcast rights, and they can do that,” this ad executive said, “but we need to look at that and understand what the implications are as advertisers, because the value proposition is different on this now.”

Clark has already lifted the profile of her team, the Fever, which added a new official sponsor this year in a deal with Cheez-It. The brand, owned by Kellanova, has its name emblazoned on the home court of the Indiana Fever, and it runs promotions during home games. The Cheez-It mascot Ched-Z has made appearances with Fever mascot Freddy Fever. 

“Our sponsorship with the franchise has been a great opportunity to reach new audiences and re-engage existing Cheez-It fans,” said Cara Tragseiler, senior brand director for Cheez-It. Cheez-It would not reveal its activation plans around WNBA postseason, but said it hasn't bought commercial time during the playoffs. “Stay tuned for where else Cheez-It pops up this season and beyond,” Tragseiler said by email.

Cheez-It has a chance to have its brand featured prominently during a broadcast if Indiana Fever get to play a home game, which would only happen if the team wins an away game in the first round.

Taking the league to new heights is a delicate dance for the WNBA, networks and brands. The WNBA needs to promote all the stars, not just popular rookies. Also, the future of the league depends on a solid foundation built on more than one player or team. For years, brands have been waiting for this type of ascendance from the WNBA, according to sports media buyers. The sponsors describe the league’s trajectory as a slow burn that turned into a rocket. For Disney, the investment has been decades in the making.

“Women’s sports have been a 27-year overnight success on Disney, and we’ve been in this game since the beginning,” Minnich said. “Women’s sports commitments were up triple-digits this upfront compared to last year, representing the strength of women’s sports coverage across the entire Disney portfolio. As a founding partner of the WNBA, we have been committed to the advancement of the game for decades and we’re excited to see continued success from both viewership and advertising perspectives.” 

Also read: Why Cheez-It is among Ad Age’s hottest brands

During the playoffs, Disney sold advertising separately for the Finals, making that a standalone market, according to sports media buyers. That makes the championship series more like a Super Bowl advertising event, buyers said. Still, it’s tricky, because as in all sports, the ratings will depend on the matchup. For instance, MLB’s World Series will have a different feel, and higher ratings typically, when the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers play, compared to a matchup with smaller market teams.

Disney said that advertisers will get a mix of exposure during the WNBA Playoffs. “We do partnerships with advertisers that are not just one game or one series,” Minnich said. “They tend to buy based on where their targets are, for sure, but also there are season-long sponsorships, season-long flights. So they're going to get a little bit of Caitlin Clark and a little bit of not Caitlin Clark.”

Contributing: Parker Herren.