Scoop: Nielsen strikes WNBA measurement deal, largest ever for women's league
Nielsen, the established television measurement company, has struck a new multiyear deal with the WNBA alongside the NBA to measure its television viewership across traditional TV and streaming, a source confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: It's the largest commercial measurement deal that Nielsen has ever struck with a women's sports league.
Nielsen has an existing deal with the Ladies Professional Golf Association, but the WNBA agreement marks a significant milestone in the advancement of women's sports rights.
Zoom in: The deal represents the first time that Nielsen has agreed to measure the WNBA's ratings officially as a client alongside the NBA, the source confirmed.
The agreement, which was struck last quarter, ensures the WNBA will get official access to Nielsen ratings as part of a paid partnership, instead of relying on data from the NBA or data that media partners may or may not release.
The direct data represents significant progress in the WNBA's media rights journey. The WNBA last year struck a landmark 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC that values its live rights at $200 million per year, about quadruple its previous deal.
The WNBA and NBA did not respond to requests for comment.
The big picture: The shift to streaming during the pandemic pushed TV companies to experiment with new measurement alternatives such as VideoAmp and iSpot.tv.
While programmers have been public about their efforts to experiment with new vendors, leagues have continued to rely heavily on Nielsen. They tend not to distribute ratings publicly from smaller alternatives.
Case in point: During Paramount's multimonth contract blackout with Nielsen, the network never distributed ratings publicly from other vendors for its NFL games.
How it works: While most leagues allow their distribution partners to publicize ratings, the big leagues prefer to pay to ink direct deals with Nielsen to get their hands on crucial ratings data themselves.
By the numbers: Nielsen's deals with leagues are expensive but tend not to be as high as deals with major TV networks, costing upwards of tens of millions instead of hundreds of millions.
The newly signed NBA renewal deal rounds out Nielsen's partnerships with all of America's biggest leagues.
Nielsen currently has direct data deals with the NFL, MLS, NHL, PGA, NCAA, MLB, UFC, WWE and Premiere League, a source said.
Zoom out: For years, streamers were hesitant to embrace Nielsen ratings, arguing their proprietary figures were more reliable.
But as streaming became more competitive and as more streamers started to experiment with live programming, most major services have embraced Nielsen as a reliable third-party.
What to watch: As women's sports leagues land bigger media rights deals, direct agreements with measurement vendors ensures not just that their viewership numbers are adequately tracked for advertisers, but also grants specific insights on how their audiences are evolving.
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