The relationship between the WNBA and its players continues to fray as one of the league’s top stars accused the commissioner of inflammatory quotes Tuesday. Plus: YouTube TV wants to “ingest” Peacock as its negotiations with NBC go down to the wire; Amazon touts high resolution NBA broadcasts; and more.
Lynx/Unrivaled star Collier accuses commissioner of inflammatory quotes
At a Tuesday press conference, Minnesota Lynx F and Unrivaled co-creator Naphessa Collier accused WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert of saying in a private conversation that WNBA players should be “on their knees thanking their lucky stars about the media rights deal that I got them” and that Caitlin Clark in particular “should be grateful” for the money she makes off the court, because “without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”
Collier said the comments are indicative of “a mentality” that the WNBA “succeeds despite its players, not because of them.” Engelbert said in a statement later Tuesday that she is “disheartened” by the way Collier characterized the conversations.
Collier’s Lynx were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday, two nights after she was injured on a late-game play that was not called a foul. That play led to the ejection of Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who was then suspended for Sunday’s game after criticizing league officiating in a postgame press conference. But Collier said Tuesday that the officiating is just one symptom of broader problems: “The real threat to our league isn’t money, it isn’t ratings or even missed calls or even physical play,” Collier said. “It’s the lack of accountability from the league office.”
At one point, Collier said the WNBA has “the best players in the world,” “the best fans in the world” and “the worst leadership in the world.” The WNBA collective bargaining agreement expires October 31. Late Tuesday, Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported that sources expect Engelbert to likely step down after those negotiations are completed.
YouTube TV wants to “ingest” Peacock
The Google-owned vMVPD YouTube TV is seeking to fully incorporate the NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock into its own app, according to multiple reports, and that goal has become a sticking point in the sides’ stalled carriage negotiations. YouTube TV previously sought to “ingest” the new Fox One app during its negotiations with Fox Corporation.
Unlike Fox One, a direct-to-subscriber app that ultimately carries content already available on YouTube TV via FOX, FS1 and Fox News Channel, Peacock has an extensive lineup of exclusive sports programming not available on linear. If YouTube TV were to successfully integrate Peacock content, users would have no need to ever download the actual Peacock app to watch exclusive programming like the NBA and Big Ten.
It should be noted that Peacock has already been “ingested” into the Amazon Prime Video service as part of that streamer’s “Amazon Channels” feature.
The NBCU networks will be pulled from YouTube TV at Midnight ET Wednesday in the event that there is no deal or short-term extension. In a strange wrinkle, the potential blackout would result in the suspension of new Pro Football Talk videos on YouTube, the site’s founder Mike Florio wrote Tuesday. It is not clear — even to Florio — why a carriage dispute with the YouTube TV vMVPD would prevent NBC from uploading PFT videos to the traditional YouTube website.
Amazon announces 1080p, multiview, for NBA
Amazon announced Tuesday that its Prime Video streaming service will carry NBA games in 1080p HDR resolution, compared to the 720p resolution that has been commonplace on nationally televised NBA games. The streamer also said that it is will use its AWS technology to offer a proprietary “ultra-low latency” stream that it says will result in less lag than is commonplace on cable and broadcast.
Prime is also offering a multiview option for NBA games that will include its national game windows and NBA League Pass, plus a personalized bet tracking option in partnership with FanDuel.
In other NBA broadcasting news, the NBA is taking over production of NBA TV effective Wednesday, but will not begin airing a full slate of original programming on the network until October 13. In the meantime, the league-owned channel will air live preseason games, season preview shows and simulcasts of SiriusXM shows.
TNT Sports had been operating NBA TV since 2008, but the league has elected to take production in-house. The final TNT-produced original broadcast on NBA TV was the Basketball Hall of Fame pre-show earlier this month.
Plus: Fubo-Hulu, NFL-Tubi, WCBB, Lefkoe-MLB
- Fubo shareholders have approved the streamer’s planned merger with Disney-owned Hulu + Live TV, it was announced Tuesday. The transaction, which was announced in January, still needs to go through the regulatory process. Assuming it is approved, Fubo and Hulu would continue to be offered separately, but they would be one combined business run by the current Fubo management team and owned primarily by Disney.
- The Fox-owned streaming service Tubi will stream Fox Sports coverage of the Packers-Lions NFL Thanksgiving Day game, it was announced Tuesday. Tubi previously streamed February’s Super Bowl, averaging an audience of 13.6 million viewers per Fox. Unlike the Super Bowl stream, the Thanksgiving Tubi stream will have to compete with streams on the Fox Sports app and the new Fox One streaming service.
- ABC will air its first primetime women’s college basketball game — regular season or postseason — when it carries South Carolina-LSU on Saturday, February 14, according a schedule released Tuesday. The network does not have its usual NBA Saturday Primetime game that day due to All-Star Weekend. In other women’s basketball scheduling news, the 2028 NCAA Women’s Final Four will be held in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, rather than Gainbridge Fieldhouse, marking the first time since 2021 and only the third time since 2005 that the women’s national semifinals will take place in a football stadium, as is routine for the Men’s Final Four.
- TNT Sports’ Adam Lefkoe will host the company’s Major League Baseball Postseason coverage this year, filling a role held the prior two seasons by Lauren Shehadi. Lefkoe took over as TNT’s primary MLB studio host in July. According to Awful Announcing, the TNT Sports studio show will go on-site for the NLCS, marking the first such occurrence since 2022.
