Until they get it, some of the worlds best female basketball players will be walking off of planes and onto courts as they meet the demands of a year-round basketball schedule. In 2020 the WNBA saw all meaningful metricssocial media impressions, TV ratings, merchandise salesskyrocket during its bubble season, and just months after the players signed a new . After they won the World Cup in 2015, it was revealed that the US women's team were paid a . WNBA players arent asking for NBA level compensation. With this deadline looming, the players would be wise to take advantage of this opportunity and compel the league to come to the table with an offer commensurate to their worth. This will never happen simply because the WNBA cant make the money to pay their players just as much money. WNBA Vs NBA Justeen Cooley Justeen Cooley Mrs.Gil English 9 January 6, 2017 WNBA Vs NBA Understanding how and why the NBA gets paid so much. But using league revenue, economics professor Dave Berri was recently able to calculate a significant gender wage gap in another respect. In the offseason, almost every WNBA member plays overseas, where they can make up to 10 times their normal WNBA salary. We play as a team and, most importantly, we play off each other. Its been brought to public attention that the girls basketball teams at the final four have lower grade weight rooms and have been mistreated in their bubble. As former WNBA President Laurel Richie noted in 2014, For us its a celebration of diversity and inclusion and recognition of an audience that has been with us very passionately.. So even relative to other non-major professional leagues, theWNBAstruggles for relevance. Get it together. https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21701, https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21599, https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21584, https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21591, https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21594, https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21598, https://thebablueprint.com/26107/opinion/equal-pay-wont-happen-for-wnba/#comment-21653. Revenues, on the other hand, should not be confused with profits. This years Womens NCAA Championship managed3.5 million viewers on ESPN this year down 9 percent from 2017. Median WNBA Salary is $ 71,635. They are not going to watch a game where the best team in the league would lose by 30 to the best high school team in the nation. Nows a good time for players to advocate for themselves because the product in the WNBA has never been better. While leading to the WNBA finals in a sell-out game, Kyle Lowry, Ja Morant, Ty Lue, Alvin Gentry, and Demarcus Cousins all attended the WNBA finals this year. The financial disparities between the leagues are undeniable. This has ledDavid Berri ofForbesto argue that becauseWNBAsalaries make up less than a quarter of league revenue, as opposed to the NBAs 50 percent split, theWNBAis clearly exploiting their players. I know this is a controversial statement because women are never supposed to ask for more than they have, lest they be ungrateful for whatever theyve been given thus far. They have higher travel expenses. Part of HuffPost News. Reaction: Raymond Moore and THOSE comments Get down on your knees lady players! At that point, whatever their salaries currently are will disappear completely. As many may not know, men get paid way more money than womens basketball does. 15 Episodes of Seinfeld That Teach Everything You Need To Know About Life. If Women and Men athletes were paid more equitably then Britney wouldn't . The players are, though. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images). We use all the fundamentals that the game was made for. The financial disparities between the leagues are undeniable, and these women arent asking for the same multimillion-dollar salaries their male counterparts make (though that would be nice). But should they be seeing an increase in their earnings? Seriously, not a single person. They should fight for it because theyve earned it. Professor of Educational Psychology & Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. As many may not know, men get paid way more money than women's basketball does. As The New York Timesreported in 2016,only half ofWNBAteams have managed to become profitable 20 years after the leagues founding. The WNBA will suffer if they dont figure out some way to pay players more. Where the NBA pays its players between 49-51 percent of the leagues revenue, WNBA players take home a maximum of 22.8 percent. Meanwhile, High Post Hoops reports that the highest paid player in the WNBA -- Chiney Ogwumike of the Connecticut Sun -- is paid $117,500 this year. The success of this campaign resulted in the WNBA being the first pro league to take part in the NYC Pride Parade in 2016. Liz Cambage, WNBA player for the Las Vegas Aces, spoke on how her head coach, Becky Hammon, is making 4 times her salary. Read More . And in sport, just as in society, women are fighting back, working towards the day when pay equality is achieved. The figures used came from ESPN ranking and salary lists for NBA and WNBA players for 2021-2022. . You may opt-out by. Copyright 2023 PJMedia.com/Salem Media. He talks about how womens basketball is his favorite thing to watch because of the way we play the game and work together. Better cooks etc. Wake up to the day's most important news. Of course TV ratings themselves are less important to this topic than dollars attached to theirtelevision contracts, and to theWNBAs credit, ESPN doubled the value of their contract with the league to $25 million a year in 2016. In 2017, the team threatened to boycott the 2017 IIHF World Championships if a settlement was not made with USA Hockey for equal treatment to the mens team. It all has . And I dont want to lose the WNBA or miss out on seeing the best female basketball players playing in the league. And yet, they do it, in large part, for the financial security it provides. In 2018, much of CEWS work paid off, as the World Surf League announced equal prize money for all WSL-controlled events in 2019 and beyond, a huge step for what has been a traditionally male-dominated sport. And theyre not done. We don't know exactly how much revenue the WNBA brings in, but given the league's minimum ticket prices, average attendance, and the value of its ESPN television deal it appears revenue was at least $51.5 million in 2017. The organization exists to increase the number of events and the number of awards for women, as well as offering equal prize money to achieve meaningful equity in competitive surfing.. Playing overseas in Europe, Asia, or Australia can often. . "As athletes, we have to fight. While the men are getting about half of the total money they help the NBA earn, the women are getting less than a fourth. Its not even because of skill it is simply because none of the girls could get a shot off at will. Finding accurate financial data on any sport league is challenging. Elizabeth Cambage -- the star center for the Dallas Wings -- recently made this observation on Twitter about pay in the WNBA: "today I learnt NBA refs make more than a WNBA player and the 12th man on a NBA team makes more than a WHOLE WNBA team.". The WNBA says players can make up to half a million dollars or more annually for four months' play between salary, bonuses, in-season tournaments and league and team marketing deals.. In the NBA, the same ratio is about 4.7. Most recently, in advance of the 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup in France, the United States womens squad took a stand against institutionalized gender discrimination against the team. But the notion that women deserve to be paid more just because theyre women is absurd and counterproductive to my daughters future earning potential. The simple fact is that more people want to watch the NBA. The 2019 NBA Finals averaged a little more than 20 million viewers per game; the 2019 WNBA Finals averaged about 400,000 viewers per game. Many will say womens basketball is boring or played the wrong way, and they may even say it sucks, but I think we play the game better than the men.how? And for the first time, gamers could play with WNBA players in NBA Live 18. Sue Bird, a current player for the Seattle Storm, explained that most people think the WNBA wants the same pay as the NBA when thats not the case. Sue Bird is arguably the best player in the WNBA and Lebron James is the best player in the NBA so lets compare the two. She is also not the only one to skip a WNBA season. Per Deseret News, this could simply be economics: The WNBA season is shorter, and in general, the game draws far fewer eyeballs than the rival male league. This is a BETA experience. As women, we have to fight," Diggins-Smith told Bleacher Report. I fault the narrative claiming that one group deserves as much money as another group solely because of gender the narrative that the utopic desire for gender equality trumps market forces. While the NBA is quite profitable with a blockbuster $24 billion TV deal, billions of dollars in advertising and a robust revenue sharing system only about half of WNBA franchises finish the season in the black. Maybe I am wrong and the WNBA will blow up one day and make more money. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the new game.] On average, WNBA players make $75,000 a year in the league, with only a few players earning as much as $113,000. Playing overseas in Europe, Asia, or Australia can often pay substantially more than playing in the United States. Opinion: Race should not be considered in college admissions, Get a boost from the positives on climate change, OPINION: Stop corporate greed to end climate change, OPINION: Taylors killers should be fired, The Voice of the Bellwood-Antis Student Body, Your email address will not be published. Women work hard to get what they dream of. The women of the WNBA are simply seeking the recognition they deserve for their performances. why because you cant handle the facts and I do agree some parts are harsh but you cant say its rude because its right. As someone who has studied the WNBA for years, only about half of WNBA franchises finish the season in the black, a market segment worth around $830 million, have argued that interest drives coverage, Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. Djokovic, also top ranked, won one Grand Slam, seven titles and the year-end ATP championships. But let's talk about the competitiveness of the field for a minute, because, arguably, it's true: In many sports, the difference in skill and ability between the top women's athlete, and say, the 100 th-ranked women's athlete, is a much wider gulf than the same comparison between male players of similar ranks.For instance the recent women's football World Cup match between the #1 . Many of the women dont get lucrative endorsements, and getting into broadcasting or some other sports-adjacent field once they retire is not guaranteed. Circling back to my claim that harping on gender wage-gap disparities potentially hinders my daughters earning potential, if employees are forced to pay everyone the same regardless of tenure, efficiency, and production, my daughter is going to see her future employment opportunities constrict. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Doppler, the mascot of the Seattle Storm, waves a rainbow gay pride flag before the start of a game. The WNBA has about 570,000 people that are watching the games. "And we need more people at our table to fight with us," she told Wealthsimple. I choose to ignore them and not attend the games because, to be blunt, the product isnt very good. It felt like, According to the WNBA, this was most-watched regular season since 2014, with viewership across ESPN networks and NBA TV up by 31 percent. In the WNBA the range of salaries is $117K to $215K for the highest-paid players. The U.S. women's soccer team has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit. Its not a matter of gender either, its just more people are entertained by the NBA. She is in grave danger and this petition is to try to make sure this never happens again. The WNBA is 50 years behind in building its brand and working out labor issues. Compared to the average salary of $7 million in the NBA, this seems outrageous. Unfortunately the blame the patriarchy narrative doesnt hold up when you compare theWNBAto the college game. I cant even mention 5 players in the WNBA or tell you the winners of the last 3 finals. He attended two games with the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Suns. Here are three arguments of which you may not have thought. James reportedly walked away with $370,000, while Bird only collected $11,356. Its understandable for someone in her position to be envious of the paychecks earned in major professional sports leagues. Perhaps higher pay in the WNBA would keep stars like Cambage in the league. Did You Ever Wonder How and Why the Left Is Able to Push Their Narratives Almost Unhindered? You can not compare the cultures. Nothing rude there. Instead of grumbling about the salaries male basketball players enjoy, perhaps Aja Wilson should be thankful theirproduct helps bolster her own paycheck. Meanwhile, for the upcoming NBA season, the minimum salary . The team went on to earn the gold at the world championships, then captured its first Olympic gold in 20 years by defeating Team Canada in PyeongChang. So playing womens basketball overseas is way better. The ratio of the highest paid WNBA player to the 144th best paid WNBA player is about 3.8. This . We need to come together as one and fix this problem. The WNBA according to the league the WNBA has yet to make a profit.. Cant pay them the same as NBA players, thats just daylight fraud, Nate Jun 3, 2022 at 3:22 pm. The NBA's annual revenue is $7.92 billion, while the WNBA's is $60 million not enough to cover NBA players Kevin Love and Damian Lillard's combined salaries. All rights reserved. Nancy Lough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Kelseys been in the WNBA for 5 seasons with a career average of 12.4ppg but she put up an average of 20.2 points/game in the 2022 season. Last year, the average WNBA salary was US$71,635, and this year appears to be closer to $75,000. WNBA players arent asking to be paid on par with their NBA counterparts. After pushing their bodies to the limit in their regular season and in an equally demanding World Cup, a whole lot of WNBA players will be spending a significant chunk of their year overseas playing on professional teams and in leagues in order to supplement their WNBA income. Furthermore, two years earlier, the league studied its fan base and discovered that 25 percent of WNBA fans identified as lesbian. And we need more people at our table to fight with us, she told Wealthsimple. Let's delve into the reasons why they . Both basketball stars won their fourth championship in October but earned very different bonuses. Basketball is a game of athleticism and skill. And we need men speaking out about these things., In 2016, six female big wave surfers Andrea Moller, Bianca Valenti, Keala Kennelly, Paige Alms, Karen Tynan and Sabrina Brennan founded the Commission for Equity in Womens Surfing (CEWS). Also, say if they were to get 50% of the WNBA revenue it would mean they would owe instead of receiving increased salary. In STEM areas, specifically math and computer programming, my daughter is as capable as (if not more capable than) her male peers. Fact is the average WNBA salary, slightly less than $100,000, is roughly 1.5 percent of the average NBA salary, which exceeds $7 million. Some of those responding on Twitter to Cambage's comment noted that the NBA brings in far more revenue than the WNBA. Last year, total attendance for the WNBAs 12 teams reached 1,574,078, with an average attendance of 7,716 fans a new high for the 21-year-old league. The average salary of a WNBA player as of 2017 was $75,000, whereas the average NBA salary is $30 million. On a recent episode of ESPN's "The Jump," ex-NBA player Chauncy Billups and ex-NBA coach Stan Van Gundy said that they believe that WNBA players deserve to be paid more money. Grls smh, Lucky Jan 30, 2022 at 3:54 pm, basketball girl Feb 11, 2022 at 10:43 am, Hayden Feb 18, 2022 at 1:56 pm, David Feb 23, 2022 at 9:15 am, Lmao everything he said or typed here were cold hard facts. As said in the article my Glamour, the . Which, again, Kelsey Plum isnt arguing for NBA salaries she just believes the league should pay out 50% of shared revenue the same as the NBA does. Retired WNBA. The more exposure they receive, the more theyll dole out the cash for sponsorships, endorsements and advertisements. 227 K isn't much more than a non-famous professional couple makes. That is more than $92 million a year for the rights to televise the USGA's championships, including the men's and women's U.S. Comissioner Cathy Englebert (Comissioner of the Womens National Basketball Association), Diese Seite ist durch reCAPTCHA geschtzt und es gelten die Google. This should not be tolerated. As a result, the WNBA is a little short on cash. This season, the maximum veteran salary is $115,500, not including potential bonuses. The league average in 2022 is just $102,751 for WNBA players. Average attendance per game was 7,716 in 2017. A 47 point difference is absolutely terrible. And while thats not a dollar amount to sniff at, these women only have so long to earn money off their athletic ability. Women represent 44 percent of NFL fans, while 28 percent of women say they follow pro baseball, and 29 percent report that they follow the NBA. Yet more progress can be significantly made. Compare that to the NFL average of $2.7 million (median is $860K), $4.41 million in the MLB, $3.5 million in the NHL, and the average NBA salary is a whopping $9.662 million for the 2022-23 season. Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports. It felt like records were set on an almost weekly basis. Due to this situation the question has surfaced of, Should women basketball players be compensated the same as mens? Many. You get paid 10 times as much, which is about $500k. Unfortunately Wilsons thoughts reflecta growingtrend of sports commentarylooking at the plight of the underpaidWNBAplayer. Players who go overseas end up playing almost year-round, with little break for their bodies to recover. The more your business brings in, the more it can afford to pay its employees. We need a change, and we need people to support us in this change. As a point of comparison, the NBA didnt draw crowds of this size until its 26th season, when the league averaged 8,061 fans per game. Meanwhile last yearsWNBAchampionship series averaged 487,000 viewers, with a high of 597,000 forGame 1. The top players in the NBA will now be able to earn six figure salaries, more than half a million. Opens. The league minimum for a player with two or fewer years of service is $41,202; for three or more years of . All rights reserved. And while that's not a dollar amount to sniff at, these women only have so long to earn money off their . As women, we have to fight, Diggins-Smith told Bleacher Report. Old Joe Biden Has Never Told a WEIRDER Story Than This One, Et Tu, Paul? The results suggest that WNBA star players and starters are generally paid according to their respective levels of productivity, although there is evidence that ine ciencies exist with regards to rookie compensation. So most of us dont get drafted or better yet, we get waved off because there isnt enough space and they can only pay for so many players. 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