Gap between Caitlin Clark's WNBA salary and her male counterparts draws outrage

[Anonymous]

The contract for the rights to play the games on TV ends next year.

Viewership is way up and rising so the contract for 2025 season will be higher and then they can raise salaries.

Caitlin Clark sold more jerseys last night on draft night than any athlete ever.

[Anonymous]

So we are going to the Washington Mystics games this year? The interest in WNBA has to be sustained; it must be reflected in game attendance, merchandise sale etc., if we want to see the women’s salary increase.

[Anonymous]

Pro pickleball players make significantly more.

[Anonymous]

Wow, $338K for four years?

I knew there was a gap, but that is pretty eye opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol @ no one watches womens sports so its ok to pay them worse

Caitlin Clarks most recent games have had more viewership than any basketball game in the last 5 years - including every single game in the NBA during that time.

There is literally no excuse to pay her less. She will be rolling in it with her sponsorships though.

Sure there is. The WNBA earns a teeny tiny fraction of what the NBA does. Hopefully Clark and the other star players can change that so all the women get better salaries. In the meantime, marketing will bring the top players loads of cash, while the rank and file struggle along.

Ah yes, we should pay people who work in the government $20K for a job that makes $500K at Amazon.

[Anonymous]

The NBA *MAKES* billions of dollars while all the WNBA does isose money. Why should the women get paid if their product doesn't sell?

Make money if you want the players to make more. Quit crying. It's unbelievable you people have a hard time understanding basic capitalism 101. No one is going to give Clark a Lebron contract to play in a money losing league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement…

Negotiated by.. the players union. Blame them if you think it's an unfair deal.

[Anonymous]

NBA and WNBA by numbers:

https://www.wsn.com/nba/nba-vs-wnba/

[Anonymous]

There was increased interest because of amazing skills. It won’t last. They can’t fill a sports arena so there’s no money.

I went to the mall with my 12 year old who plays basketball. I could not believe the disparity of sneakers between men and women. Nike, Adidas, Finish Line just to name a few did not have a women’s basketball shoe section but they had a men’s basketball section. They all said we could buy them online. When I said I want her to try them on she’s growing the salesman said she could wear the men’s shoes. No thanks, not made for girls whose feet are usually narrower

I ended up buying on line where Nike had a good selection. Online like they are unworthy to take up valuable retail space.

[Anonymous]

I don’t watch any sports, but even I know who this girl is. I assume (?) and hope she will get some big endorsements. She is a pretty girl and that will help her—think volleyballer Gabby Reese.

- my .02 which means nothing.

[Anonymous]

Let’s be real: Caitlyn Clark would struggle even to get playing time on a decent boys high school team, and the WNBA is an entirely subsidized public relations exercise of the NBA. She’s fun to watch and I’m glad the WNBA exists, but the financial comparison posited by the OP is a absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The NBA *MAKES* billions of dollars while all the WNBA does isose money. Why should the women get paid if their product doesn't sell?

Make money if you want the players to make more. Quit crying. It's unbelievable you people have a hard time understanding basic capitalism 101. No one is going to give Clark a Lebron contract to play in a money losing league.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to look at viewership and game attendance and compare the two. Salaries for any players is dependent on income brought in, with a few standouts making (significantly) more.

Viewership and attendance to the WNBA is far less.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was increased interest because of amazing skills. It won’t last. They can’t fill a sports arena so there’s no money.

I went to the mall with my 12 year old who plays basketball. I could not believe the disparity of sneakers between men and women. Nike, Adidas, Finish Line just to name a few did not have a women’s basketball shoe section but they had a men’s basketball section. They all said we could buy them online. When I said I want her to try them on she’s growing the salesman said she could wear the men’s shoes. No thanks, not made for girls whose feet are usually narrower

I ended up buying on line where Nike had a good selection. Online like they are unworthy to take up valuable retail space.

Cry me a river.

Go to any department or clothing store. There is always a massive disparity in the quantity and space they have for women's vs men with 90% of the stores dedicated to women's clothing. It's not uncommon for women's clothing to have 2 whole floors while men's have basically 1/3rd of a floor's worth of space.

I don't see you crying about the gigantic disparity in modeling contracts given to women vs men with women massively and disproportionately out earning men for doing the same job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we are going to the Washington Mystics games this year? The interest in WNBA has to be sustained; it must be reflected in game attendance, merchandise sale etc., if we want to see the women’s salary increase.

I looked at getting tickets to a Mystics game, specifically when the Fever comes here. However, the cheapest I could find was $299 per ticket. That’s too much for me to spend for my family of 4. I looked at tickets at Indiana and there were some as cheap as $15. I wish they could have moved the games against the Fever to Capital One arena. Maybe with cheaper tickets more people would/could attend.

Tickets for the Mystics against other teams were as cheap as $30-40, which I think is reasonable.