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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lost in all of this discussion is that the folks in charge of promoting the WNBA seem to go out of their way to do the opposite.

There was a story recently of players live-streaming a game on X that was not available on TV anywhere through any platform because the folks running WNBA TV assumed no one would watch (this in an era when I can livestream lower tier 14U AAU games played in rural PA). The players’ streams both got up to like 1M views. The next day, the league announced that preseason games would be on TV going forward.

The truth is that people will watch sports that are promoted and taken seriously by networks. See college softball - to me, not that compelling to watch, but it’s on TV constantly.

So far, with both NCAAW and WNBA, networks seem to go out of their way to devalue, hide, and denigrate the product. I’m a middle aged dude and hardly a crusader for equity, but the business stupidity here makes my head explode. WNBA salaries would be much higher if the league were marketed halfway intelligently.

I think the difference is that softball is different enough to baseball that people see it as independent from baseball. A sports to itself. While women's basketball gets viewed as the tag-along kid sister to men's basketball.

And tbh, I think you're doing a disservice to softball. It may not be compelling to you, but we had HOURS of the regionals on in our house this weekend. It's not due to marketing. It's the fact that there's no alternative. It's really only on for a few months of the year, and then not on again at ALL. So you get about 2 months to watch softball on TV, that's it. Meanwhile, we can watch women's basketball (and mens for that matter) 12 months of the year, and there's just not enough interest in it to support it year-round.

[Anonymous]

No one wants to watch women play basketball. No one wants to watch women play football. I think the women are getting paid just fine considering it’s like a hobby for them. I expect everyone that is complaining actually go to the games to support them and buy their merch. If not, sit down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to watch women play basketball. No one wants to watch women play football. I think the women are getting paid just fine considering it’s like a hobby for them. I expect everyone that is complaining actually go to the games to support them and buy their merch. If not, sit down.

Remind me again, what was the highest rated basketball game this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to watch women play basketball. No one wants to watch women play football. I think the women are getting paid just fine considering it’s like a hobby for them. I expect everyone that is complaining actually go to the games to support them and buy their merch. If not, sit down.

Remind me again, what was the highest rated basketball game this year?

The reality is there are a group of people that prefer college basketball over the NBA because There’s both offense and defense.

Women’s WNBA is more like men’s college basketball then NBA which is boring AF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to watch women play basketball. No one wants to watch women play football. I think the women are getting paid just fine considering it’s like a hobby for them. I expect everyone that is complaining actually go to the games to support them and buy their merch. If not, sit down.

Remind me again, what was the highest rated basketball game this year?

It was also one game a year. The championship.

It runs of the risk of being like the Olympics. Nobody watches figure skating or gymnastics for 47 straight months, and then BOOM!, people tune in in mass for one month (and act like they are these huge fans of the events) and then tune out again for another 47 months.

People don't care about it for 364 days of the year, and then tune in mass for one day to watch a championship and complain about how women's sports doesn't get enough credit or support. But they don't support the other 99% of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to watch women play basketball. No one wants to watch women play football. I think the women are getting paid just fine considering it’s like a hobby for them. I expect everyone that is complaining actually go to the games to support them and buy their merch. If not, sit down.

Remind me again, what was the highest rated basketball game this year?

The reality is there are a group of people that prefer college basketball over the NBA because There’s both offense and defense.

Women’s WNBA is more like men’s college basketball then NBA which is boring AF

Anyone who has been watching the playoffs this year who doesn’t think defense is crucially important in the NBA is kind of an ignoramus. Who do people who obviously know nothing about the sport comment so confidently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

College basketball superstar Caitlin Clark is set to soar to new heights in the WNBA — but her rookie contract will see her pocket a fraction of the millions her male counterparts have made on the court.

The University of Iowa legend, who has already made history as the NCAA Division I basketball’s overall top scorer, sealed a contract with the Indiana Fever after she was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft Monday.

The contract will see Clark earn $338,056 over the course of four years, according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement…

… For comparison, San Antonio Spurs rookie star Victor Wembanyama — the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft — secured a $55 million four-year contract that saw him pocket $12.1 million in his first season, according to athlete contract tracker Spotrac.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/gap-caitlin-clarks-wnba-salary-male-counterparts-draws-outrage-rcna148024

So what should happen? The men do have double the number of games but the per game price is not close.

Unpopular opinion: The problem isn't her salary. It's the ridiculous salaries we pay the men. To play a game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

College basketball superstar Caitlin Clark is set to soar to new heights in the WNBA — but her rookie contract will see her pocket a fraction of the millions her male counterparts have made on the court.

The University of Iowa legend, who has already made history as the NCAA Division I basketball’s overall top scorer, sealed a contract with the Indiana Fever after she was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft Monday.

The contract will see Clark earn $338,056 over the course of four years, according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement…

… For comparison, San Antonio Spurs rookie star Victor Wembanyama — the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft — secured a $55 million four-year contract that saw him pocket $12.1 million in his first season, according to athlete contract tracker Spotrac.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/gap-caitlin-clarks-wnba-salary-male-counterparts-draws-outrage-rcna148024

So what should happen? The men do have double the number of games but the per game price is not close.

Unpopular opinion: The problem isn't her salary. It's the ridiculous salaries we pay the men. To play a game.

We? Glad to hear you're pitching in.

Also kind of a racist take. Ballplayers be gettin uppity with this money. More of it should go to owners and managers I guess.