. They make it to the WC and have to split the revenue with the womens soccer team. Im sorry, the WNBA is awful compared to the NBA. The latest example of this economic fallacy emerged when Aja Wilson of theWNBAs Las Vegas Acestook to Twitter to pokeLeBronJamessnew contract with the Las AngelesLakers. After winning in Indian Wells at the weekend, Djokovic said: "We have much more. The NBA loves supporting women, like Kyrie Irving, who is a professional mens basketball player who currently plays for the New York Nets. The men tend to play to impress or are just out there for the results, and we play for the process. A WNBA spokesperson reached out to HuffPost after this op-ed was published, however, and said the WNBA has lost significant money every year and has shared its financials with the Players Association. Last year, the average WNBA salary was US$71,635, and this year appears to be closer to $75,000. They deserve to be able to play the game they love without needing to get a second job to pay the bills. Meanwhile last yearsWNBAchampionship series averaged 487,000 viewers, with a high of 597,000 forGame 1. James reportedly walked away with $370,000, while Bird only collected $11,356. 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. And I know you know what that box could have inside. One might argue that male players produce more points. All rights reserved. Britney Griner was detained in Russia just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It doesnt have to be the same as men at all. In the past, some top male players including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have claimed men should earn more as they attract more people. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. They watched the Jordans and the Lebrons, and they are never going to turn their back on them for a game where the players are barely dunking. Comissioner Cathy Englebert (Comissioner of the Womens National Basketball Association), Diese Seite ist durch reCAPTCHA geschtzt und es gelten die Google. The contract, which runs through 2027, pays. If you've ever gone to a high school football game, you've probably seen some of the . Kelsey Plum currently makes $200,000/year as a point guard for the Las Vegas Aces. 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. Three teams experienced double-digit growth: Attendance was up 17.8 percent for the Los Angeles Sparks, 15.3 percent for the Connecticut Sun and 12.3 percent for the Minnesota Lynx. Did You Ever Wonder How and Why the Left Is Able to Push Their Narratives Almost Unhindered? Due to this situation the question has surfaced of, Should women basketball players be compensated the same as mens? Many of the women dont get lucrative endorsements, and getting into broadcasting or some other sports-adjacent field once they retire is not guaranteed. In the 2018 All-Star Game, for example, 32 percent of the roster identified as gay. Jessica Luther is a freelance journalist, an author and a co-host of the feminist sports podcast Burn It All Down.. Like Russia. As said in the article my Glamour, the . The off-season should be to rest their bodies and fulfill their contractual obligations for promoting the WNBA through appearances and community outreach as role models to young athletes and to spend time with their families. While the girls are skilled they are nowhere even close to the guys. But should they be seeing an increase in their earnings? This season, the maximum veteran salary is $115,500, not including potential bonuses. In other words, if the WNBA doesnt figure this out, players are going to opt out of the league. [B]ecause I heard a bench player gets paid more than nvm.. Average attendance per game was 7,716 in 2017. So why are we getting paid so little? 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 . Total revenue for the NBA hit $7.4 billion in 2022. 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.". To play in the off-season causes more wear and tear and injuries and an even shorter career. At the same time, The Guardian recently reported that in the 2018 fiscal year, USWNT head coach Jill Ellis was paid less than several U.S. Soccer mens coaches, including U-20 coach Tab Ramos. Women athletes should be paid the same as men athletes. The guys are 10 times more athletic than the girls too. WNBA players arent asking for NBA level compensation. This was a stellar season, where the final eight teams that made the playoffs werent determined until the last few games. What many of the women are asking for is equity in revenue sharing, as economist David Berri has written about repeatedly at Forbes. So much talent seems to go to waste because so many girls dont get drafted since theres not enough space in the league. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images). Theyre making the most of it while they can. Its a heavy responsibility, but its one that we gladly take on, Becky Sauerbraunn told ESPN following the 2019 SheBelieves Cup. Player's salaries in the NWSL range from about $16,000 to $46,000 annually, according to NPR. 2023 Womens Sports Foundation. Although that's true, there's still a substantial gender wage gap in professional basketball, even after you adjust for the revenue difference. Relative to the history of the league, this was an extraordinary success, up 39 percent from last year. At the end of the day, just about any article focusing on how athletes are either under (or over) paid stem from the fallacious view that their compensation is an inherent product of their labor, rather than the subjective values of consumers. The NBA makes a profit. Many of the women dont get lucrative endorsements, and getting into broadcasting or some other sports-adjacent field once they retire is not guaranteed. But in terms of pay, it definitely is not. WNBA players, who continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the league, also have been outspoken about the wage gap between their pay and that of the men's teams. 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. Sue Bird once said, We dont need anybody to feel bad or have sympathy for us. 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. Of course, they won't talk about how the stadiums are empty and nobody cares. 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. The WNBA is 50 years behind in building its brand and working out labor issues. However, the players union has the option to terminate the agreement after the 2019 season if they give notice by Oct. 31 of this year. Gender wage disparity arguments are a great way to virtue signal. If the WNBA Players Association wants to opt out of its current collective bargaining agreement with the league and renegotiate terms, they have to do so by Oct. 31. 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. Nows a good time for players to advocate for themselves because the product in the WNBA has never been better. Here are three arguments of which you may not have thought. No one cares about the WNBA and no one watches their games lol. There is no difference between the girls college tournament and the WNBA. These numbers are justified too. Prior to this season, Cambage last played in the WNBA in 2013. The WNBA does not have the amount of television contract and sponsorship money to warrant paying players more, having a longer season, and/or make other investments to the league. The highest-paid NBA players, by comparison, make in excess of $40. Nothing rude there. And while thats not a dollar amount to sniff at, these women only have so long to earn money off their athletic ability. Many people don't like the WNBA just because they have low talent but the girls don . Founded by Billie Jean King. Better cooks etc. If the WNBA doesnt figure this out, players are going to opt out of the league. The U.S. women's soccer team has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit. They are often separated from their families and have to deal with the instability of uprooting their lives multiple times a year. Most men, of course, sign with brands or maybe even run their own. It seems, though, that women have to do way more endorsements and more advertising than men, and we have to be more than basketball players. The data, though, suggests viewing figures are. There is, however, one sector of the economy inwhich it continuesto be taken seriously: sports. Some feared that such a campaign could alienate other segments of the leagues fan base. Where the NBA pays its players between 49-51 percent of the leagues revenue, WNBA players take home a maximum of 22.8 percent. Perhaps the American public will come to appreciate thestrong fundamentalsof theWNBAand, as a result, salaries will improve. Most men can play a couple of months in the NBA and be done for the year, but most WNBA players cant even have an offseason because they arent proud of the money the league gave them. But to be honest, we play it better than the boys do. In 2014, the WNBA launched the first marketing campaign in professional sports to directly appeal to the LGBTQ market. 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