Thought Piece: Intelligent WNBA Owners Will Consider Player Investments
The widespread media outrage over the unequal pay in professional basketball has gotten many people, including myself, upset about the ongoing gender pay gap. President Biden recently expressed his concerns about women in sports not getting paid fairly. However, this isn't a new problem - ever since the early days of the WNBA, players have had to go abroad to earn more money, sometimes even making more money than they would in the WNBA. Phoenx Mercury's Brittney Griner is one example of this, as she had to play in Europe, Asia, and Australia to supplement her WNBA income. But with the Covid-19 pandemic, economic recessions, and political troubles making these opportunities less lucrative, more attention is finally being paid to the pay disparity between men and women in professional basketball.
Interestingly, it seems that the public was more engaged in this issue when Caitlin Clark, a cisgender, straight, White woman, was picked as the top draft choice in the 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Draft. People couldn't stop sharing memes and expressing their outrage - but would they have cared as much if Kamilla Cardoso, a Black woman, had been picked first? Or if Rickea Jackson, also a Black woman, had been the top pick? And the backlash against Angel Reese, the seventh pick, who was paid less than Clark, shows that misogynoir still exists in the sports world. Despite Clark's reported earnings of $3.4 million, many people have attacked Reese as being "classless" and "thuggish."
It's important to remember that not so long ago, NBA players were also struggling with low wages and a lack of labor protections and pensions. Back then, White team owners and sportswriters were against larger contracts for players. They claimed that the NBA was going bankrupt because of rising player salaries and that the league's largely White fanbase would be unhappy with the increasing number of Black players. By the late 1970s, this narrative of decline had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. CBS would often delay the broadcast of important NBA games, and the league was even referred to as "a bunch of high-salaried, drug-sniffing black guys."
However, former NBA Commissioner David Stern turned things around by embracing the Blackness of the NBA and figuring out how to attract a larger audience. Today, NBA players have labor unions that protect their rights, and the league is more diverse and popular than ever before.
The popularity of women's college basketball has also been on the rise. Television ratings for the 2023-2024 season increased by 60%, and this year, the women's Big Ten Basketball Tournament was sold out for the first time ever. The women's NCAA championship game even had a larger television audience than the men's title game. If the NBA's history is any indication, investing in the women's game and their players could lead to increased market share and success for team owners. As a strong believer that building a product will attract fans, I hope that investment and strategic decisions are soon made to improve the women's basketball landscape.
Read also:
- This will change in December
- Dikes withstand water masses so far - Scholz holds out the prospect of help
- Fireworks and parties ring in 2024 - turn of the year overshadowed by conflicts
- Attacks on ships in the Red Sea: shipping companies avoid important trade route
In the ongoing discourse about gender pay equality in professional basketball, various opinions on the value of investing in women's basketball and compensating players fairly have emerged. These discussions highlight the importance of considering the financial prospects and well-being of WNBA players as integral parts of the game's success.
With growing attention focused on the pay disparity between men and women in basketball, there is a growing consensus among fans, players, and opinion leaders that intelligent WNBA owners who prioritize player investments can potentially revitalize and expand the women's basketball landscape.
Source: edition.cnn.com
