Now the feminists are on the warpath and using the Griner case as proof that there is a pay disparity between men and women: the claim is that the WNBA makes less money than the NBA because they are women. You see, Griner wouldn’t have to play in Russia if the WNBA weren’t discriminating against women.
Bullshit.
The two leagues aren’t even close to the same level of talent and revenue. It’s like claiming that the NY Yankees should pay the same to its players as the Hudson Valley Renegades because both are playing baseball.
Buying a ticket to see a WNBA game will cost you an average of $47. On average, attendance at a WNBA game is around 5,600. With a 40 game season, the result is about $63 million in ticket sales, league wide. Contrast that with the $6.4 billion in league revenue for the NBA.
The players in these two leagues aren’t being paid to play basketball. They are being paid to sell tickets to people who want to watch them play basketball. In the only metric that matters, sales, the NBA outpaces the WNBA 100 to 1. They aren’t paid less because they are women. They are paid less because people aren’t as willing to pay to watch them play. It’s simple economics. Most sports fans think that women’s sports are not worth paying to see.
12 Comments
Its just Boris · December 16, 2022 at 5:55 am
Ah, the old Marxist / Socialist notion that labor (or “work”) is valuable in and of itself, no matter what (if anything) is made. “Doing the same job should result in the same pay” is not sound economics; nor is it really good morals, although it is often sold as such.
But fine. Let the WNBA charge the same ticket prices as the NBA does, same broadcast and merchandising fees, and let’s see what happens.
Matthew · December 16, 2022 at 8:35 am
The WNBA has been around for 25 years and the venture, as near as I can tell, has been a net money loser. The notion that the women are somehow doing equal work is insane. I’m not saying that the women’s games have no value, they just cannot generate anywhere near the value of the NBA. They aimed too high, that much should be obvious by now, but the answer to the problem is somehow to pay female players MORE? No.
If there was a female player that was able to play at an elite level the NBA would hire them in a hot minute and pay that woman probably double that of a male player with equal skills because THAT WOULD MAKE MONEY! The same goes for any sport, example: Danica Patrick?
So, ladies, if you’re capable of equal work, go to the NBA, otherwise STFU and enjoy the fact that you achieved your goal of becoming a professional basketball player in a league that loses money. If you have a problem with that you should question your goals, not the league.
Matthew W · December 16, 2022 at 9:07 am
I fully support men and women being paid the same in the NBA and WNBA.
That will cause both leagues to crash and burn quickly.
Good riddance to both
Elrod · December 16, 2022 at 9:11 am
East soution: Put the best WNBA team on the court with the worst NBA team and see what happens.
Then do it with WNBA Best vs Average Men’s College team.
By the time it reaches WNBA vs Podunk High School JV the question should have been quite well answered.
Exile1981 · December 16, 2022 at 9:45 am
I have no interest in watching a bunch of over paid criminals run around in either league.
Big Ruckus D · December 16, 2022 at 10:48 am
The only gap I can detect here is a fake vag surgically created between a transfaggots thighs.
Which is to say that the W in WNBA is entirely optional. Observe the sack of.dog squeeze the pedophile in chief recently obtained in a prisoner swap with Russia to gain a better understanding of this.
Steve S6 · December 16, 2022 at 10:59 am
Arguing from facts again.
As climate child (and all leftists) would say, “How dare you?!”
June J · December 16, 2022 at 12:04 pm
The US Women’s Soccer team whined until the soccer powers decided that the World Cup winnings for US teams would be shared equally. Thus, the US Women’s Soccer team received a payout when the Men’s team won matches at the World Cup.
I agree with Matthew W’s comment – force the NBA to revenue share with the WNBA so they both fail.
Only communists want equal outcomes for all regardless of the worth of their endevours.
Tsgt Joe · December 16, 2022 at 12:38 pm
So, the standard refrain is the men are holding the women down. I have an idea, let the women watch the women.
k · December 19, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Gender is a social construct.
Divemedic · December 19, 2022 at 4:23 pm
If that were true, there would be no need for separate men and women’s leagues.
Matthew · December 20, 2022 at 12:50 pm
Women can play for any NBA team, I think it’s been that way for many years. I remember a woman that actually got a try out for the Heat about 20 years ago. And as we have seen, a man can play for a WNBA team, just not overtly.
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