Caitlin Clark's reward for a record-smashing NCAA career: A $76,000 WNBA salary
Caitlin Clark's reward for a record-smashing NCAA career: A $76,000 WNBA salary
As women's pro basketball soars in popularity, player compensation lags.
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Damn. You can’t force higher wages if the revenue isn’t coming in though. Maybe make a mixed gender league with co-ed teams.
It'd probably be dominated by the men.
While you do make a fair point...
I imagine the rules would be somewhat similar to my co-ed soccer rec league team. At least every third pass has to be to a girl etc etc.
There's ways to keep it competitive and fun for a co-ed non-contact sport. Not sure how that translates to any kind of professional setting though.
Badly!
For a recreational game, it's about having fun, so that rule works. I don't think it will work in competitive games. People watch them to see the players exhibiting skill and ability.
I think it would be easier than that if they alter the scoring. E.g. with 2 women, 3 men on the court then you have normal scoring. With 3 women, 2 men then you have 3 pointers as standard and 4 for what would normally be a 3. 3 free throws instead of 2 etc. Would really push getting more good women in for a power play. Especially when chasing a game.
I imagine "soaring in popularity" would also mean more revenue...
The article says the women's college tournament 'dwarfed the men's tournament', but the ratings numbers I've seen show the men's tournament has had 5x the viewership. So someone's not doing their research. Plus, this is college, not the pros. If the WNBA viewership increases, then,yes, more revenue should come with the next media contract. But that remains to be seen.
Yeah the author got something mixed up. The men's tournament so far has been one of the most watched years ever. It is true the women's final is most watched game so far. But that's comparing a final to other games. And NC State vs Duke last weekend had almost as many people watch. So a men's Elite 8 game nearly matched the women's final.
The sub header implies WNBA numbers are up though:
As women’s pro basketball soars in popularity, player compensation lags.
I can only go by the actual numbers I've seen, and it seems like most articles are cherry picking, at least so far. Saying 'popularity is soaring' isn't the same as hard numbers.
For example, the NBA could claim their popularity is soaring during the NBA Finals, but their actual numbers are dwarfed the the Super Bowl. A lot of this is spin. But if the WNBA numbers actually do increase, then sure, more money would be coming.