You keep seeing this topic of the gender pay gap with regard to the NBA and WNBA Leagues and it is a non starter due to the revenue figures. If the money is not there then who is going to pay the salaries?
Let us have a look at each league and the numbers first which shows the women are actually over paid and if treated the same as the men they would not be earning a salary and should be paying in.
The WNBA has never in it's history turned a profit in the 28 years the league has been around even with the extra television coverage it receives today. The losses prior to 2023 averaged out at around $10 million annually and 2024 saw that figure rise substantially to a $50 million loss. In what world do people get paid when their business is losing millions and never seeing a profit?
The NBA on the other hand is doing rather well and in 2022 had revenue of $10 billion, 2023 $10.6 billion and 2024 $11.3 billion. The revenue figures for 2025 are projected to exceed $12 billion and the one constant is the figures are rising each year.
The salaries of the players are calculated at 51% of revenue and why the salary gap is rather large. How this is worked out which I did not know is all teams revenue is pooled together and shared out equally according to the salary cap the teams all work on which is like having a team budget that each team has to adhere to. If you are a small town team you earn the same as the big name teams due to all money that is generated being shared. Some teams last season even lost money, but still shared from the league pot as the teams are the league which is what is important here.
Under the current system the WNBA players receive somewhere between 20-25% of the WNBA League revenue which is in the $200m range so salaries equate to around $40-$50 million each year. This is being paid by the NBA due to the Women's League making no money.
You would think common sense would play a role here with the women actually promoting their sport in a good way instead of making it about race. This is a major turn off for spectators and especially sponsors when certain players are being targeted due to jealousy and race. These players are not winning the fans over and it is a limited number who support them and if certain players are not playing like Clark then the numbers drop off immediately.
If you think about this with an open mind the WNBA has grown due to the likes of Clark and when she disappears if no new superstar is found then the numbers will drop off again. The WNBA generates 60 x less income than the NBA and that is the bottom line and why women cannot be asking for higher wages until these figures increase considerably. One would have to be a complete moron to even consider thinking they are worth far more when the facts are clear that they are not on the same level and the chances are they never will be.