Exposing the WNBA Wage Gap

The WNBA has been around since the late 90s, and it seems like the only time they're relevant is when a player gets thrown into a Russian prison, or the women are demanding a raise.

As someone who's been a fan of the NBA since I was 8 years old, I've never really cared or noticed the WNBA- and I know many of you watching can relate.

In high school, my friends would always poke fun at how bad the WNBA is- I didn't know anything about the WNBA then since it was never on TV.

But I'll never forget the first time I was exposed to the league.

ESPN was doing an interview with a WNBA player- her name's Brittney Griner- you may know her as the WNBA player that was trapped in Russia.

Now Griner is 6'10".

And the interviewer asks her to throw down a dunk because it's uncommon for females to be able to dunk on a 10-foot hoop.

She goes up and misses her first attempt.

At that point, I'm thinking, 'ok, everyone gets one.'

Before trying her second attempt, she makes sure her laces are tied.

and after that dramatic build-up, she misses again.

At that moment, I'm thinking this has to be a skit- but nope. It's 100% real.

Now don't get it twisted, she'd probably cook me 1 on 1, there's no doubt about that- but really? This is what the best women's basketball league in America has to offer?

If you google WNBA dunks, you'll find a 2-minute compilation of every dunk that's happened in the last 26 years. Spoiler alert there's been less than 30, and only 8 players have been able to.

If you google WNBA highlights, the top search results are 10 minutes of WNBA fails.

But you know what? Anyone can stitch a bunch of lowlights together and make something look bad.

Just look at what Shaq did to Javale McGee early on in his career.

However, what truly convinced me that the WNBA is as bad as everyone says it is was this video that went viral this past summer.

So, just to give you some context, some WNBA team won a chip and decided to throw a parade expecting their fans to show up.

And nobody showed.

Not a single soul.

Despite the fact nobody cares about the league, the players aren't better or even as good as the NBA- even if they say they are.

The women of the league keep coming up with more arguments about why they should be paid better.

Why aren't they paid the same as the men?

First and foremost, let's address the elephant in the room, why is there a wage gap?

Statistically speaking, between the two leagues, there's a major difference in fan attendance and viewership.

The WNBA had 379,000 people tune in to watch during the 21/22 season across 4 major American networks.

Compared to the NBA, the NBA had 1.75M viewers that same season across the same networks.

More viewers = more commercials which = more money.

Last year, the WNBA generated $60M in revenue through tickets, merch, commercials and sponsorships.

Whereas their counterpart generated $10B through the same means of sales.

Finally, there's also a difference in the games played.

Each team in the WNBA plays just 32 games a season, plus playoffs.

And in the NBA, teams play 82 games plus the playoffs.

Fewer games = less screen time. Less screen time = fewer commercials, and fewer commercials = less money.

The more money the league generates, the more money it has to distribute among its players.

That's why there's a wage gap.

Despite people's assumption that the reason for the WNBA's lack of success is due to sexism- it couldn't be further from the truth.

The WNBA is subsidized by the NBA because women wanted their own basketball league.

And what happened?

Barely any women show up to the games.

Do you know what's even more ironic? More men watch the WNBA than women.

So in this video, we are going to analyze and dismantle three of the best arguments that WNBA players have come up with on why they deserve to be paid more.

Feminists Can't Name A WNBA team - Daily Caller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWSspcHFLl0

Skylar Diggins-Smith calls WNBA-NBA gap ‘disappointing’ | Get Up! | ESPN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLzLQE-TELE

"If my mama played for the Clippers.." | The Shop: Season 5 Episode 7 | FULL EPISODE | Uninterrupted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T58KBvfehK8&t=1s

Ep. 122 - KELSEY PLUM EXPOSES How UNDERPAID WNBA PLAYERS REALLY ARE!! - The Residency Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF3wRIubIJ0

WNBA star Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years in Russian prison - ABC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TrCFFYVywU

Britney Griner claims she can beat Demarcus Cousins One on One USA Basketball Rio Olympics 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6znLi0aKBo