Comparisons of Caitlyn Clark's WNBA rookie salary to an NBA rookie's salary is a joke...

[spacejamz]

Why are these idiots just comparing her salary to an NBA rookie's salary but not comparing the WNBA revenue to the NBA's revenue (you know where the salary money actually comes from??)

Is her salary just supposed to come out of thin air?

 

[SKORPI0]

Caitlin Clark went No. 1 in the WNBA draft. Some fans are outraged at her salary

The University of Iowa star is set to make $338,000 on a four-year rookie deal, compared to $55 million for the No. 1 pick in last year's NBA draft.

www.today.com

 

[BoomerD]

Why are these idiots just comparing her salary to an NBA rookie's salary but not comparing the WNBA revenue to the NBA's revenue (you know where the salary money actually comes from??)

Is her salary just supposed to come out of thin air?

Exactly. While she's probably a damned good basketballer, (I don't watch the game at all) the WNBA brings in pennies compared to the billions the NBA does.

 

[Charmonium]

I have no idea what the numbers are, but if the WNBA can get the kind of viewership that the NBA has, or even a decent fraction, players will go to the highest bidder just like every other professional sport. The free market at work.

My guess is that having a significant level of control over the players, for now at least, will be important in creating that viewership. Maybe the teams can start to pool revenue and do advertising. Send player to grammar schools to talk. You gotta get 'em young. [in deep guttural tones] Hehehehe.

I would think of it this way - what to college athletes make? Squat right? The money goes to the school. Sure, after a few years in the collegiate spotlight, they can cash out while that's not true for the WNBA. Hell, it's not even true for AAA ball. But that's the price you pay for following your passion.

On the bright side, Clark is already a rich woman from merch deals. Ka-ching.

 

[spacejamz]

I have no idea what the numbers are, but if the WNBA can get the kind of viewership that the NBA has, or even a decent fraction, players will go to the highest bidder just like every other professional sport. The free market at work.

My guess is that having a significant level of control over the players, for now at least, will be important in creating that viewership. Maybe the teams can start to pool revenue and do advertising. Send player to grammar schools to talk. You gotta get 'em young. [in deep guttural tones] Hehehehe.

I would think of it this way - what to college athletes make? Squat right? The money goes to the school. Sure, after a few years in the collegiate spotlight, they can cash out while that's not true for the WNBA. Hell, it's not even true for AAA ball. But that's the price you pay for following your passion.

On the bright side, Clark is already a rich woman from merch deals. Ka-ching.

It remains to be seen how much impact Clark and Reece will have have on attendance and merchandise sales for the year. I would assume the beginning of the season should provide some really positive numbers for the WBNA, but how will the numbers looks at mid season?

 

[KMFJD]

I was wondering so i googled it and found this

NBA interest by gender US 2023 | Statista

The National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league for men with 30 teams competing against each other in the United States.

www.statista.com

WNBA interest levels by gender US 2023 | Statista

The WNBA is an American professional women's basketball league established in 1996 and owned by the NBA.

www.statista.com

 

[manly]

It remains to be seen how much impact Clark and Reece will have have on attendance and merchandise sales for the year. I would assume the beginning of the season should provide some really positive numbers for the WBNA, but how will the numbers looks at mid season?

I won't watch any WNBA, but I expect Clark to have a very positive impact on the league. But that depends on if her game translates to the pros, against much better competition. If for some reason, she's the Jimmer Fredette of women's hoops, then never mind. I did watch 3 of Clark's games over 2 seasons, because her playing style is very entertaining. So I think her economic impact will outperform that rookie scale contract by a lot. It'll be a process and doesn't need to blow up in year 1.

You can thank Billie Jean King for getting equal pay at the tennis Grand Slams. I'm all for equal pay for equal work, and that applies to many jobs. But athletics/entertainment is obviously different, and should be driven by the underlying economics. Everyone knows the WNBA is propped up by the NBA, and if that association wasn't there, the WNBA would probably be even less popular than it currently is. Having said that, if the league organically grows its revenues, then player salaries will necessarily follow the trend. That's how it is in men's pro sports (the UFC is a notable exception).

 

[Charmonium]

This year's stats will probably be a better indication of WNBA interest.

You know, the adult population of the US for the last census was just under 260M. So even 10% of that should be enough to support better financial number for the WNBA.

Also, it seems that 2023 revenue was double 2019 but player salaries fell. This a mix of info from the link and LinkedIn

WNBA projects $200 million in 2023 revenue, per report - Just Women's Sports

While the WNBA is projected to bring in $200 million in revenue in 2023, according to Bloomberg, player salaries remain complicated.

justwomenssports.com

 

[Muse]

Why are these idiots just comparing her salary to an NBA rookie's salary but not comparing the WNBA revenue to the NBA's revenue (you know where the salary money actually comes from??)

Is her salary just supposed to come out of thin air?

On TV tonight they said WNBA revenue is $200,000,000 and NBA revenue is 10,000,000,000. AKA 200 million versus 10 billion.

Of course, Caitlin will not starve. Her endorsements should run will into the millions, I figure.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Whenever someone mentions WNBA first thing I think of is the Snu Snu episode

 

[MrSquished]

women's NCAA bball final had higher ratings than the men's this year. But the WNBA has a long way to go, but hoping for an upward trajectory

 

[spacejamz]

Of course, Caitlin will not starve. Her endorsements should run will into the millions, I figure.

And those are only revenue figures....The WNBA operates at about a $10M loss per year through last year. (Last year, revenue was $60M but it cost $70M to run it)... how much will this change this year? How can you pay large salaries when you are operating at a loss?

To make this even crazier, the WNBA commissioner said a few days ago that league will add 4 more teams....

 

[spacejamz]

women's NCAA bball final had higher ratings than the men's this year. But the WNBA has a long way to go, but hoping for an upward trajectory

Definitely the Iowa/Caitlyn effect. I was trying to find the numbers to compare the ratings of the two final four games to see how the SC/NC State (non-Caityln game) did and I can't find anything on that number. I did see something that that average viewshipship was 10M for both and that the Iowa game was 14M - based on that, the other game would have been 6M for whatever that is worth.

 

[manly]

And those are only revenue figures....The WNBA operates at about a $10M loss per year through last year. (Last year, revenue was $60M but it cost $70M to run it)... how much will this change this year? How can you pay large salaries when you are operating at a loss?

To make this even crazier, the WNBA commissioner said a few days ago that league will add 4 more teams....

So it turns out that the WNBA does pay only about 10% of gross rev to players, which is a lot lower than in major men's leagues:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/business/caitlin-clark-will-earn-a-usd76-535-salary-this-year-the-lowest-paid-nba-player-makes-usd1-1-million/index.html

If the argument is they deserve a larger share of their pie, then I'm onboard with that. Perhaps the beef should be with the players union negotiators. The message gets muddied when you try to compare your business to one 50 times larger.

 

[Charmonium]

Definitely the Iowa/Caitlyn effect. I was trying to find the numbers to compare the ratings of the two final four games to see how the SC/NC State (non-Caityln game) did and I can't find anything on that number. I did see something that that average viewshipship was 10M for both and that the Iowa game was 14M - based on that, the other game would have been 6M for whatever that is worth.

I've noticed this many times in the past. Ratings data seems to be very closely held. You only get little chunks here and there - at least for current data.

For example, I just searched 'colbert ratings' and got an article from Variety that had info from December.

 

[spacejamz]

I've noticed this many times in the past. Ratings data seems to be very closely held. You only get little chunks here and there - at least for current data.

For example, I just searched 'colbert ratings' and got an article from Variety that had info from December.

there was definitely no shortage of articles about the ratings of the Finals and Iowa's Final Four game and how many viewers those games had though...outside of those 2 games, pretty much nada...

 

[highland145]

$3.4M net worth...she's not going to starve...unless she pulls an Allen Iverson.

 

[Oyeve]

She's gonna make millions with Nike. I don't feel bad at all.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

$3.4M net worth...she's not going to starve...unless she pulls an Allen Iverson.

Iverson is lucky his agent got Reebok to put away $32 million he can only touch the day he turns 55.

 

[Roger Wilco]

She’s gonna make a ton of money and hopefully be the start of a new beginning for women’s sports.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1780779250054041652

 

[Zorba]

women's NCAA bball final had higher ratings than the men's this year. But the WNBA has a long way to go, but hoping for an upward trajectory

This is a huge achievement, like insane, but it does have a caveat because the men were on TBS while the women were on CBS.

 

[Zorba]

Definitely the Iowa/Caitlyn effect. I was trying to find the numbers to compare the ratings of the two final four games to see how the SC/NC State (non-Caityln game) did and I can't find anything on that number. I did see something that that average viewshipship was 10M for both and that the Iowa game was 14M - based on that, the other game would have been 6M for whatever that is worth.

This is elite 8 but interesting.

Iowa vs. LSU sets viewership record

The Iowa versus LSU game shattered the previous all-time mark set last year for LSU's win over Iowa in last year’s championship.

theathletic.com

 

[manly]

This is a huge achievement, like insane, but it does have a caveat because the men were on TBS while the women were on CBS.

Caveat not really necessary, the women's champ game (on ABC) was the most watched basketball game period going back to the 2019 NBA Finals.*

Wasn't the men's Final 4 telecast on CBS on a Saturday? I believe Clark's national semifinal game beat those as well. Obviously Clark will do very well in endorsements, but the WNBA should print profits for a couple years until a new CBA (to be negotiated) kicks in. The players current 10% take rate of total revenue sounds like UFC-level exploitation.**

* what's really sad is if you looked at World Series viewership
** most UFC fighters make a pittance, while the company is wildly profitable

 

[Zorba]

Caveat not really necessary, the women's champ game (on ABC) was the most watched basketball game period going back to the 2019 NBA Finals.*

Wasn't the men's Final 4 telecast on CBS on a Saturday? I believe Clark's national semifinal game beat those as well. Obviously Clark will do very well in endorsements, but the WNBA should print profits for a couple years until a new CBA (to be negotiated) kicks in. The players current 10% take rate of total revenue sounds like UFC-level exploitation.**

* what's really sad is if you looked at World Series viewership
** most UFC fighters make a pittance, while the company is wildly profitable

I hadn't heard the championship game did that well.

The men's goes back and forth between TBS and CBS every other year (why I was thinking the woman's was on CBS instead of ABC). This year it was on TBS. I wanted to watch the final, but was driving to Texas for the eclipse when it was on.

A difference with WNBA and UFC is that UFC is very profitable, while WNBA isn't.

 

[manly]

I hadn't heard the championship game did that well.

The men's goes back and forth between TBS and CBS every other year (why I was thinking the woman's was on CBS instead of ABC). This year it was on TBS. I wanted to watch the final, but was driving to Texas for the eclipse when it was on.

A difference with WNBA and UFC is that UFC is very profitable, while WNBA isn't.

Obviously we recognize that the NBA Finals is best of 7, but it's still wild that the women's college champ game was the most watched hoops contest over the past 4 1/2 years.

I got a few details wrong. The men's Final 4 was on cable, but so was the women's Final 4. Caitlyn Clark bested the UConn/Alabama men but it was very nearly a tie.

Awful Announcing - 2024 men’s Final Four viewership slightly up from last year

Yeah it's "criminal" what the UFC pays its fighters.