How Graham Platner's Campaign Is Trying to Do Damage Control After Nazi Tattoo...
Even CNN Is Calling Out Dems Over This Lie About Trump's White House...
Is This the Most Insane Reaction to President Trump's East Wing Project
LOL: The White House Did Not Include *This* on Their Website. It's Classic...
Bernie Sanders Just Broke With His Party Over This Trump Policy
Oh, Look Who Donated to Trump's White House Renovation Project
The Press Trips Over Themselves to Defend a Prosecutor, and Trump's Ballroom Project...
Democrats Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel for Candidates
The Empire Strikes Back: Trump vs Venezuela, Columbia, Antifa, and Illegals
What Charlie Kirk Understood About America’s Lost Youth
Abigail Spanberger, As Governor, You’re Supposed to Make Decisions
While Washington Imports Price Controls, China Imports Our Future
Kentucky Waste Industry Mogul Promises to 'Take Out the Trash' in Washington DC
Pakistani National Sentenced to 40 Years for Smuggling Cruise Missiles, Warhead
Tennessee Attorney General Files Amicus Brief in US Supreme Court Opposing Birthright Citi...
Tipsheet

‘Pay Us What You Owe Us,’ Says the Sports League That’s $50 Million in the Red

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File

The WNBA All-Star game kicked off on Saturday, and the players elected to make a statement to the league with their warm-up jerseys, which all read: "Pay us what you owe us." 

Advertisement

The kind statement has been routine in women's sports in recent years, where athletes regularly call for equal pay. However, the reality is that their games don't draw the same crowds, much less the same revenue, as their male counterparts.

In 2024, the average NBA game drew an average of 1.5 million viewers on national television, whereas the WNBA drew less than half that, at 660,000 viewers. For the NBA, their average viewership represented a 2 percent decline from the previous year, whereas the WNBA set a record high. 

In revenue, the NBA drew in $10 billion in the 2023/2024 season, whereas the WNBA got around $200 million. In other words, the revenue of the female players is 50 times less than that of the male athletes. And profit margins are even worse for them, as the WNBA has been operating at a net loss of $40-50 million per year. 

Advertisement

To make matters more complicated, the WNBA since its founding in 1996 has been subsidized by the NBA. They provide $15 million annually to the WNBA for critical needs like player salaries, marketing, league operations, and facilities. In total since the league's inception, they have received upwards of $400 million from the men's league.

Unfortunately for the WNBA players, what they are owed by the league is a shared debt of around $382,000 a year, combining both their annual profit losses and NBA subsidization. Their average salary is only around $102,000.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement