“Ohh it’s about skill set? level 2. Like Larry Bird, an incredible shooter and playmaker, who undoubtedly ignored dunking during practices. Debatably, some WNBA players have a higher skill level than NBA players. This has led David Berri of Forbes to argue that because WNBA salaries make up less than a quarter of league revenue, as opposed to the NBA’s 50 percent split, the WNBA is clearly exploiting their players. In fact, the WNBA’s big television contract was itself a byproduct of the channel reworking its agreement with their male counterpart. In fact, WNBA Dallas Wings’ point guard, Skylar Diggins said, “As athletes, we have to fight. NBA players also get better endorsement deals and jersey sales, increasing their pay by millions. I'd wager the vast majority of people on the streets couldn't even name three WNBA teams off the top of their head without using Google. I agree that the average salary in the WNBA is awful but until the players have more leverage, I don’t see that changing. I'm a guy so i'm not a sexist woman but honestly i think they should get payed way more. Report Save. The WNBA does not have the amount of television contract and sponsorship money to warrant paying players more, having a longer season, and/or … There maybe fewer slackers on WNBA teams because there seems to be fewer chances for female athletes and they don’t want to fail. Both have the mindset and will to win. If people want WNBA players to get paid more, then they should become fans. 2. With a starting salary of $100,000 in the EuroLeague, there would still be a hefty incentive to play overseas even if players’ salaries increased a substantial amount in the WNBA. Second, you say, “Debatably, some WNBA players have a higher skill level than NBA players.” If the women are better why aren’t they playing in the NBA? Both the men and women play in very competitive leagues and they can only succeed if they work incredibly hard. But once the WNBA season wraps, several players head overseas to play internationally. Do some research on why WNBA doesnt get payed a lot. This, and the fact that people would much rather go to an NBA game than a WNBA game, which means fewer ticket sales for the WNBA, decreases the women’s pay. The latest example of this economic fallacy emerged when A’ja Wilson of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces took to Twitter to poke LeBron James’s new contract with the Las Angeles Lakers. Diggins-Smith has made hundreds of thousands of dollars during her five seasons in the WNBA, yet she feels it’s unfair that she makes considerably less than NBA players. It is a credit to the economics profession that the labor theory of value has largely fallen out of style. Women have to work harder and better to develop their skill level to get the same respect as men do. Reply. Book reviews are due May 14th! 1 Is A Threat, Lester Holt’s ‘Fairness Is Overrated’ Monologue Accents Journalism’s Corruption, NCAA Football And Basketball Are Absolutely Exploiting Athletes, But So Are Fans, Kristi Noem Has No Good Explanations For Vetoing The Girls’ Sports Bill, NASCAR Returns To The Dirt With Sold-Out Sunday Race, Another Round Of New Baseball Rules Threaten The Game’s Rich History, The Washington Football Team Is Foolishly Sacrificing Cheerleaders To Save Its Public Image. Welcome back from spring break, Rectory students and faculty! "Most contracts that pay NBA players more than 100 times a year what a WNBA player makes wouldn’t even allow such reckless offseason activity. Stewart’s injury and Taurasi’s comments could be the rallying points behind a full-scale change in the way WNBA players are treated. So even relative to other non-major professional leagues, the WNBA struggles for relevance. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week in an antitrust case over the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s refusal to fairly compensate athletes. Why substantially increasing WNBA player salaries is more complex than you think Diana Taurasi has played overseas for more than 10 years to supplement her income as a pro women's basketball player. I agree that the ladies, probably on average, don’t work harder than their counterparts. However, due to aspects such as entertainment value and money, they are on opposite sides of the spectrum. This also helps explains why e-sports players are making more money than the best players in the WNBA. Your article sheds valuable light on an interesting topic, and one I know is very important to you. The women are incredible athletes and they train equally hard as the men. Playing overseas should be a choice, not a necessity. According to ESPN estimates, NBA players receive around 50 percent of the EBRI; WNBA players receive around 22 percent. Until then, women basketball players should perhaps look for markets that place greater value on their skill. “154M. My name is Nala , and this is my first year at Rectory. As for the skill comment, I think Nala is trying to say that WNBA players maybe better shooters because, lacking the height of their male counterparts, dunking and other moves are not a focus leaving more time to practice pure shooting. Ticket sales are only part of it, yet it’s a big part. May 31st, 2020 6:56 pm. WNBA players should be paid a lot more than they’re getting right now. That’s millions of dollars more for the men who possibly do just half the work; physically, women must train harder to maintain their professional standard of conditioning. One reason for the pay difference is that the WNBA players do not receive the same management as NBA players to get them commercials, TV shows, and other promotions that will increase their pay. In her defense, Wilson is a 21-year-old athlete who probably hasn’t thought a great deal about economics. While some top players made up to $90,000, not including the endorsements that came with star status, Redd earned about $40,000 for playing the entire four-month season. As David Berri … And we need men speaking out on these things.”. Is the Debate Format the Best Way for Candidates to Express Their Ideas? Nala, great article. Waymore noise. Stephen Curry even said, in reference to the WNBA players, “ I learn a little bit from them as well.” These NBA players give the female players recognition of their game. The highest-paid players in the WNBA make less than 14 percent of that. It is also common for women to be better at their jobs than men and not get raises or promotions. We hope you enjoyed your break and are ready to get back to work! Currently, the WNBA’s highest player’s salary is $110,000 per year, which is far less than the highest salary of an NBA player. NBA players are getting paid more than the women of the WNBA for obvious reasons, with the global brand sporting superstars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Many WNBA players, as well as other social justice advocates, are trying to make the case that WNBA players should be paid the same as NBA players (as a percentage of league revenue), but that is just not feasible. Do Today’s Musicians Require Less Talent to Gain Respect? Rectory is your new home and family, and we know you will love it! Is it possible, however, that this simply shows an inherent sexist bias by consumers against women’s basketball? Tho Bishop is an Assistant Editor for the Mises Wire. In the overall economy, labor tends to be paid 60% of revenue. Many of the women don’t get lucrative endorsements, and getting into broadcasting or some other sports-adjacent field once they retire is not guaranteed. Basketball players Nneka Ogwumike and Sue Bird take Know Your Value inside U.S. team members' fight for equal pay in the WNBA and shared how … Like Russia. Be sure to drop a LIKE if you enjoyed and SUBSCRIBE for more content! Male athletes are paid more than female athletes for the same reason that A-list movie stars are paid more than street performers. Each game: 50,000+ fans, each paying approx. As The New York Times reported in 2016,only half of WNBA teams have managed to become profitable 20 years after the league’s founding. No pain can still result in financial gain. Prior to that he served as Deputy Communications Director for the House Financial Services Committee under Rep. Spencer Bachus and Rep. Jeb Hensarling. Michael Jordan received an NBA salary worth over 30 million dollars in a season. So instead of grumbling about the salaries male basketball players enjoy, perhaps A’ja Wilson should be thankful that the men’s product helps bolster her own paycheck. The WNBA players get paid less than $80,000 averagely in 2019–20, while NBA players earned $7.4 million averagely in the same period (Berri, 2020). So it doesn't seem the WNBA players are unreasonable to … What do you think regarding this topic? If you want a picture to show with your comment, go get a gravatar. If your only reason for WNBA players to be paid more is because the NBA players are paid more, then we need to rethink things. What WNBA players keep emphasizing is that they want the … Undermining Berri’s position, though, is the simple observation that revenue is not the same as profit – another measure by which the WNBA has consistently struggled. Hiring more men to help with public sexual harassment issues seems like a very funny Band-Aid to the organization’s problems. Is the Influence of AI on our Daily Lives Positive or Not? Despite this disparity, the WNBA players are not being asked to be paid the same amount as an NBA player. The WNBA has been struggling for years to catch up to their male-counterpart league. It’s understandable for someone in her position to be envious of the paychecks earned in major professional sports leagues. LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in human history, but if his sport of choice generated the public interest the WNBA has, he would not be signing a $154 million dollar contract. This is a great start to the future of equally-respected basketball players.! At least not yet. Dallas Wings point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith recently told Wealthsimplethat she wanted to be paid like a man. Kristi Noem should have signed the bill and demanded her state legislature pass more, such as a ban on the transgender mutilation of minors. Yet despite drawing similar crowds in the 1960s, NBA players earned far bigger paychecks than today's WNBA stars receive. must.be. There is, however, one sector of the economy in which it continues to be taken seriously: sports. According to Forbes magazine, the NBA generated nearly $7.7 billion in revenue in 2016-17. Liz Cambage, a center for the Dallas Wings, tweeted that NBA refs make more than a WNBA player, and the 12th man on an NBA team makes more money than a whole WNBA team! The financial success of professional athletes has almost nothing to do with their talent and everything to do with the entertainment the public receives from it. Of course consumer preferences can change. ... Getting the WNBA players more … Baseball reflects an older version of America, one with a few rules and a lot of space to live. 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