Opinion Piece: Caitlin Clark's Salary is too Low! \ stacker news ~Stacker

No, this post is not about WNBA players making as much as NBA players. There have been tons of complaints about that, though. They compare her salary to the tall guy from the Spurs (don't feel like looking up how to spell his name) as proof for the gender pay gap. They ignore the fact that comparing wages between players in the NBA and WNBA would be like comparing earnings between winning a local bike race and winning the Tour de France. It is an absurd notion.

The real issue is that in the WNBA wages are set by collective bargaining. This means prices are not allowed to clear the market, artificially lowering her salary.

Let's consider the Caitlin Clark effect:

Her final three college games had more viewership than previous games in the NBA Finals.
WNBA is expecting to make more money from broadcasting contracts due to her being in the league.
Ticket prices for games she will be playing in are going up.
Certain games she is playing in are moving to bigger stadiums.
Her jersey was the top sold jersey after being drafted.
Pretty sure season tickets for the Indiana Fever have gone up.

I am sure there are many, many more.

Even with all those things, the WNBA will not make as much as the NBA so it is no surprise she won't make as much as NBA players. The real issue that she and the other first 4 draft picks are all going to make the same amount of money from the WNBA. This is a travesty. The only reason I know the name of one other player among the top 4 draft picks is because she played against Iowa in the championship game. Yet she and 2 others will have the same WNBA salary as Clark for the first few years of their career. If you follow the viewership and the money, it is crystal clear that all the attention women's basketball is getting is from Clark. If prices weren't being distorted by collective bargaining, Caitlin Clark would make significantly more than other rookies, and likely the rest of the league.

Now imagine this - you single handedly make a change at your company that leads to an immediate and significant boost in revenue. Everyone in the company knows it was solely due to your ingenuity. Not only that, but because of you other employees will have the potential to increase their wages/bonuses. I don't know about you, but if I were not adequately compensated I would leave. I wouldn't complain about someone from a more profitable company getting paid more, I'd complain that I am not getting paid the most at my company.

If people really think Caitlin Clark should make more money, they should be opposed to unions artificially lowering her wages. It will never make sense to compare her salary to players in a league that has been around for 30 or so more years, is exceptionally profitable, and is literally subsidizing her league.

121 sats \ 2 replies \ @elvismercury 19 Apr

Alternate take: without collective bargaining, most players in the WNBA couldn't afford to play in the league at all; the league wouldn't be economically viable, and Caitlin Clark's salary would be at zero, at least in terms of domestic basketball.

27 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 20 Apr

Great point! I didn’t consider this angle. I also didn’t know anything about WNBA salaries until this post

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Voldemort OP 21 Apr

This could be true - I don't know how the contract between NBA and WNBA works. It might be that the NBA would subsidize the WNBA with or without collective bargaining because they think it can be profitable over time.

Supposing it is true though - who is to say there wouldn't be other alternative leagues or opportunities for her that would be more profitable?

If there was no WNBA, maybe there would be a coed league of some sort that would be more productive? The Big 3 league offered her $5 million to play. Personally, I would rather watch coed 3-3 vs the WNBA. Women guards are fun to watch IMO. The part that is less fun is watching their post players. Throughout Clark's career I thought her game would be supremely elevated if the bigs on her team could catch, run, shoot, and dunk.

Of course that is speculation.

163 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 19 Apr

Hopefully she will make a lot in endorsements. I doubt she will ever make much in salary in the WNBA.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @pj 20 Apr

I think that’s the plan. Basically, continuing NIL but as a pro.

Bottom line, there isn’t much demand for the WNBA. WNBA teams have little brand awareness. Only diehard fans can name every team in the league. As opposed to the college game; people have personal connections to colleges which clearly helps. Same with the Olympics. Lastly, WNBA is incredibly US-centric. Compared to WTA and the LPGA, this hurts when it comes to sponsorships and funding. Multi-national companies want to sponsor multi-national leagues.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @wingalt 22 Apr

Somehow the laws of economics seem to be better tolerated for women supermodels, nobody is complaining that they are making way more than men models. Like in any economic activity you get as much as you manage to sell, once somebody cares about WNBA the players will make more