{"674387":{"#nid":"674387","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Will Caitlin Clark\u0027s Star Power Raise WNBA Salaries?\u00a0","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe 2024 women\u0027s basketball NCAA tournament championship game boasted more viewers than the men\u0027s final for the first time in history. Yet, NCAA star Caitlin Clark will earn an average of only $84,000 a year as the number one WNBA draft pick this summer. In contrast, the number one pick in last year\u0027s NBA draft, Victor Wembanyama, is earning about $13 million per year.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Clark becomes a household name, she elevates a question WNBA players, fans, and advocates have asked for decades: why is there such a significant pay disparity between men\u0027s and women\u0027s basketball?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/mary-g-mcdonald\u0022\u003EMary McDonald,\u003C\/a\u003E a professor of sociology and Homer C. Rice Chair of Sports and Society in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of History and Sociology\u003C\/a\u003E, explains how racism, sexism, cultural narratives, and under-investment all have helped perpetuate the long-standing wage gap between the NBA and WNBA. She also discusses how a confluence of changes, including Clark\u0027s star power and a new bargaining agreement in 2025, may affect it.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EWNBA Players Earn Less Than 1% of Their Male Counterparts\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald begins with a statistic: while women across all occupations make roughly 84 cents on the dollar compared to men, Black women make only 64 cents when compared to white men.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This racialized gendered devaluing of labor is important to highlight given the WNBA\u0027s predominantly Black playing force,\u0022 McDonald says. In sports, the wage gap is even more pronounced, she says, pointing to estimates from economist David Berri that WNBA players earn less than 1% of what NBA players make.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is much more at play than simple market economics,\u0022 she says. \u0022A legacy of exclusion, a complicit sports media, and differing levels of investment by NBA owners have disadvantaged the women\u0027s game and ability to earn a fair wage.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EAnticipated Changes in 2025\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWNBA players like WNBA Player\u2019s Association President Nneka Ogwumike of the Seattle Storm have not only argued the need to build the basketball-related revenue pie but also to provide WNBA players with a larger percentage of the resulting revenue, McDonald explains. The NBA founded the WNBA in 1997 and still owns 42% of the league. However, NBA players receive 50% of the NBA basketball-related revenue while WNBA players receive only an estimated 10% of the WNBA pot.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut this may change in 2025 when the current WNBA collective bargaining agreement expires and the players negotiate a new contract, McDonald says. Importantly, this is also when the WNBA\u0027s current TV rights deal expires, she adds. Based upon their long-standing advocacy, the players will likely continue to ask for what NBA players receive in the form of 50% of the basketball-related revenues from both the teams and the league.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Receiving 50% of total basketball revenue would greatly elevate player salaries. Before scaling for rookie and veteran salary differences, this translates into an average of over $500,000 per player per year. And this is based on 2022 figures \u2014 the pot of money available in 2025 will likely be much larger, especially with a new TV deal on the horizon,\u0022 McDonald says. \u201cThe open question is: Will WNBA owners realize the opportunity they have to grow the league and the game by investing in player salaries and improving travel and working conditions?\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003ECaitlin Clark, ESPN, and Social Media\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough basketball experts have long known about Clark, \u0022her national exposure during Iowa\u0027s 2022-23 national championship runner-up season last year certainly elevated her status, cultural visibility, and marketability,\u0022 McDonald says.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EClark\u0027s rise occurred at the same time as two other important factors: ESPN increasing coverage and promotion of the Women\u0027s NCAA tournament and players\u0027 ability to use social media to bypass the legacy media gatekeepers and narrate their own \u0022fresh and appealing\u0022 storylines, McDonald says. Both of these factors have generated greater interest in women\u0027s sports.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Clark\u0027s celebrity has helped to generate new public interest in the pay of WNBA players, as did the 2022 detainment of Phoenix Mercury player Brittany Griner in a Russian prison for nearly ten months,\u0022 McDonald says. \u0022That story had people questioning why stars like Griner have to play overseas in the offseason to earn greater salaries than they receive in the WNBA.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003EThe Takeaway\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EClark is entering the WNBA in a period of league expansion and increased media attention. As revenues expand and WNBA players continue their work to gain more leverage in the next round of collective bargaining, McDonald anticipates compensation increases for WNBA players in the coming years.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The new TV contract in 2025 \u2014 which will likely exceed $100 million compared to the existing $65 million deal \u2014 will provide greater exposure for the league and its players,\u0022 McDonald explains. \u0022This, in addition to public pressure generated by WNBA players\u0027 advocacy \u2014 now including Clark\u0027s advocacy \u2014 and social media activism, all bolster the push for what WNBA players have desired and fought for since the league\u0027s inception: better marketing, more media exposure, higher salaries, and improved working conditions.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMcDonald has \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Mary-Mcdonald-4\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished extensively\u003C\/a\u003E on the intersection of sports and gender and is currently writing a book on the WNBA tentatively titled\u003C\/em\u003E \u0027We Got Next\u0027: The Affective Politics of the WNBA. \u003Cem\u003ELearn more in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/mary-g-mcdonald\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eher faculty profile\u003C\/a\u003E or our \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/656184\/questions-march-madness-with-sports-society-professor-mary-mcdonald\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMarch Madness Q\u0026amp;A with McDonald\u003C\/a\u003E in 2022.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs Caitlin Clark becomes a household name, she elevates a question WNBA players, fans, and advocates have asked for decades: why is there such a significant pay disparity between men\u0027s and women\u0027s basketball?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As Caitlin Clark becomes a household name, she elevates a question WNBA players, fans, and advocates have asked for decades: why is there such a significant pay disparity between men\u0027s and women\u0027s basketball?\u00a0"}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2024-04-25 19:47:44","changed_gmt":"2024-04-26 13:25:03","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673854":{"id":"673854","type":"image","title":"BasketballCourt.png","body":null,"created":"1714075413","gmt_created":"2024-04-25 20:03:33","changed":"1714075413","gmt_changed":"2024-04-25 20:03:33","alt":"Basketball court stock photo","file":{"fid":"257303","name":"BasketballCourt.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/25\/BasketballCourt.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/25\/BasketballCourt.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1986372,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/04\/25\/BasketballCourt.png?itok=uOsbE7I1"}}},"media_ids":["673854"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1288","name":"School of History and Sociology"}],"categories":[{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dminardi3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EDi Minardi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}