The average NBA salary in 2023-2024 was $9.7 million. The average WNBA salary during the same time period was $147,745. This is clear evidence of sexism, right? (Can you sense the thick sarcasm?)

Over the last few years, there’s been a segment of people who legitimately think that the disparity between NBA salaries and WNBA salaries is indeed primarily informed by systemic anti-women sentiments.

Several WNBA players have spoken out. One of the most notable was when standout player Kelsey Plum made waves with her comments more than two years ago. And then, more recently, standout young player Angel Reese spoke out in March saying, “We should be getting paid like NBA players!”

In addition, several American celebrities have chimed in over the last year too. The most famous being former vice president Kamala Harris; she made comments about this issue while running for president in 2024—on the campaign trail she implied that systemic anti-women sentiments play a role and she promised that equal pay for the WNBA players would be a priority for her if she won the presidency.

Are Plum, Reese, and the former vice president right? Is there any validity to their claims?

 

Not Sexism, Just Basic Economics

The WNBA launched in 1996. The league is owned by a combination of NBA team owners and outside private investors. From the time of the league’s inception, it’s been subsidized by the NBA owners, with the hope that the league could eventually stand on its own two feet. But after 30 seasons, the WNBA shows no sign of financial solvency.

Now, there are good social reasons to keep the WNBA going. I think it’s good for the morale of female high school and college athletes. And it does also offer another option for sports entertainment for those people who genuinely like the WNBA’s style.

However, the WNBA is not a money maker.

In 2024, the WNBA gross revenue was apx. $200 million. However, in that same league year, the WNBA operated in the red—it lost $50 million. And the league is expected to lose another $50 million this upcoming season.

 

Why the WNBA Loses Money: Not Enough Eyeballs

It’s really quite simple, the league is not popular enough to generate a profit. For every business, there’s a break even point—and the WNBA ain’t hitting theirs.

Every business has a break even point; small businesses, restaurants, banks, tradesmen, private high schools, churches, media agencies, websites, coffee shops, streaming services—every organization needs a certain number of consumers to make their thing profitable. And the WNBA simply does not have enough.

There’s a certain number of game tickets that need to be sold each season, and the WNBA ain’t hitting that number. There’s a certain number of eyeballs that need to be watching the games on TV, and the WNBA ain’t getting that either. In its three decades of existence, the WNBA has never hit their break even point.

 

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Currently, the WNBA players are paid 9.3% of the total league revenues—more than $18.6 million was paid out to WNBA players (collectively) in 2024. However, in addition to player compensation, the league’s operating expenses were more than $231 million last season.

 

 

The WNBA owners collectively lost $50 million last season.

Now, let’s compare that with the NBA. The men’s league generated $11.2 billion last year. NBA players are paid, collectively, apx. 50% of the league revenues, which amounted to $5.6 billion (collectively) during the 2023-2024 season.

But here’s the big difference between the NBA and the WNBA: the NBA actually turns a profit. The precise profit numbers for 2023-2024 are not yet public, but most estimates say that the gross profits were $9.15 billion, from which the NBA players were paid their $5.6 billion, which leaves the owner’s profits being apx. $3.55 billion (18% of the total league revenues).

That means the NBA players collectively took home apx. 61% of the NBA’s profits in 2023-2024 season. As you’ll see in the table below, the NBA makes a lot of money, so the owners are glad to compensate the players handsomely.

 

 

Demand for More Revenue

The aforementioned Kelsey Plum said, “We’re not asking to get paid what the men get paid. We’re asking to get paid the same percentage of revenue shared.”

The WNBA players want what the NBA players get—half of the total gross revenue. But in most industries, when workers demand a bigger share of the total gross revenue, it’s because the business leadership or ownership are actually turning a big profit. That’s not the case here.

If your product doesn’t make money, then you don’t really have a leg to stand on. It’s absurd for WNBA players to demand a significant increase in their share of revenue when the league has not been able to turn a profit in 30 years. And if the WNBA players really make this a headache for the owners and investors, the owners very well could just shut it all down.

 

Do You Really Want to Be Treated ‘Equally’?

So, the WNBA players want to be treated like the NBA players, right? Okay, fine. Let’s put that to the test.

As shown above, the NBA players absorb 61% of their league’s profits—which amounts to $5.6 billion per year. Therefore, to be truly equal, the WNBA players ought to also get 61% of their league’s profits. Sounds fair, right? Well, the WNBA’s profits last season were negative-$50 million, so the players should be forced to absorb 61% of that.

The WNBA players should, collectively, be on the hook for 61% of what their league has produced—which would be 61% of the negative-$50 million.

If the lady ballers really want to be treated the same way that the men are treated, then the WNBA players should actually be paying the league owners each season, to the tune of $30.5 million. This would amount to each WNBA player paying $191,500 each season.

But, are the WNBA players expected to absorb the losses? No, they’re not. And instead of absorbing the league’s losses, the WNBA players actually get paid amounts that are nearly triple the average American salary. Not too shabby.

When you examine the WNBA’s financial situation, you realize that the WNBA players are treated better than the men. Not only are WNBA players not underpaid, I think they’re actually grossly overpaid!

 

Men Don’t Watch the WNBA, Because It’s Boring

Recently, someone I know personally made this comment on Facebook:

“If men watched the women ball, the WNBA would make money. You can’t tell me all these men basketball fans watch the NBA but are refusing to watch the WNBA. Why? Just because the WNBA is supposedly lesser quality. No. If the guys are basketball fans, they should watch WNBA too. We all know what’s really going on. The reason men don’t watch is because they hate women. This is toxic masculinity at its finest.”

I couldn’t believe it when I read it. She genuinely believes that there are some men who might find the WNBA entertaining, but are refusing to watch because they hate women. Wow!

Listen, some men might legitimately like the WNBA. That’s fine. If you like it, then watch it. Watch whatever sports you want to watch. But let’s be real: Most men don’t find the WNBA entertaining. In fact, most women don’t either.

People will watch whatever sports or events they find entertaining. I watch pro football because I think it’s very entertaining, but I don’t watch college football because I don’t think it’s nearly as entertaining. That’s my opinion. Certainly there are many people who disagree with me on that.

I also don’t watch the NHL or soccer or NASCAR. Why? Because I think those sports are boring. But the gender of the athletes participating is totally irrelevant to me. I ignore many sports and many leagues, and it’s not because of sex or gender. It’s about entertainment value!

I love the NBA and men’s college basketball. But the NBA and men’s college ball has elements that simply do not exist in the WNBA.

The WNBA lacks the awesome high-flying ‘above the rim’ action we see in the NBA. The WNBA game is slower, less physical, lower scoring, and much more predictable. Men and women are different—no matter what our crazy culture says—so the style of basketball played by the men is different than what the women play. Frankly, I think the WNBA’s style is boring, and it’s okay for me to think that.

Disliking the quality and style of the WNBA is not sexist, it’s just preference. We’re allowed to have different preferences. To imply otherwise is asinine and reeks of insecurity, entitlement, and (borderline) Marxist ideology.

 

Conclusion

If the NBA owners and the private investors that own the WNBA want to kick in more money to keep the WNBA going, that’s totally fine, that’s up to them—they can do whatever they want with their money. But the WNBA players and various celebrities complaining about the pay, when their league has never been profitable and is subsidized by the NBA owners, seems absolutely ridiculous to me.

As I previously stated, I think there are very good reasons to keep the WNBA going, from a social perspective. But the truth remains: Based purely on the economics of it all, the WNBA players are actually grossly overpaid!