"To put it really simple: If you don’t respect women’s basketball, you’re a joke.
You’re a joke, man."
Isaiah Thomas -- NBA All-Star and guard for the Denver Nuggets -- said this on Monday. And he is not the only NBA player to make such an argument.
Despite support from NBA players, though, there remain people who clearly do not respect the WNBA. This past week, some of these people went so far as to invent quotes from WNBA players regarding the issue of pay in the WNBA. As Matt Ellentuck argued, such quotes appear intended to create divisions between WNBA and NBA players. These quotes also obscure the argument the WNBA players are making.
In the past few weeks, a collection of WNBA stars have spoken out about pay in the WNBA. An incomplete list would include Liz Cambage, Kelsey Plum, Skyler Diggins-Smith, A'ja Wilson, Seimone Augustus, Kia Nurse, and Brittney Griner. According to High Post Hoops, none of these players are paid more than $115,500 by the WNBA. Meanwhile, according to ESPN, the eight lowest paid players in the NBA in 2018-19 will be paid $838,464. And none of these players have even played in the NBA yet.
Despite this disparity, the WNBA players are not being asked to be paid the same amount as an NBA player. What WNBA players keep emphasizing is that they want the WNBA to change the way the WNBA revenues are shared with its players.
Currently, the NBA pays about 50% of its revenue to its players. The WNBA -- as I previously calculated (and also as noted by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, ESPN, The Minnesota Star Tribune and The Washington Post) pays less than 25% of its revenue to its players. The players of the WNBA -- as A'ja Wilson specifically noted -- would like this revenue split to be changed.
It's important to emphasize that the NBA's revenue split is determined by its collective bargaining agreement while the WNBA's revenue split was only estimated. Furthermore -- as emphasized before -- this estimate clearly left out some of what comprises league revenue. This is because the league does not publicize all the details of the various deals it (and its teams) have made.
Here is what is publicly knowns about WNBA revenue:
- ESPN pays the WNBA $25 million per season for the right to broadcast some of its games.
- Average attendance in the WNBA in 2018 was 6,712 per-game.
- Given each team's attendance and minimum ticket prices for each team, minimum gate revenue must be at least $24.4 million.
- WNBA teams also have corporate sponsors and those can be substantial. It was recently reported the Connecticut Sun earn 40% of their revenue just from these sponsorships. Given what we know of the ESPN deal and the Sun's minimum gate revenue, these sponsorships increase Connecticut's revenue estimate from $4.95 million to $8.24 million.
These are also not the only sources of league revenue. The WNBA sells subscriptions to League Pass (subscriptions that have increased by 40% this past year). There are also other revenue sources including merchandise sales, local television and radio deals, and agreements with Twitter, FanDuel, and Tidal.
We do not know the dollar figures associated with any of these other revenue sources. But one league source said that a "conservative figure" for WNBA league revenue is $60 million.
The average salary for the 137 players in the High Post Hoops WNBA salary database was $77,878 this past season. Given this average, all the players in the WNBA were paid an estimated $12.3 million this past season. That means the WNBA players are only receiving 20.4% of a conservative estimate of league revenue. Yes, as we keep learning more and more about league revenue the estimated split looks worse and worse for the players.
Again, all of this is just an estimate. But it is this estimate that is causing WNBA players to question how the league is paying its players. Currently, the average salary is less than $80,000 while the maximum salary is only $117,500 (High Post Hoops says Jewel Loyd and Chiney Ogwumike are paid this amount). If the WNBA paid its players like the NBA, the players would be receiving about $30 million in revenue. This would increase the average WNBA salary to about $191,083.
As for maximum salaries, that number depends on how the WNBA might pay its best players. The NBA currently gives its very best veterans a "supermax" salary equal to 35% of the league salary cap. If the WNBA followed the NBA's lead in its calculation of the salary cap and the supermax salary, top salaries in the WNBA would be about $670,000 (if revenues were split 50%).
An alternative approach is to follow this approach used to measure the economic value of a college basketball player. If the WNBA followed this approach in 2018, the ten most productive players in the WNBA would be paid the following salaries:
- Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx): $991,669
- Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky): $795,928
- Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm): $766,885
- Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury): $758,072
- Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics): $746,130
- Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks): $709,677
- Liz Cambage (Dallas Wings): $708,133
- Sue Bird (Seattle Storm): $665,661
- DeWanna Bonner (Phoenix Mercury): $572,351
- Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks): $542,459
As one can see, if the WNBA split its revenue in the same fashion we see in the NBA, WNBA players would each receive quite a bit more money. But virtually no WNBA player would be paid as well as the lowest paid NBA player.
Once again, it doesn't appear that WNBA players are asking to be paid like an NBA player. The players are simply asking for the WNBA to start treating their players as if they were playing in the top women's basketball league in the world.
Right now, that doesn't seem to be happening. Many WNBA players currently get paid much more to play elsewhere. And that means when the WNBA playoffs end, many players embark on a second 2018 season in another country. Skylar Diggins-Smith recently emphasized that playing elsewhere impacts the health and longevity of WNBA players and also reduces their ability to market the WNBA throughout the year. In other words, the pay issue impacts the long-run success of the WNBA.
Ideally, WNBA players should finish the playoffs and then get some much-needed rest. Certainly, Elena Delle Donne and Sue Bird might need a break. Delle Donne suffered a significant leg injury in the second game of the WNBA semi-finals. Then on Sunday, Bird's nose was broken. Despite the injuries, both players insist on playing tonight in deciding playoff games. If each is a winner tonight one of these players will win a WNBA championship in 2018. According to the WNBA's collective bargaining agreement, a title is only worth $11,025 in bonus money. Yes, even winning doesn't pay that well in the WNBA.
Perhaps it is time to for everyone to listen to what Isaiah Thomas said about WNBA salaries:
"And then lastly, man — yeah, I’ll say it: We’ve also gotta make more noise about WNBA salaries. Way more noise. WNBA players should be paid a lot more than they’re getting right now. That’s obvious. They’re professional athletes and role models and the best in the world at what they do — they should be paid like it. Better salaries are there if we want them to be. So let’s speak up about that."
The WNBA players definitely want more respect. In addition, the WNBA players want to be paid more. Again, no one seems to be saying as much as the NBA. But if the WNBA wants to be the premier professional league for women's basketball, it is probably going to have to change how it compensates its talent.
