If you think Caitlin Clark and WNBA players are underpaid, there's a simple solution | Whitley
As expected, Caitlin Clark was the first pick in last week’s WNBA Draft. Just as predictable was the outrage when casual observers learned what the Indiana Fever will be paying her:
$76,535, or approximately $12.7 million less than Victor Wembanyama, last year’s No. 1 NBA pick, is getting paid during his rookie season.
Duly incensed, President Biden posted on X that “women are not paid their fair share”.
On “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg said that women players “have the headlines, they have the fans, they have the viewers. When the hell are they going to get paid?”
“This is OUTRAGEOUS!” Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis said on Instagram.
What’s outrageous is the economic illiteracy of people who until last week didn’t know the Indiana Fever existed. It’s pretty simple.
The NBA reportedly generated $10.58 billion last season and a $3 billion profit. The WNBA generates $60 million and a smaller profit than a lemonade stand.
It doesn’t make the headlines, have the fans or the viewers that the NBA enjoys. That means it doesn’t have the money to pay NBA salaries.
As a father who wishes his daughters could make $12.7 million a year playing basketball, I wish the laws of economics did not matter. I am heartened by the fact Clark will make about 50 times her salary in endorsements.
Note to Whoopi — That’s how the free market works.
Clark showed up at the WNBA Draft wearing a Prada rhinestone mesh crop top ($3,750), satin miniskirt ($1,750), leather pumps ($1,200) and toting a patent leather mini bag ($4,100).
“Prada is very me,” Clark said.
The other promising financial trend is ticket sales have skyrocketed thanks to Clark, and the WNBA should get a much better media deal next year. Total revenue will still lag billions behind the NBA, though there is a solution to all this.
Buy WNBA tickets and watch games on TV. If everybody who’s griping about Clark’s salary did that, every female basketball player would be decked out in Prada. …
Stud of the Week: Nelly Korda for winning her fifth straight LPGA tournament. She’s won $2.4 million in that run.
Stud II: Scottie Scheffler, for winning for the fourth time in five tournaments. He’s won $16.25 million in that run.
Hopefully, an outraged Jamie Lee Curtis won’t turn her old pal Michael Myers loose at the next PGA tournament.
Dud of the Week: We are holding off in anticipation that Bill Belichick is still running New England's draft room on Thursday night. ...
Explanation of the Week: After blowing a save against the Angels, Rays’ reliever Pete Fairbanks was asked what specifically might have caused the poor performance.
“I thought it generally sucked. I didn’t think it was a specific suck, I thought it was like an all-encompassing type of suck.”…
NFL Draft predictions: 1) Bears take Caleb Williams, 2) Commanders take Jaden Daniels, 3) New England takes Caitlin Clark. …
RIP Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers. The Ramblin’ Man was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus and took us for a great musical ride. …
The New York Times reported that 23 Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance found in prescription heart medicine.
Olympic officials bought China’s explanation that all the swimmers were cardiac patients who took up swimming while waiting for heart transplants. …
Jamie Lee Curtis Redux: A cotton T-shirt from Prada cost $1,120. Now that’s outrageous. …
Acronym of Week: Facing crucial votes on foreign defense authorizations, House Republicans formed the Floor Action Response Team. Its first move was to sneak a whoopee cushion onto Speaker Mike Johnson’s chair. …
In related news, the Biden Administration plans to freeze $12 billion from Ukraine missile defense funding and divert it to the WNBA salary pool. ….
Jim Harbaugh got a “15-0” tattoo last week to commemorate Michigan’s unbeaten season. Ex-staffer/spy Connor Stalions got a tattoo of a pair of dark sunglasses and a fake moustache. …
A four-pack of Hanes T-shirts cost $20 on Amazon. Hanes is very me. …
Editor’s Note: Whoopi Goldberg did not invent the whoopee cushion, though she is one of Earth’s leading producers of hot air. …
NFL Draft Prediction II: No player will show up wearing a rhinestone mesh crop top, satin miniskirt and leather pumps. But if one does, the Raiders will take him. …
That’s about all the space we have for this week’s Whitley’s Believe It or Not. If you are opposed to any proposals I’ve advanced, please alert the Floor Action Response Team and listen for its response.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Caitlin Clark's finances are the free market at work
