It’s been a month since Caitlin Clark’s debut in the WNBA. She’s played in 14 games already, but the focus surrounding the women’s basketball phenom has been the treatment of her by other WNBA players and the media. That has obscured one of the biggest storylines about her before she entered the league: her salary. Clark’s initial contract—$338,000 over four years, with about $76,000 coming in her first year—spotlighted the low pay of WNBA players relative to other professional athletes. This was particularly eye-popping considering Clark had just helped drive nearly 19 million viewers to the Women’s NCAA Championship Game in April, which was over four million more than the Men’s Championship Game. Due to several factors, like league revenue and the Collective Bargaining Agreement, it doesn’t seem like the pay of WNBA players is going to rise, at least in the near future. But there have been other options on the table for women’s basketball players, including playing in other leagues, like those abroad, or the upcoming Unrivaled league founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart
The 12-team women’s basketball league currently draws a comically low $60 million per year from its TV and streaming deals with Disney, Amazon Prime Video, CBS, and Ion. Under new long-term agreements being negotiated, the WNBA could boost its annual payout to the $240 million range, sources tell me.
The NBA, which owns more than 50% of the 28-year-old league, is leading WNBA media-rights talks as part of its own larger negotiation for $75 billion in long-term media rights going through the 2030s.
“The NBA is soliciting one total bid from media companies that does not separate the values of the NBA and the WNBA rights, according to people familiar with the process, and some media companies involved in the bidding are
