Caitlin Clark’s unprecedented attention to women’s basketball has also put a magnifying glass on the enormous salary disparity between the WNBA and NBA.
The University of Iowa star was selected by the Indiana Fever with the first pick in the WNBA draft on April 15 after a season in which she set records on the court and in television ratings of women’s basketball.
She is expected to sign a four-year, $338,000 contract with Fever under the WNBA rookie salary scale, according to Spotraca site that tracks player contracts across multiple sports.
She will earn $76,535 in her rookie season this summer, which has many Clark fans outraged at the relatively low number given her impact on the sport.
Many of Clark’s fans have spoken out on social media and expressed their dismay at his low salary compared to what NBA draft picks bring in.
“These ladies deserve so much more…I pray for this day,” Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson said. written the.
“There is no reason why I should have a higher salary than Caitlin Clark,” another fan wrote.
“To everyone trashing Caitlin Clark’s salary, I agree and want better for them,” another person said. wrote.
TODAY’s Hoda Kotb also did a double-take when she saw that salary figure, compared to the life-changing riches that top NBA draft picks earn.
“When I saw the number, $76,000 in the first year, $78,000 in the second year and $85,000 in the third year, for someone who is now the face of women’s basketball, it seemed a little ridiculous,” Hoda said today Tuesday. “A guy who’s in the NBA, the first year, can make $10 million.”
The No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft, San Antonio Spurs star rookie Victor Wembanyama has a four-year, $55 million contract in which he earned $12.1 million during of its first season, according to Spotrac.
Even though Clark will most likely earn millions from endorsements, there is a huge gap between his salary and that of his NBA counterparts.
Stephen Master, a professor of sports marketing and media at NYU’s Stern School of Business, said the main way the WNBA can increase salaries is to secure a larger television contract and increase TV sales. tickets.
“There just hasn’t been enough time to catch up in terms of media rights deals,” Master, who also worked for the NBA and ratings company Nielsen, told TODAY.com. “These deals are made well in advance, and they look at historical numbers when they evaluate bids on these rights.
“The NBA deal is based on the history of the NBA, attracting a certain level of viewership and sponsorship, selling out arenas and being an integral part of the zeitgeist.”
The league hopes Clark will be a driving force in that effort, as 36 of the Fever’s 40 games will be broadcast on national television this season.
The hype surrounding Clark’s addition to the Fever was so high that the team filled his stadium with fans watching the draft Monday night, even though the event was in New York.
The WNBA currently makes about $60 million a year from its media rights, a contract that is set to expire in 2025, according to Front Office Sports.
By comparison, the NBA is in the middle of a $24 billion television deal that brings in $2.7 billion a year. Additionally, the league stands to make between $60 billion and $72 billion when it renegotiates its television deal this summer, according to the Sports Business Journal.
For WNBA salaries to be comparable to the NBA, Master said, viewership must increase significantly.
“(The audience increase) cannot be 5 to 10 percent,” Master said. “There has to be growth of 400 or 500 percent.
“If Caitlin Clark is able to help bring this entity to a billion dollars, she should be paid, and everyone involved should be paid more,” he said. “The pie would be much bigger to share.”
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