WNBA players push for better pay as league soars to new heights

LOS ANGELES – As the WNBA celebrates record attendance, rising TV ratings, and the addition of the Golden State Valkyries, its players are demanding a larger share of the league’s growing revenue, citing disparities in pay and broadcast income compared to their NBA counterparts.

The league’s recent US$2.2 billion (S$2.8 billion) media rights deal, spanning 11 years, pales in comparison to the NBA’s US$76 billion package, which prompted the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) to opt out of its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) two years ahead of schedule.

“Men’s sports have a revenue-based salary system – we deserve the same,” the WNBPA said via social media on June 23. “We’re fighting for a fair share of the revenue we generate. Fair is fair.”

Under the current framework, WNBA players receive between 20-25 per cent of basketball-related income, far below the NBA’s approximate 50 per cent. Salaries range from US$66,000 to US$250,000 annually, dwarfed by the NBA’s average player earnings of US$10 million.

“We have women out here who know the business,” Nneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBPA, told reporters at a press conference after her Seattle Storm beat the New York Liberty 89-79 on June 22.

“We understand where our league has been and where it’s going. We want to represent ourselves and our value in the same way that we do on the court.”

The disconnect between broadcast revenue and player compensation lies at the heart of the dispute, according to Jane McManus, a New York University professor and women’s sports writer.

As negotiations become a zero-sum game, the NBA’s 42 per cent ownership stake – once a lifeline – now faces scrutiny as potentially constraining the women’s game from realising its full economic potential.

“Negotiations of media rights are incredibly important. That’s why I think the WNBA