[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Take the mic out of her hand and put a basketball in it.

But no! Here is another Indiana Fever player with a mic! Although this one has a more intelligent point to make. From The Athletic:

Caitlin Clark to WNBA commissioner on pay: ‘It makes no sense. … Help us out’

By Shannon Ryan

When the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup was introduced five years ago, the league branded it as another opportunity to put money in players’ pockets.

The trophy for winning rewards a team for excelling in regular-season intraleague competition and comes with a $500,000 purse to be split among the winning squad’s players. The event is popular among fans and appears to be motivating for players.

But after Tuesday’s win in the event, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark used the prize to point out the desire for WNBA players to receive higher salaries.

“You get more (money) for this than you do if you’re the (WNBA Finals) champion,” Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark said on a teammate’s locker room Instagram livestream Tuesday night after her team won the championship against the Minnesota Lynx. “It makes no sense. Someone tell (WNBA commissioner) Cathy (Engelbert) to help us out.” She jokingly referred to the competition as the “Cathy Cup.”

The WNBA champions receive $11,356 per player, significantly less than the Commissioner’s Cup winners receive. Clark didn’t play in the game due to a groin injury, but her $78,066 salary is a pittance compared to her net worth, a discrepancy similar to that experienced by many WNBA stars with their paychecks.

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA supermax contract is $249,244, and Clark would have to complete her four-year rookie contract before earning that amount.

These terms were agreed upon in the 2020 collective bargaining agreement. However, the players’ association and the league are currently in negotiations again, following the players’ decision to opt out of the current agreement. Salaries are reportedly a key issue in these talks, as the league’s popularity is on the rise.

The current agreement included more than $1.6 million in annual marketing opportunities for players and various performance bonuses.

“I think the money has been more top of the mind for (the players) than anything else,” Fever coach Stephanie White said before Tuesday’s game.

The league is in the spotlight like never before. The WNBA reported that its broadcast audience reached a record 54 million unique viewers across networks in 2024, setting a new benchmark with 22 regular-season telecasts that averaged at least 1 million viewers. Attendance also reached new heights, and merchandise sales substantially increased, primarily driven by the emergence of new stars like Clark, Angel Reese and others entering the league.

Significantly increasing salaries is a complicated issue. Unlike the 50-50 NBA split, WNBA player salaries currently account for less than 10 percent of the league’s revenue.

The league also has a hard cap per team — $1.5 million total shared among 11 or 12 players on a roster — that limits player salaries. A key to increasing revenue, thus salaries, is media rights contracts. Last year, a $2.2 billion media rights deal, spanning 11 years, was the richest in women’s sports league history.

WNBA expansion is also changing the landscape, with additional roster spots expected to become available over the next five years, including the addition of three new teams. The league announced it will bring in Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, in addition to the new franchises in Toronto and Portland (beginning next season) and the Golden State Valkyries, which launched this season.

Indianapolis hosts the All-Star Game on July 18, when the topic of salary and league growth will be center stage. Clark and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier were named captains.

Now, Caitlin Clark's salary is ridiculously low. Sure, she is making millions more in endorsements, but that's just her and a few other WNBA superstars. You may be making more than the average WNBA player.

Should it change? Yes. But, critically, not until WNBA teams are well-established and flush with cash. They are getting there, though, and pipers will need to be paid.

Until then, let us hope the WNBA superstars of the future will contribute to a fund to support the future pensioners of today.