The gender pay gap between men and women in basketball is actually justified. There are two main reasons for this statement. Firstly, the WNBA doesn’t bring in the same amount of revenue as the NBA. Secondly, there is a substantial difference in the amount of sponsorships between men and women in the NBA and the WNBA. All of these are contributing factors as to why there is a difference in salaries between men and women in the WNBA and the NBA.
This is directly reflected in the average salary. For a WNBA player, the average salary is $80,000, while the average salary for an NBA player is about $7,000,000. Now this might seem unfair, but if you look at the amount of revenue both leagues bring in, this major difference is actually justified. The NBA usually generates about $8.76 billion while the WNBA only brings in $60 million. These revenues are split between all the people who work with and associate with the NBA and WNBA. They do this with a league implementation called revenue sharing. This is when revenue is distributed between many people and teams.
Advertising plays a big role in making profit for any business. The NBA and its players no doubt have more advertising opportunities than the WNBA players. This lack of advertisement greatly affects the amount of revenue the WNBA and its teams bring in. The NBA airs over 167 commercials for it and its teams every single day. Another thing to consider is the NBA advertising other companies and organizations. The NBA made a record $1.46 billion in just sponsorships in the 2021-2022. Last year, the NBA spent only $100 million for advertisements, but viewership went up by 19%. On the other hand, the WNBA only advertises 50 commercials a month. In the 2021-2022 season, viewership only went up by about 403,000 people, which is nothing compared to NBA in the same year. In conclusion, the gender pay gap between men and women in the NBA and WNBA is actually justified. The WNBA does not bring in the same amount of revenue as the NBA. Another thing to consider is that there is a substantial difference in the amount of advertisements for men and women in the NBA and WNBA. Due to these factors, such a large pay gap between the NBA and WNBA players is fair. A counter argument may be that WNBA players work just as hard as NBA players, so why shouldn’t they get paid the same? The answer is quite simple and hard for some people to accept. We live in a capitalistic society where money is the goal, and people get what they make. In this case, the WNBA are getting paid what they are bringing in.