Dallas Wings point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith called for a WNBA salary increase in a well-designed first-person essay for Wealthsimpleand his argument was taken out of context by a number of media entities, all but proving his point about the discrepancy in coverage of male and female athletes.
Here is the paragraph that made the headlines:
“I am the highest paid player on the Dallas Wings and my salary is in the six-figure range. (Harrison Barnes, the Dallas Mavericks’ highest-paid player, made $24 million last season.) He’s definitely younger than me. Do you know his stats? Was he an All-Star? I mean, it doesn’t matter. But last year I was first team All-WNBA, which is only five players. I was also a WNBA All-Star for the third time.
Before you worry that the WNBA doesn’t generate the same revenue as the NBA, you must first recognize that Diggins-Smith wasn’t suggesting it should make $24 million per season. First of all, that bracketed sentence quoting Barnes didn’t come from her. Second, Diggins-Smith’s larger point is that WNBA players don’t even receive the same percentage of revenue as their NBA brethren.
WNBA players do not earn the same percentage of income as NBA players
In the paragraph preceding this quote, Diggins-Smith noted that women receive less than 25 percent of WNBA basketball-related revenue – a figure that does not include their jersey sales. Men, meanwhile, take home about 50 percent of the NBA’s BIS, including all merchandise sales.
Diggins Smith I pointed it out rightly. to readers who took the quote out of context:
Chicken and egg argument holds back WNBA
Diggins-Smith made several other compelling arguments about what has led to a wage gap that leaves WNBA players winning At least 12 times less than NBA players (and less than NBA referees too):
“I’d be curious how successful we could be with such a great product if we had the same platform as the guys. Think about the marketing money they spend on men, the platform they are given. Branding opportunities, TV deals, sponsorship deals. It’s a bit like the chicken and the egg. People always say, “Well, you need to have more people in the seats.” » But no one puts us on TV! We have a competitive game, great confrontations; anything that would make people want to see us, plus the success of women’s college basketball.
Diggins-Smith also shared a revealing story about co-hosting ESPN’s “His and Hers” and forcing producers to include the deciding WNBA Finals game in the show’s recap of topics. emission.
Other Unique Challenges WNBA Players Face
Diggins-Smith said she earns more in sponsorships than her WNBA salary, even though she is one of the league’s best and most marketable talents. Most players compete overseas between WNBA seasons to close the gap, taxing themselves to the point that it is detrimental to the WNBA product.
The WNBA’s travel policy was also a point of contention for Diggins-Smith. Teams are forced to fly commercially, often on game days. The Las Vegas Aces were infamously involved in a travel nightmare earlier this season, and the WNBA forced them to forfeit after refusing to play that night.
Diggins-Smith challenged Mark Cuban
Diggins-Smith praised NBA players and other athletes who support the WNBA (including Damian Lillard demanded an increase in wages for women last month), while also calling out Mark Cuban for his inability to attend a Wings game — a point the Mavericks owner seemed to take to heart.
WNBA players will be able to bargain collectively again in 2019
Diggins-Smith isn’t the only one seeking increased salaries in the WNBA. Countless players have come forward, including fellow stars Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike and Diana Taurasi. Nneka Ogwumike is president of the National Women’s Basketball Players Association. The players have an opt-out clause in their collective bargaining agreement with the WNBA for next season.
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Ben Rohrbach is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Do you have any advice? Send him an email to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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