As someone who has studied the WNBA for yearsI was delighted to see continued growth in viewership and attendance numbers, as well as sponsorship revenue, over the course of this season.
Last year, total attendance for the 12 WNBA teams reached 1,574,078, with an average attendance of 7,716 fans – a new record for the 21-year-old league. Three teams experienced double-digit growth: Attendance increased 17.8 percent for the Los Angeles Sparks, 15.3 percent for the Connecticut Sun and 12.3 percent for the Minnesota Lynx.
For comparison, the NBA has not drawn crowds of this size until its 26th seasonwhile the league averaged 8,061 fans per game.
The growing popularity of the WNBA has made pay equity a hot topic in sports, and during this season, several players have drawn attention to the issue.
WNBA players don’t ask to be paid the same level as their NBA counterparts. But should they see their income increase?
Points of comparison
Last year, the average WNBA salary was US$71,635, and this year seems to be closer to $75,000. The maximum salary for veterans is $113,500.
Meanwhile, for the upcoming NBA season, the minimum salary of a professional NBA player is $838,464.
Of course, the NBA brings in much more revenue. However, during the 1971-72 season – the year the NBA began attracting the same number of fans the WNBA attracts today – the average salary was $90,000which would equate to around $500,000 today.
Finding accurate financial data on any sports league is challenging. But using league revenue, economics professor Dave Berri was recently able to calculate a significant gender wage gap. in another respect.
He estimated that WNBA player salaries constitute 22 percent of league revenue, while NBA player salaries make up about 50 percent of league revenue. The fact that NBA players get a much larger slice of the revenue pie seems to say a lot about how each respective league values its players.
Of course, an increase to 50 percent in WNBA league revenues is not realistic, because there is a difference between revenues and profits. While the NBA is quite profitable – with a blockbuster $24 billion TV deal, billions of dollars in advertising and a robust revenue-sharing system – only about half of WNBA franchises finish the season in the black.
Exploit revenue streams
Clearly, the WNBA still needs to work on establishing its long-term viability, and some might argue that players shouldn’t ask for raises until the league becomes more financially stable.
Still, much progress has been made in this area, and the league has found particularly innovative ways to promote its players, grow its fan base and tap into new revenue streams.
In 2009, the WNBA decided to include sponsor logos on its jerseys. The move was controversial at the time – given that all major sports leagues in the United States had previously opted to keep jerseys free of advertising – but the NBA followed suit in 2017. This year, the WNBA gave the businesses the opportunity to sponsor a second jersey patch. , while also offering sponsors the option to include a logo on the field during games that are not broadcast on ESPN. Unsurprisingly, sponsorship revenue, in turn, grew up.
Other strategies have also borne fruit.
In 2014, the WNBA launched the first marketing campaign in professional sports to directly appeal to the LGBTQ market. The success of this campaign allowed the WNBA to become the first professional league to participate in the NYC Pride Parade in 2016. This year, every major professional sports league was in attendance.
Some feared that such a campaign could alienate other segments of the league’s fan base. But the risk was also rewarded: 15 million Americans identify as LGBTQ, and they represent a market segment worth approximately $830 million. Additionally, two years earlier, the league studied its fan base and discovered that 25 percent lesbian-identified WNBA fans.
In a way, this strategy makes perfect sense. The league has more gay players and fans, percentage-wise, than any other major professional sport. During the 2018 All-Star Game, for example, 32 percent of the list identified as gay. Marketing researchers have discovered that consumers respond more favorably to marketing initiatives that respond to their identity. As former WNBA President Laurel Richie noted in 2014“For us, it is a celebration of diversity, inclusion and the recognition of an audience who supports us with great passion.”
The WNBA has also been quick to experiment with social media and new streaming platforms to connect with fans. In 2017, the league streamed 20 games live on Twitter, while also bringing a new fantasy game to the fantasy platform FanDuel. And for the first time, the players could play with WNBA players in NBA Live 18.
As a result of all this, merchandise sales increased by 18 percent In 2017, attendance increased, more and more people came online, and players gained many followers on social media.
But despite all this growth, there remains one persistent challenge: media exposure.
Where is the media attention?
In 2014, ESPN paid the WNBA $17 million for broadcasting rights. But that same year, only 2 percent of airtime on the station’s flagship show, SportsCenter, was devoted to women’s sports.
For decades, sports media figures argued that interest determines coverage. But interest is also clearly media-driven: If a network values a property highly, it will market and promote it in order to build an audience.
Ninety-five percent or higher, sports media content is geared toward men, even though women make up 40 percent of all sports participants. Women make up 44 percent of NFL fans, while 28 percent of women say they follow professional baseball and 29 percent say they follow the NBA.
This lack of media coverage has always held back women’s sport. After all, sponsors want their brand exposed. The more exposure they get, the more money they will hand out for sponsorships, endorsements and advertisements.
WNBA players do not seek compensation at the NBA level. It took the NBA 72 years to get to where it is today, while the WNBA is only in its 21st season. The women of the WNBA are simply looking for the recognition they deserve for their performances.
The current WNBA collective bargaining agreement will not expire until October 2021, with the maximum salary being paid to WNBA veterans. expected to increase by $8,000 – from $113,500 to $121,500 – by that year, which is barely keeping pace inflation at its current rate.
However, the players’ union has the option to terminate the agreement after the 2019 season if it gives notice before October 31 this year. This would give them the opportunity to negotiate a new deal that would increase the salary cap, as well as the maximum and minimum salaries.
With that deadline approaching, players would do well to take advantage of this opportunity – and force the league to come up with an offer that matches their value.
Nancy LoughProfessor of educational psychology and higher education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
