The WNBA’s growth “outpaced” that of the CBA, which is “ultimately a good thing for the next contract negotiations at the end of this year,” according to sports reporter Lindsay Gibbs. Gibbs, appearing on Slate’s “What Next” podcast, said there was a “real recognition that women’s sports are worth something financially at this point” and that it was “not the case ago barely five years old. Gibbs: “Then we could talk about doubling or even tripling the salary cap.” WNBA players “fought very hard” for their CBA in 2020, spending “a year and a half negotiating and were able to increase the salary cap by approximately 30 to 40 percent, and the highest player salaries have almost doubled. She added that when looking at team ratings and evaluations, there is “not necessarily 150 times more interest in the NBA than there is in the WNBA.”but that “the difference in salary is so exaggerated”. Gibbs noted that there was “some success in the first two years” of the WNBA, but that owners “weren’t getting all their money back fast enough.” Teams have folded, which “creates a narrative” and problems are “blamed on the players and the product when in reality it’s just business calculations.” Gibbs also said that marketing and advertising “based on what people are comfortable with” has resulted in “trying to keep female gamers in a box, trying to present them as more feminine than they are.” “were actually not reaching out to LGBTQ+ fans because the league was uncomfortable being so popular with that demographic” (SLATE.com, 4/22).
A record crowd of 21,105 people attended the PWHL game between Montreal and Toronto on Saturday at the Bell Centre.Getty Images
NEW DAY FOR WOMEN’S SPORT: In Montreal, Jack Todd highlighted the record crowd for PWHL game between Toronto and Montreal on Saturday was a “defining moment for women’s sport, a benchmark, a goal that few observers thought could be achieved during this inaugural season of the PWHL.” Todd: “Does all this mean that a milestone has been reached in the battle for equality in sports? Hardly.” There “will be setbacks, there will be frustrating moments and growing pains for the new league”, but the PWHL is “here to stay, a professional league to stand and grow alongside” Todd: “Will we see a day when women are on equal footing with men in the sports world when WNBA or PWHL players sign contracts of equal value? Maybe it will come “before the end of this century, if not sooner.” When a “transcendent athlete” like Indiana Fever G Caitlin Clark “is offered $5 million to play 3-on-3 basketball for a year.” season and women’s hockey fills the Bell Center, we’re getting there” (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 4/22).
