Women's basketball isn't unfairly treated, it's one of the most privileged women's sports, amirite?

Hader FTW

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Agreed. There are allllllll kinds of initiatives, pet projects, groups, committees, etc created to look like they're doing something they're not. Virtue signaling has been around as long as virtue and as long as deceit. I think it's a mix. They would love for it not to lose money and be profitable. It can only ever be a fraction of men's but that does t mean it can't be profitable. But the mere fact some of these folks can put it on their resume is enough to say they worked for "equality".

by Anonymous 1 day ago

It's so cute that people think companies are doing PR just for fun-sies

by hollie61 1 day ago

people always forget that the nba wasn't profitable until 30~ years after its creation. the wnba is going to hit 30 years soon and is slowly approaching profitable rates. this stuff takes time!

by Fantastic_Spray 1 day ago

people always forget that the nba wasn't profitable until 30~ years after its creation That seems more like the result of solving technological and logistical challenges than a matter of anything the WNBA faces.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

As Charles Barkley stated, Bird & Magic are the two most important players in NBA history. The NBA went from having their finals on tape delay to becoming the second most watched sport in the USA.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

fair point, the nba definitely had different challenges in its early days, but i think the core idea still holds because building a professional sports league to the point of profitability will always take time, investment, and a buy-in from the general public. the wnba's challenges are definitely different, (gender bias is a huge one) but it's still on a similar path of growth

by Fantastic_Spray 1 day ago

NBA is a good product though, huge differentiator

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

sure, but the nba wasn't always the product it is now, it took decades of growth to get there. the wnba is still in that growth phase. give it the same resources and time, and the product will keep getting better too

by Fantastic_Spray 23 hours ago

No it pretty much has been - TV deals may have turned it financially but the men's game has been full of elite players for a very long time

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

It took the NBA 30-35 years to really become profitable, and the WNBA is about 30 years in and starting to make headways.

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

Product still sucks

by Anonymous 23 hours ago

I mean my city let their wnba team go for just not being profitable, lack of ticket sales and losing the arena to the game plus I imagine city planning based on an event such as traffic diversion for the arena etc

by Jtowne 22 hours ago

There must be profit in it, just not as much as the NBA. Which is fine, profit still means you made money.

by Anonymous 22 hours ago

At this point it's pretty clear that the wnba is profitable for the league the owners, they just needed the right star and got it. I get more Caitlin Clark ads than any nba player, outside of maybe Lebron who will likely retire soonish. Also yeah, most nba owners don't do anything out of the goodness of their hearts. They see the wnba viewing demographic as an investment and it's beginning to pay off with rapid growth.

by Anonymous 22 hours ago

…So because someone is paying very little money for internet/youtube to try and advertise Caitlyn Clark to you, that means the WNBA is relevant? The only thing interesting about the league is the manufactured drama between Caitlin and Angel. And then supposedly it's a race thing. I frequent one of the USAs first and most fan-supported "women's sports only" sports bars. We got real excited for soccer. College softball all? Hell yeah. Olympics? Everything. All the time. I have never met someone who showed up to the bar and asked to have a WNBA game turned on. Ever.

by No-Newt6928 22 hours ago

Lots of WNBA merch was selling out last year and you'll find the vast majority of nba/wnba fans aren't going to bars to watch games. The reason there is hype to do this for the Olympics or World Cup is because it happens once every 4 years. Obviously the turnout will be bigger. Women's soccer has been arguably the most popular women's league sport in the US for decades at this point. The WNBA is starting to gain serious traction but unsurprisingly it's not the NWSL. This also means WNBA fans tend to be younger, which makes them more likely to stream with friends at home than go out to bars. Going to bars is just something people 18-30 are doing at vastly lower rates than previous decades. All this being said the WNBA's largest growth this year was in male fans, who likely also aren't going to a women's sports only bar.

by Anonymous 22 hours ago

It doesn't make money for the owners. At this point they syndicate deals that are basically akin to a capital drive to be on a museum board to become a "part owner" for a million or two dollars. There's so much capital sloshing around and so many rich people who want some sort of unique asset that differentiates them from their rich friends that the stakes in the teams sell themselves even without generating any profit.

by Gloria95 21 hours ago

The reason for doing so would be to encourage women to become fans of the sport by giving them the hope that they could too play pro one day. So while the wnba itself isn't profitable and probably never will be, the nba's idea is that the existence of the nba leads to more female fans of the nba which leads to more money for the nba.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

The WNBA has literally never made a profit. Its never even net its cost. The WNBA is a PR move. I would be more willing to believe they hoped it would profit and it never did but because they are afraid of the backlash if they shut it down, they carried on with it. I think the WNBA is cool, but its not a business. If the NBA had shareholders the WNBA would have been shut down over a decade ago.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

So when will it pay off? It's been decades.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

It took about 30ish years for the NBA to become profitable.

by WaveDependent5612 21 hours ago

What baffles me is the longtime complaints they don't make the same money as the men, when the viewership is nowhere near. You pay from your cashflow, not from comparisons to another league.

by Happy_Lock 21 hours ago

/s ?

by Nick32 21 hours ago

We jerking with this or you serious? I can't tell anymore

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

But they are..like that's a fact...

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

See, I can't tell...jerking has ruined me. I apologize

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

Ah the old "I haven't heard it so it must not be true"

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

Why am I supposed to care about that exactly?

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 19 hours ago

Buckle up buckaroos

by Herthaabernathy 19 hours ago

The only people who don't have this opinion are the players themselves

by Anonymous 19 hours ago

And the casuals, feminist fans, just people in general...

by Anonymous 19 hours ago

You're talking about privilege vs other women's sports, when the people you are arguing against are almost always talking about unfair treatment vs men's sports. You're attacking a straw man of your own creation

by Hanna53 19 hours ago

Males sports brings more views and more money

by rachelle75 18 hours ago

Women are half the world's population. If they are the ones who care about WNBA, they should be watching and supporting it as much as men and women support the NBA.

by Anonymous 18 hours ago

Its a sports league, entertainment. People are advocating for economic reforms on essential things, like housing, healthcare, etc. Why should anyone care about the economic inequality of something as trivial as sports? What's your proposal? Force people to watch?

by rachelle75 18 hours ago

"It's a sports league, entertainment." Cool. It entertains me. If it doesn't entertain you, you don't have to watch it. Just can't figure out why yall care that some people like something you don't like.

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 18 hours ago

Because you don't see wnba players throwing it down like Zion

by Expert-Repeat8729 17 hours ago

LOL. Yeah, why can't the WNBA be "privileged" and also have some valid gripes?

by Anonymous 17 hours ago

He referenced women's sports more, but everything he said applies to men's sports. I'm into strongman and nobody is giving our athletes 7 figure sponsorships and they're not going to until the sport drives that profit. We are also not gifted massive arenas and publicity to publicize strongman. I don't really see a way to accept your perspective, tiger than to confuse "genuine success and the rewards that naturally come with it" with privilege.

by Pfefferalessand 17 hours ago

I'm aware of that. My point is the comparison is misguided when we're putting a sport with high male participation and demand (like men's basketball) next to one with low female participation and demand (like women's basketball). Across the world, boys and girls gravitate toward different sports, yet it seems the only way for a women's league to be viable is if there's already a proven concept through the success of a men's league. That's what I'm pointing out. To put it simply, let's take Sport A and Sport B. Sport A is immensely popular among men, with little interest from women. Sport B, on the other hand, is popular among women but sees little interest from men. Sport A is far more likely to end up with a successful women's league, not because of organic demand, but because there's pressure to create a female version of something that's already proven successful among men. In the process, we completely overlook the sports that women naturally gravitate toward.

by Anonymous 16 hours ago

Ok but if all he said was "I don't watch the WNBA, don't want to, and almost never will" then you wouldn't know what gender he is. However, I'll concede that if he said "I don't watch the WNBA, don't want to, and almost certainly never will, but I think someone else should and I get kinda mad if they don't" then you know OP is a woman.

by Pfefferalessand 16 hours ago

As long as you watch an roughly equal amount of womens sports!

by Anonymous 16 hours ago

Look, I mostly agree with you. What I will say though, is imagine you are a young girl wanting to play basketball, hell, you're good enough you want to make a career out of it. When you're younger, you hear all the boys who want to play basketball say they're going to the NBA- a league where they're respected, treated as celebrities, and make an insane amount of money. Now you're over here wanting to join the WNBA, and just because you're a woman you don't get a chance to make the same amount of money. You aren't a celebrity. Your draft night isn't a big deal. Even though you had worked just as hard as those boys to get into the pro league, even if you did all the exact same things, the opportunity of being in the NBA is never open to you, just because of who you were born as. It's not that they are unhappy with all the developments of the WNBA, but there is still a huge disparity. Sure, the NBA brings in more viewers, but that's because of the preconceived notions of the wider community, don't give me any of that "nba players are just more fun to watch" bs, regardless of whether that's true it isn't what draws crowd. So yeah. Women aren't unhappy with the opportunity of the WNBA, they're unhappy that no matter how hard they work or how good they get, there will always be people like you saying they have it easy and that we should just take what we've been given and be happy with it - just because of who we were born as.

by Torpmyrtis 15 hours ago

I'm being serious. I'm not saying women make less "because they're women", I'm saying that if you're a girl, you NEVER have the opportunity to make it big like an NBA player. Luckily this is changing, and hopefully, I will be able to take back that statement in a few years time. But currently, a little girl with a dream of being a basketball star will be told they should probably put their effort into something else, whereas a little boy would be told to keep working on their dream.

by Torpmyrtis 15 hours ago

If women want women's sports to be big then they need to start watching it and buying merchandise. Women outnumber men. The ball (no pun intended) is in their court. They have the power to make women's sports huge. They just don't like sports at the level men do and men have very little reason to watch women's sports instead of men's.

by Candidoharris 15 hours ago

Sports is not even close to 100% marked to men. That's a ridiculous statement that is not based on anything. Look at gatorade, nike, etc. commercials. Do they only portray male athletes? Not even close. Women's sports are being pushed more than ever in media. The fact is that women's sports are objectively slower and less athletic than men's. Men jump higher, run faster, hit harder, etc etc. Maybe you believe that is all socially constructed? We will see as women's sports are being pushed more than ever in media. Maybe in a few generations women will run just as fast and jump just as high but until then most men are not going to watch women's sports at the level they watch men's sports. There are just too many games going on all time in all sorts of different sports. There is not enough time to watch all of men's sports much less men and women. It is not men's fault that they don't generally want to watch women's sports. Also, the less women who are interested in sports the smaller pool of people you are going to be able to pull from to be the elite players. Unless women start to play at the rate men do they will always be worse than men because the men's leagues have orders of magnitude more players to pull from. I'm pulling for women's sports. I have nieces who are big into sports and it is not like I don't want women's sports to succeed. I am just speaking of the reality of the situation right now.

by Candidoharris 14 hours ago

It's not just because you're a woman you make less. It's because the sport is less popular than men's and thus brings in less money to be passed on to the players. When I hear wnba players say "equal pay for equal work" my eyes nearly roll out of my head. You can work your butt off playing a thousand games a season and it wouldn't matter if no one is watching or paying to go to the games.

by Anonymous 14 hours ago

The wnba gets paid less as a percentage of league revenue than the nba. I think that's usually where to argument is

by Padbergmonroe 14 hours ago

NBA players are more fun to watch - that isn't a controversial or false statement. Clark is very good, but she will never compare to guys like LBJ, Curry, Jokic, SGA, Giannis, and many many many more. The fact that people were trying to push Reece being better than Clark shows how bad the talent is in the WNBA.

by Anonymous 14 hours ago

"Compared to what?" Compared to men's sports. Your argument sounds like the WNBA should be less respected in the whole arena of sports because other women's sports are less respected but deserve more. That doesn't make sense. Why does the WNBA have to be disrespected for the sake of other women's sports? My counterargument to you is that if women's soccer deserves more respect it does not need to be at the expense of women's basketball.

by Anonymous 13 hours ago

Next on ESPN, it's women's....I'm out.

by Anonymous 13 hours ago

The number of grown adult human beings who still get their opinions from Family Guy quotes is legitimately sad.

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 13 hours ago

Because that quote was telling people what to think, and not joking about the already existing common sentiment

by One_Employ_7386 13 hours ago

I agree. Giggity.

by Anonymous 12 hours ago

I watch more wnba than NBA. As a guy there's some great sportsmanship and skills on display, plus Indiana drama etc

by Anonymous 12 hours ago

If this were unpopular the WNBA would be making tons of money. They aren't because this is the popular opinion. Only political extremists and the players themselves think anything is unfair about it.

by BroccoliOk 12 hours ago

The problem with the WNBA is the quality of product is very low. The vast majority of players couldn't make a men's junior college team. This would be fine if there was some sort of awareness on where they stand, but much of the league believes they're just as good as NBA players.

by Horror_Ad3176 12 hours ago

I think the biggest sign of this is the treatment that Caitlin Clark gets by many of her opponents. She is bringing more recognition to the league, more ticket sales, more TV ratings, etc. So many of the women in the league seem to act like they are due the same treatment as Clark, when they just aren't her. Then they retaliate by dirty plays that either have the intent to injure or, at the very least, are very poor sportsmanship. Players like Caitlin Clark could have the league being significantly more relevant in a few years or a decade, but some of the women can't see past their jealousy of her to let that develop. Just imagine if LeBron or SGA were getting hard fouled just because they are stars and the guys around them were jealous.

by Fit_Inspection5669 11 hours ago

Ah yes, women are as athletic as men which is why they compete head to head in the Olympics. Oh wait... its dumb of you to compare the two when we have different biology and bodies. Is the fastest woman on earth bad because she couldn't place in a men's heat ? No! Does that mean shes less skilled than them ? Nope. Wnba players have different skill sets than nba players because they have different athletic abilities, also the average wnba player is 6 foot, the average nba player is 6'7. They're playing the same game but why would you expect the smaller people to even have a chance versus a person on average more than half a foot taller than them

by Anonymous 11 hours ago

This isn't even just related to the physicality of the sports. Many of these professional women basketball players have poor underlying skills.

by Horror_Ad3176 10 hours ago

This is the commonly held opinion by everyone who lacks a direct tie to the league.

by timmywest 10 hours ago

The worst part about the league getting more popular recently is having to hear braindead takes like this constantly. If you don't like it, don't watch. Why do people feel the need to write whole ass essays about something they clearly don't watch or enjoy?

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 10 hours ago

That's exactly the problem. Nobody is watching, and they still keep wasting money on it.

by ScreenPractical 10 hours ago

If people watched, it would be profitable. It is not profitable.

by ScreenPractical 9 hours ago

Tbh i dont think women sports is even worth discussing about

by Emergency_Yak_8826 9 hours ago

Look, it's not just about what draws the crowds or ticket sales or excitement, it's about teaching girls that, just like boys, there is a extremely small chance that they might grow up to play a game where they are paid millions of dollars to throw a toy into a basket.

by Weird_Jump4692 9 hours ago

Why are you guys like physically incapable of understanding some people like watching it?

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 9 hours ago

I'm not. I am physically incapable of understanding how it's worth that much money. Hell, I'd let you watch me play a game for only a few hundred thousand yearly.

by Weird_Jump4692 9 hours ago

Things are worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it. I don't want to watch you. I want to watch Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier and Sabrina Ionescu and A'ja Wilson and Courtney Williams and Kelsey Plum and Paige Bueckers. They're entertaining. I enjoy watching them.

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 8 hours ago

If you're willing to pay to watch people enjoy leisure activities I happen to drink beer and watch TV competitively. Set up a payment plan and I'll hook up a web cam for you. Pay me enough and I'll even go pro.

by Weird_Jump4692 8 hours ago

I enjoy it and you can't, like, convince me I don't.

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 8 hours ago

The problem is that nobody is willing to pay for it, it's coming out of the pocket of the NBA. If there was actual demand for the sport that would not be the case. Not saying its a problem that you enjoy it, that's just the reality

by Anonymous 7 hours ago

They have sponsors, ticket sales, merch sales, and TV deals. People are obviously willing to pay.

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 7 hours ago

It's worth that much money because the fans and the broadcast networks made it worth that much money.

by Anonymous 7 hours ago

I'll explain it to you as simply as I can. When millions of people want to go watch a thing at an arena that only has 40k seats, they can charge a lot. When those millions of people that couldn't go instead watch on TV, it's worth a few bucks each to advertisers to get their product in front of those eyes. No one wants to watch you do anything, so no one is going to pay you.

by Anonymous 7 hours ago

I under stand how the demand generates money, I don't understand the demand. I get the appeal of playing a sport, but not of watching someone else play it. It's like going to a restaurant and paying to watch someone eat.

by Weird_Jump4692 7 hours ago

Why are you physically incapable of understanding that it is literally welfare?

by ScreenPractical 6 hours ago

Ah, so you just hate women.

by Dismal_Honeydew_1893 6 hours ago

I would like OP to watch the next PWHL season and still think the same.

by RecognitionOk5677 6 hours ago

Women need to watch the wnba or the money situation will never change. I personally don't find the wnba interesting at all, even if I had free tickets.

by Putrid-Film7060 6 hours ago

Holy fk an actual unpopular opinion

by Anonymous 5 hours ago

Women's basketball players are among the very few female athletes in the U.S. who can make a stable living playing professionally at home. Do you understand that for the longest time this absolutely wasn't true? Only just very recently some players have not needed to supplement their salaries by playing in international leagues.

by Anonymous 5 hours ago

Damn. Nice argument!

by Anonymous 5 hours ago

"...it was handed a head start most women's sports never get." Your problem here is that you're comparing the WNBA to other women's sports, which have even fewer resources, when you need to be comparing it to the NBA. "The WNBA didn't grow out of overwhelming demand from fans or high participation rate from girls. It exists because the NBA paved the way for basketball..." Okay, now try this with any other profession. "Women have these jobs only because men paved the way... by having those jobs first."

by Anonymous 4 hours ago

But it doesn't work with other professions because they grew out of overwhelming demand or high participation. So the road is not paved by men having the job first. The argument is exactly that this case is special in being paved this way.

by Reasonable_Dog 4 hours ago

Your problem here is that you're comparing the WNBA to other women's sports, which have even fewer resources, when you need to be comparing it to the NBA. Ok, let's compare it to the NBA. The NBA had to support itself every single day and justify its existence financially every single day, purely financially with no help from anyone. That's not to say they were profitable, but they had to show promise and they had to be at least not that big of a loss. They had to make it so franchise owners would hope to make profit. They were a struggling business but they were a business. The WNBA didn't grow out of overwhelming demand from fans or high participation rate from girls. It exists because the NBA paved the way for basketball..." Frankly, this framing is too kind. The NBA didn't have the way for them by promoting basketball. It paved the way for the NBA by having the money to bankroll them through tens of millions in losses every year. This has nothing to do with basketball. Microsoft could have chosen to bankroll the WNBA, except they weren't interested. Interest in basketball has nothing to do with the WNBA.

by Pfefferalessand 4 hours ago

Respect is earned.

by Expert-Repeat8729 3 hours ago

Most things in life involve men creating a strong safe environment for women to join in on

by Anonymous 3 hours ago

It's all in comparison to what the men have. Although, going by that logic, you would think softball would be worse than women's basketball, right?

by Anonymous 3 hours ago

Men's basketball just brings in more money. That's all it is. We're witnessing a pioneer in at respect with Carlin Clarke which is cool.

by Anonymous 3 hours ago