The Stark Pay Disparity Between WNBA and NBA Players

Women's basketball has quickly emerged as one of the nation’s most watched sports. Teams like the Indiana Fever, featuring standout player Caitlin Clark, consistently fill arenas. Last year, several WNBA games drew over two million viewers, and notably, the 2024 NCAA women's championship surpassed the men’s championship in television ratings.

Nevertheless, WNBA players earn significantly less than many male athletes in less prominent leagues, and a minuscule fraction compared to the average NBA player's salary. This vast pay discrepancy remains difficult to justify.

As a researcher specializing in labor economics and economic history, with a focus on gender wage disparities, I analyze workforce trends to ensure accurate comparisons and to uncover underlying causes of pay differences. Current data indicates that women in the U.S. earn about 84 cents for every dollar earned by men, but the reasons behind this gap are complex.

Across the broader economy, much of the wage gap can be attributed to differences in industry and occupational choices between genders rather than explicit discrimination. However, discrimination remains a significant issue, and professional basketball offers a clear, high-profile example.

Over the past year, I have collaborated with the Women’s National Basketball Players Association to examine player earnings. The findings were striking: the average NBA player earns around $10 million this season, which is roughly 80 times the average WNBA salary of about $127,000 in 2024.

An important aspect is that the NBA and WNBA operate somewhat like a joint enterprise, with league finances not fully transparent to the public. The NBA owns nearly half of the WNBA and plays a key role in allocating revenue between the leagues. Last year, the NBA secured joint television rights contracts worth approximately $77 billion over 11 years from Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. Despite this large sum, the distribution of income heavily favors NBA players, highlighting the unequal revenue sharing underpinning the salary gap.