Biden Posts About Female, Male Athletes Not Getting Paid The Same After Caitlin Clark's WNBA Deal Goes Viral
I don't know that anyone was under any illusions that President Biden is an economic wiz, but his tweet that appeared to rip Caitlin Clark's WNBA contract shows once again that he just doesn't get it.
Or is ignoring the facts to get his base frothing at the mouth…. probably the latter.
After it was revealed that Clark — who was drafted by the WNBA's Indiana Fever on Monday night with the first pick in this year's draft — will be making just over $338,000 on her four-year entry-level deal, people were not happy about what they perceived as inequitable pay for a player regarded as possibly the best women's player ever.
Especially after Victor Wembanyama signed a first deal worth more than $55 million.
Of course, a lot of the people getting all worked up about this are either blissfully unaware of the economic realities (which we'll get to in a second) or are just ignoring them. They either don't know what they don't know or are just trying to push an agenda.
Whatever…but then for some reason, the President of the United States chimed in on the issue (it's not like wars are happening or one of our allies just got shelled by Iran or anything).
Oh boy… who wants to tell him?
Lucky for all of us, a lot of people did. Including OutKick's own Riley Gaines who pointed out the hypocrisy of the president's grandstanding about fighting for women's sports when his administration won't even admit that men shouldn't be competing alongside women.
The market dictates what athletes can be paid and the truth of the matter is that paying Caitlin Clark — who will still make mountains of cash thanks to endorsement deals — as much as Victor Wembanyama would bankrupt the league.
You don't need an advanced degree in economics to understand why top WNBA players like Caitlin Clark don't get paid anywhere near as much as their NBA counterparts. (Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Numbers Lay Out A Clear Picture Of Why WNBA Players Make So Much Less
Of course, Biden — more accurately, his team — tweeted this out to rally their base. Of course, anyone with an ounce of sense knows that this disparity has nothing to do with sex discrimination and everything to do with the market.
Let's just look at broadcast deals, the biggest source of income for most leagues. The WNBA? According to The Wall Street Journal, they make $60 million per year.
Alright; righteous bucks, to quote Jeff Spicoli.
So then how about the NBA? Well, their media rights deal is worth $2.6 billion.
According to World Sports Network, the WNBA's approximate yearly revenue is $60 million. On the other hand, the NBA is in the $10 billion neighborhood.
Of course, even if you didn't know some of the numbers, you'd have to be a complete moron to not pick up on why the NBA makes so much more, and it's not sexism.
It's things like the fact that it has been in business more than 50 years longer than the WNBA, has a bigger global brand, 30 teams, and also plays double the number of games.
Plus, the NBA announced on Tuesday that it had set a record for total and average game attendance. The average number of fans at an NBA game this season was 18,324.
The average attendance during the last WNBA season? 6,615… and that was the highest since 2018.
Biden and his team know this, but unfortunately, they know that it'll fire up the dumber segments of his base who don't understand any of it.