Caitlin Clark WNBA Salary Outrage Perfectly Explained By Bill Burr: 'Nobody Shows Up!'
An old Bill Burr rant on the fake outrage over the pay gap between male and female athletes – more specifically, the NBA and WNBA – has resurfaced this week at the perfect time.
It obviously has to do with Caitlin Clark, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever. Monday's WNBA Draft predictably brought in record ratings because of Clark, which is great, because enthusiasm for women's basketball is at an all-time high right now.
Right now being the key term there. It hasn't always been this way. Hell, I'm not sure it ever was. Maybe back in the UConn-Tennessee days, but that's about it.
Anyway, point is, when Clark's reported salary leaked this week, fans weren't exactly expecting to see wages similar to their own paycheck.
It's jarring to see someone like Clark set to make $76k in her first professional season when we're used to guys like Shohei Ohtani and Pat Mahomes sign deals with enough commas in them to feed their kids' kids' kids' kids.
The usual suspects – Joe Biden, Jemele Hill – came out and were furious. One of Joe's handlers sent out a virtue-signaling tweet. Jemele spun her handy-dandy wheel, and it landed on misogyny.
You know, the usual stuff.
Anyway, it all led back to Bill Burr's old bit from a few summers back in response to the USWNT complaining about the pay gap. It eventually led to the WNBA, which, of course, made it resurface this week in light of the Clark situation.
Here's a reality check from someone in the business who's never minced words.
Caitlin Clark isn't making a ton because the WNBA doesn't make a ton
Like I said, he doesn't mince words. Love Bill or hate him, you know how he feels pretty quickly. No gray area.
Look, this clip is a few years old, but it's obviously pretty timely right now because of the Clark stuff. And when the president weighs in and acts like he all of a sudden cares about women's sports – even though I'd guarantee you he'd advocate for transgender women playing women's sports – it's time to address the nonsense.
None of this has anything to do with Caitlin Clark. I like Clark. She's electric. She's been great for women's college basketball, and I assume she will be good for the WNBA.
That being said, the numbers are the numbers, and the numbers say nobody watches the WNBA. Nobody goes to a WNBA game. The WNBA bleeds money. That's why WNBA players make what they do.
It's not a pay gap. It's an interest gap. That's the bottom line. Don't believe me?
According to WSN.com, the NBA – which STINKS in its own right – brought in $10 billion in revenue in 2022. The WNBA brought in $60 million that same year (which, frankly, seems way too high to me, but you get my point).
Average attendance for a WNBA game that year? Just over 6k. (Again, too high).
Average viewership? A shade over 400k.
It's got nothing to do with men or women. Take the names and the faces out of it, and just line up the numbers side by side.
Who do you think is gonna get paid more? Hell, who can afford to pay people more?
It's the same way with your job, and my job, and any job on the planet. If nobody read OutKick, we'd all get canned. The more people who come to our page, the more ads we sell, the more money we make.
If nobody shows up, how the hell could I be paid? Come on.
Point is, there is no pay gap. That's a fancy buzzword the wokes and our president like to use to sound smart and progressive and hip.
There's an interest gap. That's the gap. And it's mammoth.
Ain't Caitlin Clark's fault. Hell, I'm hoping she fixes it, or at least closes it.
If Joe Biden wants WNBA players to be paid their "fair share," then he had better start watching some actual games. He won't, because he really doesn't care about any of that, but you get my point.
We had a record number of folks tune into the WNBA Draft earlier this week. That's a good start. I assume you'll see a similar ratings bonanza for Clark's first game next month.
But what about after that?
That's the real problem.