Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller Had The Nerve To Claim The WNBA Got Shortchanged In A $2.2 Billion Media Deal

There’s no denying the fact that the WNBA has come a long way in its popularity over the past year. Regular season games are seeing record viewership numbers, ticket sales are up, and more people are interested in the game than ever before.

As such, the WNBA was able to close on an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal with NBC, Amazon, and Disney. This is a massive step forward for the league, in the eyes of everyone…except Cheryl Miller.

The Hall of Famer said on Friday that the WNBA got shortchanged in this deal, and that the amount the league received was too low.

"I’m not great with numbers," Miller told reporters in Phoenix. "That’s a lowball. We certainly have come a long way, and I’m not about gauging, but it’s a long time overdue," Miller said. "Women’s basketball is in a great place right now."

I am so tempted to walk away from the keyboard right now and go enjoy the chicken Alfredo that’s waiting for me on this fine Saturday evening, because this comment doesn't deserve a response.

But the chicken Alfredo will have to wait, because one of the few things I love more than good food is ripping apart stupid arguments.

*proceeds to crack knuckles*…alright, here we go.

Miller Made One Of The Most Outlandish Takes Possible

For Miller to say that the league got low-balled shows an uncanny amount of arrogance in relation to where the WNBA has ranked in the pantheon of entertaining - heck, profitable - leagues in North America. In 2018, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that the WNBA had, on average, lost $10 million a year annually.

The WNBA simply could not make a product that people cared about supporting for a very long time, and lost tons of money in the process. Frankly, Miller and everyone else in the WNBA should be counting their lucky stars that the league even exists.

The WNBA is popular now thanks to the arrival of Caitlin Clark. But even so, the league is projected to lose $50 million this year. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

However, the league has seen a remarkable surge in popularity thanks to the arrival of Caitlin Clark. As I said in the beginning, everything from ticket prices to viewership numbers are at an all-time high for the league. That is what produced this new lucrative media deal that Miller is making time in her day to complain about. Companies are now investing in a product that actually has some mass appeal.

But here’s an interesting fact. Even with all of that increased popularity, the WNBA is projected to lose a whopping $50 million after this season is over. So for the WNBA to land this deal is not only shocking (given that the league continues to lose money), it’s leaps and bounds above what the league should be getting. Miller's statement about women's basketball being in a great place right now isn't even half true from a financial standpoint.

And yet, she has the unmitigated gall to say that the WNBA is still being undervalued. That’s a more ludicrous take than Sue Bird's perception of Clark’s first year in the WNBA.