RE: Dear WNBA: Stop complaining about the "pay gap"
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I remember getting cheap nosebleed tickets to a WNBA game back in early 2000, just to see what it was. It was so empty that officials were going through the stands begging everybody to get closer and seat almost front row.
So I agree about the salary from the professional teams, it's all based on the revenues generated. Teams are big business, now more than ever.
But you mentioned Megan Rapinoe. The situation was a bit different I think, this was about compensation for playing for the national team. And they did have a point: the women US soccer team often gets more revenues than the men US soccer team.
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I have heard that this is the case for WNBA games. There is no reason to purchase front row seats because they are gonna ask everyone to move forward if the game is televised to create the illusion that the stands are packed even though the upper decks aren't even open.
The reason why Rapinoe's comments fall on deaf ears for me as well is because of the fact that the women's World Cup doesn't make nearly as much money as the men's does. If there are even other women's tournaments on a national level I am not even aware of them (such as the Americas Cup or whatever it is called - I'm not really a soccer fan) The differences are similar to the NBA and WNBA disparity in terms of overall money made so asking for more of an amount of money that doesn't exist seems a bit silly to me. I'll look up those stats someday but I am sure this has been discussed in great detail.
If you know differently, I'd be interested in hearing about it :)
Sorry I completely forgot to respond earlier.
Again, if we're looking at professional teams, I agree the disparity is very similar. In France for instance (pretty sure it's the same in US and everywhere), comparing the budget/revenues of the men Ligue 1 with the women Division 1 doesn't even make sense, it's just too far apart.
But coming back to the US national teams, there are multiple audits that found out that most years since 2015, the women team generated more revenues than the men team (for instance in the WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-womens-soccer-games-out-earned-mens-games-11560765600)
And yes, the World cup prize money are very different but the men US team didn't even qualify for last World Cup.
But I really digress, your original post was about WNBA and we're on the same page there.
That was a real eye opening article... thanks for that. In their situation yes, they should bargain to get more pay for the intl matches. I didn't know this stuff because i am not much of a soccer fan.
My sister played pro basketball in Europe... they didn't get paid at all.