July 22, 2025 • 16 mins
Summary: In this episode of "The Morning Report," Willie Lawson addresses the burning question: "Why don't WNBA players get paid like NBA players?" Throughout the episode, he explores the economic disparities between the NBA and WNBA with a factual lens. By breaking down critical metrics such as attendance, revenue, and TV viewership, Willie challenges the rhetoric surrounding the gender pay gap in professional basketball. The episode delves into the striking difference in revenue generations, highlighting that the NBA's massive earnings stem from much higher ticket sales, advertising, and broader viewership compared to the WNBA. The conversation touches on the reality that player salaries are directly tied to the income their leagues can generate. Willie insists that while the WNBA is experiencing growth in viewership and attendance, it is yet to reach the profitability potential of its male counterpart, thereby affecting salary structures. As the discussion draws to a close, Willie emphasizes the importance of honest support over empty slogans or pity when it comes to women's sports. He argues that societal change begins with expanding the audience and market for women's sports, not with superficial comparisons. This episode is a call to action for fostering growth and opportunity in women's basketball based on merit and market realities. Key Takeaways:
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morning-report--3694168/support.
- The NBA garners significantly higher revenue than the WNBA, driven by larger attendance, greater team revenue, and extensive TV viewership.
- Currently, the NBA earns approximately 60 times more revenue than the WNBA, with a consistent audience pull of 10 times that of marquee WNBA matchups.
- Despite the salary gap, WNBA players proportionately earn more of the revenue their league generates compared to their NBA counterparts.
- The WNBA is witnessing rapid growth, with a significant increase in attendance and viewership, partly credited to prominent players attracting wider attention.
- A sustainable approach to bridging the pay gap in sports involves increasing revenue through growing fan bases and market interest, not through slogans alone.
- "You don't get paid based on your effort. You get paid based on what your product earns."
- "The gap in salary reflects a gapping value creation, not a gap in human worth."
- "The NBA simply makes more money than the WNBA."
- "The WNBA is growing fast. The attendance is higher than it's been in 22 years."
- "Support women's sports with honesty, not with pity, cash or guilt checks."
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morning-report--3694168/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Well, good morning. My name is Willy Lawson. This is
the Morning Report. Today we're jumping straight into a concert
conversation that's been heating up locker room, TV panels, and
social feeds all alike, especially over this weekend. Why don't
w NBA players get played like, get paid like NBA players.
(00:25):
We saw this weekend at the end, No, you didn't
see it, did I? At the w NBA All Star Game,
the teams came out in T shirts that say they said,
pay us what you owe us. You know, and it's
a question that asks, you know, passionately and often answered dishonestly,
(00:47):
way too often. So today we're putting the facts before
the fiction, dollars before the drama, and economics before the emotion.
We're gonna start with what real. All right, first thing
(01:19):
we're talking we're gonna talk about is attendants because butts
in the seats is the oldest financial indicator in actually
every sport. We're gonna look at last year. We looked
at the NBA. Last year, the average attendance per game
in the NBA was eighteen thousand, three hundred and twenty
(01:39):
two people per game in the arena. Their total season
attendance for twenty twenty four was twenty two point five
million people. Now they've got thirty teams and they play
forty one home games each because the regular NBA season
(02:02):
is eighty two games, right, so they play forty one
home games each. Now, in contrast, the w NBA average
attendance about nine thousand, eight hundred seven, which is a
record for them, an absolute record. This is their highest
attendant seven. Their total attendance was two million, three hundred
(02:30):
and fifty thousand. Now they don't have thirty teams, they
have twelve. They don't play eighty two games, they play forty,
so they had twenty home games each. Translation, the NBA
is selling more tickets in a week than the WNBA
(02:51):
does in a month. Okay, but credits, I mean, we
got to give credit where credit to do. The WNBA's
twenty twenty four attendants is up forty eight percent from
what it was last year. It's a huge leap. Some
(03:12):
fans are finally showing up, and we're gonna talk about
why they're showing up here in a little bit. The
next thing we got to talk about is revenue. We've
talked about attendance. We got to talk about revenue, money cash. Okay.
Last year, the twenty three to twenty four season total
(03:34):
revenue for the NBA was twelve point four billion dollars
twelve point four billion dollars. The average team revenue, I
remember they've got thirty teams, right, it was right around
four hundred and thirteen millions. Now the revenue splits that
(04:00):
they negotiated for is around fifty percent. Now. The WNBA,
their total revenue of all twelve of their teams was
around one hundred eighty to two hundred million dollars. Now,
(04:22):
I just said the total revenue for the NBA was
twelve point four billion dollars, almost twelve and a half
billion dollars. The total revenue for the WNBA one hundred
eighty to two hundred million dollars. The average seam revenue
of those twelve teams is around fifteen to thirty depending
(04:47):
on where they are right, depending on how good they're doing.
The revenue split with the league for players and that
they negotiated is around ten to tw So let's say
this so people who don't understand will understand. The NBA
(05:10):
brings in about sixty six zero time is more money
than the WNBA sixty times or money. That's credit wait
thid and close and really if you do, if you
take a tart pencil out, the WNBA players already get
(05:31):
a much larger share relative to the revenue that the
WNBA produces. But that revenue pie is the signs of
a snack when you compare it to the NBA's feast
(05:55):
now TV, because there is TV revenue right more money
right now. This one may surprise you a little bit.
The WNB, I mean the NBA ratings for last year.
A regular season game had about one point six million
(06:17):
viewers per game. The NBA Finals had twelve to fifteen
million viewers per game. The All Star Game, which is
I don't know, the auditors play a horse or something
because nobody plays going to defensive. The scores in the
(06:39):
into the two hundreds. It's just ridiculous. And I get it,
nobody wants to get hurt in the middle of the season,
but Colley, why bother, Well, at least they're still playing basketball.
You know, football was turned into I don't know what
I mean. They should just play Madden. If they don't
want to get sweaty or dirty or hurt, they should
just play Madden be done with it anymore. We also
(07:00):
our game had full five point four million people watch
on team. I'm guessing most of them are watching the
dunk contest and most of them are watching the three
point contests. That can't imagine they're watching the game. Maybe
maybe you basketball people were watching the game thought it
was a great thing. I don't know. The WNBA ratings
(07:23):
for twenty twenty four regular season, and their games are
on ESPN and CBS, they had one point one nine
million viewers per game, which is not that far away
from the NBA, and I think this is where a
lot of the pay us the same kind of thing
mentality shows up. Their top regular season game only two
(07:47):
point three million viewers, their top game all season nowhere
near the average, you know, but their top game two
point three million viewers, and there are start the All
Star game three point four million are record's biggest numbers.
(08:09):
The WNBA is closing the gap in TV viewership thanks
for a large part of players like Kaitlyn Clark and
Angel Reese and the purposeful use of racial tensions that
media and the w NBA need. They need Caitlin Clark
(08:34):
and Angel Reese like Major League Baseball needed steroids, but
the NBA still pulls ten times ten times, ten times,
ten times the audience consistently during its marquee matchups. W
NBA rating spike, Caitlin Clark injuries. We now, player salaries
(09:01):
is what we're talking about, and there's the gap that
gets all the headlines the NBA. In the NBA, the
average salary is about ten point two million dollars. Yeah,
it's crazy now, it's because you know how many how
(09:21):
many players are on the active roster twelve maybe ten
twelve like that, ten point two million dollars At the
average salary in the NBA, the maximum base salary, the
maximum base salary, the maximum that you know someone's playing
(09:44):
in just without all the other stuff, is fifty one
point nine million. The veterans minimum that thought someone who's
been in the league ten plus years is three point
two million dollars lot of money. In the w n
(10:10):
b A, the average salary is one hundred and twenty
thousand dollars, the maximum base salary is two two hundred
and forty two thousand dollars, and a ten in a
ten and a ten year vent their minimum is one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Now, I don't cue the
(10:31):
outrage que the church to say pay us what you
owe us. Plere's reality. You don't get paid based on
your effort. You get paid based on what your product earns.
The NBA earns billions. The w NBA, which is entirely
(10:57):
sponsored by the NBA, and and supplement about the NBA,
the w n A does not. The gap in salary
reflects a gaping value creation, not a gap in human worth.
Not that people aren't respecting what players in the w
(11:17):
NBA are doing. That's not it. And I think a
lot of people here on the outside, I think usually
do respectution is going to pay the women, Lord have mercy. No,
it's like, no, y'all will make y'all make enough money
to get paid the same. You know, everybody's like, okay, yeah,
(11:40):
these women playing are playing this women's game to the
highest level that women play basketball. No, the Fever is
not going to beat the Lakers ever, ever, ever, ever, ever,
There's no there's no team in the in the w
n b A that can even beat a medium college
(12:05):
all star team. That's just how it is. Guys are faster, bigger, stronger,
jump higher, that's the truth. Get over. But the NBA
simply makes more money than a WNBA. Now there is
(12:26):
there's always this income, but there's also outgo the EXPENSEI.
So let's flip the scrip a little bit. I look
at expenses. The WNBA team level expenses in twenty twenty four.
Player salaries about one point three eight million dollars per team,
Traveling charter flights one point five to two million dollars
(12:49):
per team, arena operations, marketing staff, all that stuff about
four to six million dollars. So while teams like the
Indiana Feed brought in thirty two million in revenue last year,
the expenses nearly wiped out wiped it out. Who even
(13:12):
the highest earning WNBA teams barely break even. So compare
that to Golden State, who made over seven hundred and
sixty five million dollars in revenue and had a net
I mean with a net income and that income of
eighty three million dollars in twenty twenty three. Now, yes,
(13:37):
the Warriors have player salaries, they've got travel and charter flights,
they've got arena operations, they've got all the same expenses. Really,
but they made eighty three million dollars. They actually profited
eighty three million dollars, so financially, this is this isn't
even the same spot. For those of you who enjoy
(14:01):
the WNBA. The good news is that the NBA, the
WNBA is growing and that's fine. And I know this
is going to sound tough, but I really want to
be clear about this. The WNBA is growing fast. The
attendance is higher than it's been in twenty two years. Now.
I still think it's a lot because they're using the
(14:26):
race baiting between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and I'm
wondering once those players are out of the league, or
or one or both of them are out of the league,
will anybody care. But the attendance is as high as
it has been in twenty two years. Viewership is up
one hundred seventy year over year. Sponsorships they have over
(14:52):
five hundred and fifty active deals, and the and the
merch sales, because we know that the merch sales mean
a lot, are breaking records on a weekly basis. Kitlin
Clark didn't bring dis eyeballs. You want business, and and
you can like her or dislike her, but her her
(15:16):
presidence of the WNBA has helped the league financially, but
the growth now doesn't really erase the math of the
last twenty five years because they've never made a profit.
It certainly does justify, it certainly doesn't justify millionaire contracts
unless these millions exist to actually be paid. Now, for
(15:44):
those of you shouting junior pay gap, I say this,
you can't fix economic gaps with slogans. You fix them
by growing the game, growing the audience, growing the income. Now,
let's support women's force with honesty, not with pity, cash
(16:04):
or guilt checks. The w NBA deserves a fair shake,
but fairness starts with facts feelings. Pay us what you
owe us, Okay, then earn what you're owed. My name
is Billy Lawson. It's been the Monery Report. Please subscribe,
(16:28):
support and share this truth. It's built a culture that's
strong because it's honest, not just because it's loud. Do
we see again, Go out there and learn something, love
somebody and forgettness sake. Ty, I'll take care of yourself.
We'll see you when we see come. Buy my name
Well, good morning. My name is Willy Lawson. This is
the Morning Report. Today we're jumping straight into a concert
conversation that's been heating up locker room, TV panels, and
social feeds all alike, especially over this weekend. Why don't
w NBA players get played like, get paid like NBA players.
(00:25):
We saw this weekend at the end, No, you didn't
see it, did I? At the w NBA All Star Game,
the teams came out in T shirts that say they said,
pay us what you owe us. You know, and it's
a question that asks, you know, passionately and often answered dishonestly,
(00:47):
way too often. So today we're putting the facts before
the fiction, dollars before the drama, and economics before the emotion.
We're gonna start with what real. All right, first thing
(01:19):
we're talking we're gonna talk about is attendants because butts
in the seats is the oldest financial indicator in actually
every sport. We're gonna look at last year. We looked
at the NBA. Last year, the average attendance per game
in the NBA was eighteen thousand, three hundred and twenty
(01:39):
two people per game in the arena. Their total season
attendance for twenty twenty four was twenty two point five
million people. Now they've got thirty teams and they play
forty one home games each because the regular NBA season
(02:02):
is eighty two games, right, so they play forty one
home games each. Now, in contrast, the w NBA average
attendance about nine thousand, eight hundred seven, which is a
record for them, an absolute record. This is their highest
attendant seven. Their total attendance was two million, three hundred
(02:30):
and fifty thousand. Now they don't have thirty teams, they
have twelve. They don't play eighty two games, they play forty,
so they had twenty home games each. Translation, the NBA
is selling more tickets in a week than the WNBA
(02:51):
does in a month. Okay, but credits, I mean, we
got to give credit where credit to do. The WNBA's
twenty twenty four attendants is up forty eight percent from
what it was last year. It's a huge leap. Some
(03:12):
fans are finally showing up, and we're gonna talk about
why they're showing up here in a little bit. The
next thing we got to talk about is revenue. We've
talked about attendance. We got to talk about revenue, money cash. Okay.
Last year, the twenty three to twenty four season total
(03:34):
revenue for the NBA was twelve point four billion dollars
twelve point four billion dollars. The average team revenue, I
remember they've got thirty teams, right, it was right around
four hundred and thirteen millions. Now the revenue splits that
(04:00):
they negotiated for is around fifty percent. Now. The WNBA,
their total revenue of all twelve of their teams was
around one hundred eighty to two hundred million dollars. Now,
(04:22):
I just said the total revenue for the NBA was
twelve point four billion dollars, almost twelve and a half
billion dollars. The total revenue for the WNBA one hundred
eighty to two hundred million dollars. The average seam revenue
of those twelve teams is around fifteen to thirty depending
(04:47):
on where they are right, depending on how good they're doing.
The revenue split with the league for players and that
they negotiated is around ten to tw So let's say
this so people who don't understand will understand. The NBA
(05:10):
brings in about sixty six zero time is more money
than the WNBA sixty times or money. That's credit wait
thid and close and really if you do, if you
take a tart pencil out, the WNBA players already get
(05:31):
a much larger share relative to the revenue that the
WNBA produces. But that revenue pie is the signs of
a snack when you compare it to the NBA's feast
(05:55):
now TV, because there is TV revenue right more money
right now. This one may surprise you a little bit.
The WNB, I mean the NBA ratings for last year.
A regular season game had about one point six million
(06:17):
viewers per game. The NBA Finals had twelve to fifteen
million viewers per game. The All Star Game, which is
I don't know, the auditors play a horse or something
because nobody plays going to defensive. The scores in the
(06:39):
into the two hundreds. It's just ridiculous. And I get it,
nobody wants to get hurt in the middle of the season,
but Colley, why bother, Well, at least they're still playing basketball.
You know, football was turned into I don't know what
I mean. They should just play Madden. If they don't
want to get sweaty or dirty or hurt, they should
just play Madden be done with it anymore. We also
(07:00):
our game had full five point four million people watch
on team. I'm guessing most of them are watching the
dunk contest and most of them are watching the three
point contests. That can't imagine they're watching the game. Maybe
maybe you basketball people were watching the game thought it
was a great thing. I don't know. The WNBA ratings
(07:23):
for twenty twenty four regular season, and their games are
on ESPN and CBS, they had one point one nine
million viewers per game, which is not that far away
from the NBA, and I think this is where a
lot of the pay us the same kind of thing
mentality shows up. Their top regular season game only two
(07:47):
point three million viewers, their top game all season nowhere
near the average, you know, but their top game two
point three million viewers, and there are start the All
Star game three point four million are record's biggest numbers.
(08:09):
The WNBA is closing the gap in TV viewership thanks
for a large part of players like Kaitlyn Clark and
Angel Reese and the purposeful use of racial tensions that
media and the w NBA need. They need Caitlin Clark
(08:34):
and Angel Reese like Major League Baseball needed steroids, but
the NBA still pulls ten times ten times, ten times,
ten times the audience consistently during its marquee matchups. W
NBA rating spike, Caitlin Clark injuries. We now, player salaries
(09:01):
is what we're talking about, and there's the gap that
gets all the headlines the NBA. In the NBA, the
average salary is about ten point two million dollars. Yeah,
it's crazy now, it's because you know how many how
(09:21):
many players are on the active roster twelve maybe ten
twelve like that, ten point two million dollars At the
average salary in the NBA, the maximum base salary, the
maximum base salary, the maximum that you know someone's playing
(09:44):
in just without all the other stuff, is fifty one
point nine million. The veterans minimum that thought someone who's
been in the league ten plus years is three point
two million dollars lot of money. In the w n
(10:10):
b A, the average salary is one hundred and twenty
thousand dollars, the maximum base salary is two two hundred
and forty two thousand dollars, and a ten in a
ten and a ten year vent their minimum is one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Now, I don't cue the
(10:31):
outrage que the church to say pay us what you
owe us. Plere's reality. You don't get paid based on
your effort. You get paid based on what your product earns.
The NBA earns billions. The w NBA, which is entirely
(10:57):
sponsored by the NBA, and and supplement about the NBA,
the w n A does not. The gap in salary
reflects a gaping value creation, not a gap in human worth.
Not that people aren't respecting what players in the w
(11:17):
NBA are doing. That's not it. And I think a
lot of people here on the outside, I think usually
do respectution is going to pay the women, Lord have mercy. No,
it's like, no, y'all will make y'all make enough money
to get paid the same. You know, everybody's like, okay, yeah,
(11:40):
these women playing are playing this women's game to the
highest level that women play basketball. No, the Fever is
not going to beat the Lakers ever, ever, ever, ever, ever,
There's no there's no team in the in the w
n b A that can even beat a medium college
(12:05):
all star team. That's just how it is. Guys are faster, bigger, stronger,
jump higher, that's the truth. Get over. But the NBA
simply makes more money than a WNBA. Now there is
(12:26):
there's always this income, but there's also outgo the EXPENSEI.
So let's flip the scrip a little bit. I look
at expenses. The WNBA team level expenses in twenty twenty four.
Player salaries about one point three eight million dollars per team,
Traveling charter flights one point five to two million dollars
(12:49):
per team, arena operations, marketing staff, all that stuff about
four to six million dollars. So while teams like the
Indiana Feed brought in thirty two million in revenue last year,
the expenses nearly wiped out wiped it out. Who even
(13:12):
the highest earning WNBA teams barely break even. So compare
that to Golden State, who made over seven hundred and
sixty five million dollars in revenue and had a net
I mean with a net income and that income of
eighty three million dollars in twenty twenty three. Now, yes,
(13:37):
the Warriors have player salaries, they've got travel and charter flights,
they've got arena operations, they've got all the same expenses. Really,
but they made eighty three million dollars. They actually profited
eighty three million dollars, so financially, this is this isn't
even the same spot. For those of you who enjoy
(14:01):
the WNBA. The good news is that the NBA, the
WNBA is growing and that's fine. And I know this
is going to sound tough, but I really want to
be clear about this. The WNBA is growing fast. The
attendance is higher than it's been in twenty two years. Now.
I still think it's a lot because they're using the
(14:26):
race baiting between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and I'm
wondering once those players are out of the league, or
or one or both of them are out of the league,
will anybody care. But the attendance is as high as
it has been in twenty two years. Viewership is up
one hundred seventy year over year. Sponsorships they have over
(14:52):
five hundred and fifty active deals, and the and the
merch sales, because we know that the merch sales mean
a lot, are breaking records on a weekly basis. Kitlin
Clark didn't bring dis eyeballs. You want business, and and
you can like her or dislike her, but her her
(15:16):
presidence of the WNBA has helped the league financially, but
the growth now doesn't really erase the math of the
last twenty five years because they've never made a profit.
It certainly does justify, it certainly doesn't justify millionaire contracts
unless these millions exist to actually be paid. Now, for
(15:44):
those of you shouting junior pay gap, I say this,
you can't fix economic gaps with slogans. You fix them
by growing the game, growing the audience, growing the income. Now,
let's support women's force with honesty, not with pity, cash
(16:04):
or guilt checks. The w NBA deserves a fair shake,
but fairness starts with facts feelings. Pay us what you
owe us, Okay, then earn what you're owed. My name
is Billy Lawson. It's been the Monery Report. Please subscribe,
(16:28):
support and share this truth. It's built a culture that's
strong because it's honest, not just because it's loud. Do
we see again, Go out there and learn something, love
somebody and forgettness sake. Ty, I'll take care of yourself.
We'll see you when we see come. Buy my name
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