WNBA is Bad Business
In its best year EVER, the WNBA is going to lose around $40 million. Yeah. The league has been around for 28 years and has never made a dime. As a business, it is an abject failure and, yet the NBA continues to subsidize it. Why?
Sports owners are far from dumb. Not all of them are successful at being sports owners, but they all made their money somewhere else. Only the original owning families became rich because of sports, like the Halas, Rooney, and Mara families. Everyone else had to be rich to even get into the sports ownership world. Most teams now are owned by conglomerates or “ownership groups” because sports teams cost so much to own. They cost that much because so many of them have high profit margins.
Of course, I’m talking about the ones that actually make money.
So, why does the WNBA still exist? It’s a great business question. It’s a better question when the players union walked away from their collective bargaining agreement and expect players to be demanding more money, among other benefits. The CBA wasn’t going to expire until 2027, but the union walked away now. Yes, the league is losing tens of millions of dollars and they players want more money, because they “feel” they deserve it.
League minimum salary is about $65k. Maximum salary is about $240k. For playing a game that barely anyone pays attention to. Seriously. The league loses money, and the players want to be paid MORE. They probably should have paid better attention in those college business classes.
The public reaction to this can be as unreasonable as the players. If you care, look at social media and check some of the general reactions. “The NBA players should give up some money so the WNBA players can make more.” What?? “The team owners are wealthy enough, they should give up some of their money for the players.” Huh??
This argument is very similar to the US Women’s National Soccer Team fight lead by Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. Equal pay for the US women, comparable to the US men. Great argument, especially because the women’s team has comparatively performed much better than the men’s team. And they got what they wanted, more pay and better benefits, for about 60 players and staff per year. What did they lose? Money from the US Soccer Federation who was subsidizing the professional league: The NWSL.
That league is also averaging a $5-10 Million loss PER TEAM annually, although NWSL is admittedly growing in success and sponsorship deals. They are growing SLOWLY and not cutting off their nose like the WNBA players are about to do.
The WNBA is enjoying some success after this season with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese having an immediate viewer impact. There is NO guarantee that will continue next year. None. But the players and their union are showing no patience. Angel Reese is actually complaining in public that she can’t afford her rent on her salary. Here’s an idea…live within your means, like normal people.
The players are looking across the aisle at the NBA and want to live like the “ballers” over there. Except they don’t draw crowds like the “ballers” over there. You can find plenty of articles making it sound like the WNBA has people fighting for seats because they set so many viewership and attendance records this year. Lots of “increases by 48% in attendance” statistics. Which are awesome until you look at raw numbers. The league averaged LESS than 10k people per game. Up from 6,600 last year. The numbers don’t lie. Men’s college basketball teams draw more than the WNBA.
Are there more TV deals coming? Yes. Are there more sponsor dollars coming? Yes. Not denying any of that. Are those things going to make the league profitable? In the near term, maybe. In the long term, probably not. You’ll see viewership drop off, and sponsors walk away, and the league lose money in the next few years when the newness of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese wears off. So, again, why has the NBA sponsored such a terrible business venture for this many years?
Because it has been easier than explaining “why” the league closed.
But now, with the union walking away from the agreed upon CBA, demanding more money, and threatening a strike? The owners have the opportunity to end the league and blame it on the players, the union, and the agents. And, if the strike delays the beginning of the season, even if they successfully negotiate a new deal, the casual fans of the league will walk away. You’ll see attendance and viewership drop. The players greed will sour the very short success they are currently enjoying.
This doesn’t end well for anyone, except maybe the owners, because the WNBA is Bad Business.