{"id":2465054,"date":"2025-07-22T05:41:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T09:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-the-nba-millions\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T05:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T09:44:09","slug":"if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-the-nba-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-the-nba-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"If WNBA Players Want To Talk Money, They &#8216;Owe&#8217; The NBA Millions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fif-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-the-nba-millions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2465054&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article critiques the financial demands made by WNBA players during their recent All-Star Game protest,where thay wore shirts reading &#8220;Pay Us What You Owe Us.&#8221; It argues that the WNBA is heavily subsidized by the male-led NBA, which owns roughly 60% of the league, and that the women&#8217;s league consistently operates at a important loss-losing $40 million in the 2024 season alone. Despite some growth in popularity,largely attributed to star player Caitlin Clark,the WNBA remains less financially prosperous than the NBA due to lower viewer interest. The article suggests that if WNBA players want to discuss money,they should acknowledge the financial support from the NBA and the ongoing losses that have sustained their league,implying they &#8220;owe&#8221; the NBA millions rather than the other way around.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rb2XoV8sIXM\">ESPN\/YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/22\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-their-male-counterparts-millions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=If%20WNBA%20Players%20Want%20To%20Talk%20Money,%20They%20%E2%80%98Owe%E2%80%99%20Their%20Male%20Counterparts%20Millions&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/22\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-their-male-counterparts-millions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=If%20WNBA%20Players%20Want%20To%20Talk%20Money,%20They%20%E2%80%98Owe%E2%80%99%20Their%20Male%20Counterparts%20Millions&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/22\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-their-male-counterparts-millions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/22\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-their-male-counterparts-millions\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=If%20WNBA%20Players%20Want%20To%20Talk%20Money,%20They%20%E2%80%98Owe%E2%80%99%20Their%20Male%20Counterparts%20Millions&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/22\/if-wnba-players-want-to-talk-money-they-owe-their-male-counterparts-millions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>It turns out that the girlbosses of the Women&rsquo;s National Basketball Association (<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/wnba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WNBA<\/a>) aren&rsquo;t just bad at putting on an entertaining game. They&rsquo;re also incapable of understanding basic math. <\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, players participating in this year&rsquo;s WNBA All-Star Game (yes, that&rsquo;s apparently a thing) took to the court for <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >pre-game warm-ups wearing black shirts<\/a> that read, &ldquo;Pay Us What You Owe Us.&rdquo; According to left-wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/45778770\/wnba-all-stars-wear-pay-us-owe-us-warmup-shirts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ESPN<\/a>, &ldquo;The collective demonstration occurred two days after more than 40 players met with the league in the latest round of collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The players didn&rsquo;t think the meeting produced enough progress with a late October deadline looming.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1070271263\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;We wanted to do something that was united as a collective, and I thought that it&rsquo;s a very powerful moment and got the point across,&rdquo; Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum told the outlet. &ldquo;Sometimes, you don&rsquo;t have to say anything.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Plum is absolutely correct in saying that the players&rsquo; pity parade &ldquo;got the point across.&rdquo; And that point is that these ladies have no idea how fundamental economics works. <\/p>\n<p>Consider that in order to keep operating as a league, the WNBA relies on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-announces-524m-for-horn-of-africa-climate-crisis-others-join\/\" title=\"USA pledges 4M for Horn of Africa climate crisis, more countries contribute.\">substantial financial support<\/a> from the male-led National Basketball Association (NBA). Some <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/10\/18\/sports\/wnba-will-lose-40-million-this-season-with-nba-investors-growing-impatient\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimates<\/a> place NBA ownership of the women&rsquo;s league at roughly 60 percent. <\/p>\n<p>Subsidization of the WNBA isn&rsquo;t exactly a profitable venture. In October, the New York Post reported that the female-dominated league <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/10\/18\/sports\/wnba-will-lose-40-million-this-season-with-nba-investors-growing-impatient\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lost $40 million<\/a> in its 2024 season alone. And losses in the millions have apparently been a routine pattern <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/wnba-report-50-million-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">since the league&rsquo;s inception<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While it&rsquo;s true the WNBA has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/wnba-report-50-million-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experienced<\/a> a rise in popularity in recent years, that increase is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/17\/leftists-would-rather-the-wnba-cease-to-exist-than-watch-caitlin-clark-succeed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">almost exclusively driven<\/a> by Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, who has arguably done more to elevate women&rsquo;s basketball in a few years than the entire league has in its existence. Clark&rsquo;s popularity has garnered her ire from her fellow (<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/17\/leftists-would-rather-the-wnba-cease-to-exist-than-watch-caitlin-clark-succeed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seemingly jealous<\/a>) WNBA players, who have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=StYf5valH_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">continued<\/a> to enact brutal fouls against her &mdash; even after she <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/13\/by-bowing-to-the-leftist-mob-caitlin-clark-abandons-her-most-ardent-defenders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">renounced<\/a> her &ldquo;white privilege.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>And yet, even with Clark&rsquo;s fanbase, the WNBA is still losing money. <\/p>\n<p>The simple truth is that viewers just aren&rsquo;t as interested in watching women&rsquo;s pro-basketball as much as they are the men&rsquo;s. And that&rsquo;s why the NBA is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/wnba-report-50-million-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more financially<\/a> successful league.  <\/p>\n<p>If the WNBA players really want to talk finances, they can start by repaying the male-dominated league responsible for its continued existence the millions of dollars they&rsquo;ve lost in the decades prior. After all, that is what they&rsquo;re &ldquo;owed.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/basketball\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Basketball<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/caitlin-clark\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Caitlin Clark<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/female-athletes\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">female athletes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/gender-pay-gap\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">gender pay gap<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/leftism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">leftism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/nba\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">NBA<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/revenue\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">revenue<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/sports-2\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">sports<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/wnba\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">WNBA<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/womens-sports\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">women&#8217;s sports<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit ESPN\/YouTube Share WNBA leaders struggle with math, not just basketball<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2465055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/WNBA.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4755,7873,11543,48028,7188],"class_list":["post-2465054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-money","tag-nba","tag-salary","tag-sports-business","tag-wnba"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/WNBA.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2465054"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2465058,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465054\/revisions\/2465058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2465055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2465054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2465054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2465054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}