Prof. Sachs explains why employers like Apple and Starbucks are wrong when they say they can't offer union workers the same perks that they're extending to nonunion employees. Heres hoping the best womens basketball league in the world returns as soon as safely possible so that we can both enjoy and support this Big Bet on Women. In, Morning Consult. This corrects the WNBAs former half-pay policy, which compelled four-time WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith to both conceal and play through her pregnancy for the entire 2018 WNBA season. Altogether, player-members average guaranteed earnings will skyrocket from about $85,000 to about $130,000 (+53%). This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. With nearly a quarter of women saying they like to watch sport, what are the . Its a good product but its a different product than the NBA. Or the professionalism. Last fall, Bleacher Reports Natalie Weiner wrote a storyaboutwomen dunking. The NBA has by far the most racially diverse and left-leaning U.S. fan base of the four top team sports, according to the Brand Intelligence data: 54 percent of fans of the average NBA team are. ", Morning Consult, Level of interest in the National Basketball Association in the United States as of May 2022, by gender Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1098381/national-basketball-association-interest-gender/ (last visited March 05, 2023), Level of interest in the National Basketball Association in the United States as of May 2022, by gender [Graph], Morning Consult, May 26, 2022. High game viewership Every men's league can take a huge cue from the WNBA for their amazing contributions, consistently using their voice and their platform for social change, community service, intentional inclusion, and carrying the mantle of 'winning' in life beyond the playing field!". (September 21, 2022). Morning Consult. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. I should be paying attention. Today's news reinforces that. Im a very tiny part of a bigger thing, he said. The league has several initiatives focused on civic engagement, LGBTQ+ advocacy and COVID-19 vaccine accessibility. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. Moreover, of the six women on the WNBPAs player-member leadership team, halfDelle Donne, Sue Bird, and Layshia Clarendonidentify as LGBTQ+. There were eight women in CEO/president positions in 2021. Yet the commercialization of women's sports has not been fully realised. Did you know? "I'm a realist. Unfortunately, the WNBA fanbase is not nearly as large as the NBA fanbase is and this is evident in the coverage of games. As a UConn fan, why look elsewhere? It is a [], Today, the Supreme Court held that Title VII prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This is the second time in the history of the WNBA report card that a majority of CEO/presidents are women. While there are a lot of Read more, Even though the NBA finals are over for the year and the Golden State Warriors have taken the crown, we wanted to keep the basketball talk going. WNBA players are no exception and are often the leaders of those movements. Especially because the union managed to achieve this remarkable progress while represent[ing] everyone, every type of player. RELATED: How Warriors changed offensive plan in win vs. Bulls Whenever a select group of people - gender, race, ethnicity, religion - is subjected to inequality, pointing it out to those with the power to generate change tends to be perceived as complaining. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set We know ESPN is paying the WNBA $25 million to broadcast some of its games. Please help us! The agreement between the league and players' association includes reimbursing veteran players on family expenses such as surrogacy, adoption and egg freezing. [and without] leav[ing] anyone left behind, as WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike emphasized. its huge. The Sparks had taken both games so far this season. This cringe-worthy idea would have done nothing to improve the quality of the product, and would have played into the stereotypes that so many female athletes are trying to break down. After the game broadcast ended Brunson was on SportsCenter. WNBA semis start with viewership high Tuesday's double-overtime Sky-Sun WNBA semifinal opener averaged 399,000 viewers on ESPN2, marking the largest WNBA playoff audience prior to the Finals since 2018 (Mystics-Dream Game 5: 430K). Viewership of 2020 WNBA Finals up 15 percent from 2019 In a time when many of America's major professional sports leagues are struggling to maintain their usual viewership, the 2020 WNBA. Hes been writing features on the womens game and tweeting about it, but hes a newbie on this front, maybe even considered an interloper by some. And top Players stand to gain the most, as the CBA boosts the ceiling on total individual cash compensation more than threefold, now eclipsing $500,000. Organizers and union leaders are drawing attention to old-school union-busting by new-economy employers, high-profile companies are employing migrant child workers, and new prospective Labor Secretary candidates are entering the conversation. You could be getting the best stories in your inbox twice a day. They are on the level of a good high school boys team. Those conversations have to take place., atch Oregon basketball, Serrano recommends now. Both series went five games with each team taking one title. In April 2021, a public service announcement featuring Layshia Clarendon, Nneka Ogwumike, Elizabeth Williams and A'ja Wilson debuted during the 2021 WNBA draft. The TV viewership is a lot smaller in the WNBA with around 280,000 viewers for the 2018 season while the 2019 NBA Finals alone averaged 15.14 million. Diana Taurasi. TheNew York Times best-selling authorand super writer forThe Ringerwasnt covering the game, but he knew the backstory. Just because its fair? OnLabor is a blog devoted to workers, unions, and their politics. Think about it. Could there be one reason for it? Yes, he has one of the most vibrant voices in writing today. These athletes are showing kids around the world that basketball is a sport loved by all races and genders, and by putting in the work, they too can make it to the professional level. The 20th WNBA season tips off on May 14th. The average annual WNBA salary is reportedly about $100,000 as compared to the approximately $7 million that NBA players bank. The gap is even larger for single-gender sports, the report shows. Hes literally telling women what they need to do to make their voice heard, Fieldsisbetter (@kwok_mason) April 1, 2021, Draymond isnt wrong How yall gonna get paid more when you not drawing NBA level revenue? (@OhReall01615109) April 1, 2021. Statista. And though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics did not [], On the latest episode of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Reviews podcast Taking Liberties, Emily Morrow and I spoke to James Esseks, Director of the ACLUs LGBT & HIV Project, about his thoughts coming out of oral argument for the Title VII LGBTQ cases. The WNBA is widely recognized for being one of the most progressive organizations in professional sport. This has since been updated and the WNBA now plays four 10-minute quarters and has a 24-second shot clock. Show publisher information Why do more women tune into Scandal or The Real Housewives of Wherever for water cooler fodder instead? September 21, 2022. This size difference would make sense considering men and women typically have different hand sizes. "It's so interesting, . said the Rev. Working Conditions. Currently, you are using a shared account. Part of HuffPost News. But the total money guaranteed to Players far exceeds the sum of their base salaries: select player-members will earn additional money from WNBA- and team-specific marketing agreements, in-season tournament prizes, and performance bonuses. The average age of a baseball viewer is 57, up from 52 in 2006. The average salary of a WNBA player is around $71,000 while the average NBA salary is $6.4 million, but it makes sense right now considering the crowd sizes and how much each organization is bringing in. For all-but-one event examined, the women 55+ demo made up a greater proportion of the audience than any other . Critics say NO excuse for Rapinoes complaints about unequal pay under Biden admin https://t.co/fQGAIuTZHr pic.twitter.com/QERqdt5gdn, Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) March 25, 2021. The WNBA's audience is 75 percent women. As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic. The Seattle Storm vs. Chicago Sky game on Aug. 15, broadcast . The NBA dominates the WNBA in this regard. "Number of Viewers of The Wnba Finals on Espn from 2003 to 2022 (in 1,000s). The deciding game two days later, shown by ESPN, registered 417,000 viewers and peaked with 623,000 viewers, up 32 per cent from 2019's game four . Damn, shes actually right. The WNBA received an A+ for race and an A+ for gender, and an overall grade of A+. The WNBA can't compete with that. . I said more women. Enjoy OnLabors fresh takes on the days labor news, right in your inbox. He told her she was right. Please do not hesitate to contact me. By all metrics, WNBA Viewership is increasing in all the most important areas. I interviewed Brittney Griner a couple of years ago for a magazine story in which she revealed that the league was contemplating shorter and tighter uniforms. Success! That number spiked to 5.2 million in the final 15 minutes when Ogunbowale hit the buzzer-beating championship-winner, capping the biggest comeback in championship game history. Some of the women I questioned say they are fans, but they can never find a game to watch on television. Blah, blah, blah. There were many highlights in this report card. I should be paying attention. The average NBA team value is $1.9 billion, a 13% growth over last year. Since 2007, all four Grand Slams - The Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open - pay out equal prize money to their male and female winners. Mississippi State hit a three-pointer late in regulation to force overtime versus Louisville. Indianapolis 500 qualifying on NBC averaged a 0.6 rating and 933,000 viewers Saturday and a 0.5 and 824,000 Sunday, both down from 2018 on ABC, the last time qualifying aired as scheduled (Saturday: 0.7, 1.05M; Sunday: 0.9, 1.33M). Most Super Bowl wins by NFL team 1967-2023, Average ticket price in the NFL by team 2021, FIFA World Ranking: top male soccer teams 2022, Athletic footwear global market share by company 2015, Health & Fitness Clubs - Statistics & Facts, Sporting goods industry in the U.S. - statistics & facts, Research expert covering sports and video gaming, Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. Realistically, men have more of an advantage than women considering the fact that mens' muscle mass tends to be more discernible in the upper body, while women often have more of an immense amount in the lower body. The top-tier NBA players, of course, make far more than that. He has been a regular commentator for ESPN.com on issues of diversity in sport. According to The Athletic, the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game peaked at 768,000 viewers. Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 600+ segments in 150+ countries, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 60m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 35,000+ online stores and marketplaces. But yet plastered all over your website is women empowerment. Brittney Griner. Indeed, the WNBAs reigning scoring champion, Britney Grinera towering 68 centerhad to contort into a middle coach seat to participate in last years All-Star Game. This is over a foot difference when compared to the WNBA. Let's first take a look at the last two WNBA Drafts. The WNBA is an American professional women's basketball league established in 1996 and owned by the NBA. Discover WNBA viewership by year According to Statista, the average TV viewers of the WNBA regular season in 2016 was 224,000 and grew to 246,000 in 2019. The new format gives the WNBA more opportunity to generate revenue and showcase players' talent on TV. During different parts of the 1980s she was an assistant womens basketball coach atWestern Connecticut State University and Brown University, and the head coach atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute. By contrast, the series averaged 922,000 women 18-34, just 2.7% of the 33.8 million women in that demo. Maya Moore (David Berding/Icon Sportswire via. . Do you care? WNBA earns highest marks for racial and gender hiring practices, WNBA mock draft: Villanova's Siegrist soars into lottery pick, Serena, Griner honored at NAACP Image Awards, Sparks officially re-sign forward N. Ogwumike, Griner on court in 1st open workout since release, WNBA draft set for N.Y., to have 'Orange Carpet', 2-time All-Star C. Ogwumike back with Sparks, Griner officially rejoins Mercury in 'special signing', Yang joins Sparks after FIBA silver with China, WNBA trade grades: Why Wings, Liberty earn top marks in Saturday's four-team trade. The basketball gender pay gap is significant. The decision is an historic victory for LGBTQ advocates, arriving more than 45 years after the introduction of the first bill in Congress aimed at protecting LGBTQ workers. Women's Sport WNBA regular season viewership up 16% on 2021 to score 14-year high US women's basketball league live broadcasts average 379,000 viewers on CBS, ABC and ESPN. A roundtable discussion with Benjamin Sachs, Kate Andrias, Steve Kest, and Robert Kuttner. That money is then being used to fund political lobbying that many of the workers oppose. The workplace benefits historically marginalized groups enjoy from unionization are well-documented. Others say the WNBA is on during the time of year when most people are doing summer-type things, instead of in the house watching sports. This season included 11 windows on broadcast television (ABC + CBS), the league's most in a season since at least two decades (NBC carried 10 in 2001 and 2002). Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. This resulted in an . Minor league baseball doesn't have near the following as MLB. Another difference within the organizations has to do with the team rosters. Stewart was unable to reap the benefits of free fertility treatment, having frozen her eggs earlier in 2019. Tennis boasts the most narrow pay gap of any major sport. ", Prof. Sachs on how employers can benefit from unions, explaining how unions "open up a new line of communication between management and workers" and how voluntary recognition "can be faster and less acrimonious" than using the NLRB process, Apple to Withhold Latest Employee Perks From Unionized Store. According to ESPN, it was the most . The WNBA requires players entering the draft to be at least 22 years old. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. In 2021, the viewership of the women's final of the tennis U.S. Open outperformed the men's for the fifth time in just sevenyears. As it does every year, the WNBA continues to lead the professional sports leagues -- Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association, and the National Football League -- in overall grades and scores. Business Solutions including all features. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. The Gender Pay Gap in Sports. Wake up to the day's most important news. Plus, the championship aired around dinner time on Easter Sunday. The most revolutionary change the agreement came to was access to free fertility services, which has been often seen as a luxury and not a necessity. Once Moore left, the next crop of talent came up and UConn has remained a perennial powerhouse. The situation is kind of like marketing gourmet ice cream to a group of people who are mostly lactose intolerant. I always was optimistic that we would start getting opportunities, Stiff said. Demographics and Identity in the New WNBA-WNBPA CBA, Why Conservative Attacks on Federal Agencies Are at Odds with the Constitution, Ninth Circuit Invalidates California Law Against Forced Arbitration, When Republican NLRB Members Show Their True Colors, A CBA By Women, For Women: Demographics, Identity, and the New WNBA-WNBPA CBA. It's not a coincidence that tennis legends Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Li Na are among the . Daily News & Commentary: September 18, 2018, Commentary Round-up: Bostock v. Clayton County, Opinion Summary: Bostock v. Clayton County, Interview with ACLUs James Esseks on Bostock and Harris. Moore also wondered in her essay why the fans that rooted her on at the University of Connecticut didn't follow her to the WNBA. In, ESPN.com, und Sports Media Watch. Back then womens sports on TV were a rarity. Theres no reason for me not to., The next day, Serrano reached out to Weiner through a direct message on Twitter. Hard to take, but hes right about revenue not being there. Through June, WNBA . The new WNBA-WNBPA CBA has four provisions that provide support for working mothers. He knows there are others who have covered the game longer and have a great depth of knowledge on it. The 2021 WNBA regular season averaged 306,000 viewers, a 49 percent increase over the 2020 regular season and up 24 percent over 2019. Compensation. . WNBA playoff format changes: Solving a problem or 'overcorrecting'? The World Series, for example, averaged 2.9 million viewers among women 55+ 6.6% of the 44.3 million women in that demographic. The Sky won their first WNBA championship after beating the Mercury 80-74.