Being a libertarian makes you talk about things you never thought you’d ever care about, but it comes with the territory. I’m here to talk about the WNBA.
Wait! Don’t go! Please keep reading—there’s going to be points on economics in here!
One of the most prolific players in the WNBA, Elena Delle Donne, is becoming vocal about what she considers bad marketing and low pay for the players in her league. According to the Philly.com piece:
She is “speaking out because I want it to be better for the next generation coming through,” she said. “Knowing how hard we all work and how talented we all are, and just not getting the props and the pay that we deserve.”
As a veteran and premier player in the WNBA, she should be promoting it. I have no issue with that especially considering that what I’ve read from her isn’t all that terrible (all things considered regarding commentary on the apparent “gender wage gap”). But it is frustrating that people are so ignorant of basic economics that they assign malicious intent to the people who are actually huge benefactors to people like Delle Donne.
Delle Donne takes home a league maximum salary (at the time) of $107,000. While that is very low compared to what NBA players make, most Americans would probably be pretty happy about making that kind of money. They would be happy making that in their current jobs and would probably be thrilled to make it playing a game. That’s not to suggest that Delle Donne or any other professional athlete doesn’t work extremely hard. Professional sports are extremely competitive, so it is no easy task to reach Delle Donne’s level.
But unfortunately, hard work and dedication are not what determine pay. Your pay is determined by how well you’re able to solve problems and create wealth. My joke about not reading this article in the beginning was not meant to disparage anyone in the WNBA but was instead made to make the point that not many people watch or care about it. That’s why NBA players can command salaries of much greater magnitudes. The demand to watch NBA games and buy its merchandise is not remotely in the same ballpark. It’s one of the reasons that the NBA pays its players about 50% of its revenue—$3 billion—while the WNBA pays a little over 20% of its $52.4 million revenue to players. It’s tough to pay high salaries when most teams have a strong history of losing money.
But it’s not all bad for WNBA players. It just so happens that the WNBA season occurs during the off seasons of European and Chinese leagues, so players can supplement their incomes (not to mention take endorsement deals et al). And in the case of Diana Taurasi, she decided to sit out the 2015 WNBA season because her Russian league team asked her to…and paid her $1.5 million for the year.
Delle Donne chooses not to play overseas. A 2017 Washington Post article explains her reasons:
Many WNBA stars play overseas in the offseason, often making more than they do in the United States. Delle Donne, who earns the WNBA maximum salary in the neighborhood of $107,000 per year, stays home to spend time with family and her other pursuits. She organized a dodgeball tournament to support the Elena Delle Donne Charitable Foundation, which benefits the Special Olympics and Lyme disease awareness.
I think that this is awesome. But without the WNBA, would she be able to put the time and resources to these other pursuits? Would her charities be as effective without the name recognition she has from her career in the WNBA?
I don’t want Delle Donne to stop voicing her opinions. I don’t want her to not pursue a higher salary. All I ask is that people take a minute to step back and think about the reasons that certain things happen in the world. It will make finding solutions that much less difficult and won’t unfairly make certain people out to be the bad guys.
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