THE WNBA IS WORTH OUR TIME, BUT TO GROW, THE WOMEN NEED THE NBA’S HELP
The All-Star Game might be the best one going, as others fade, but to see a labor leader demand much more than $2.2 billion for 11 years is undervaluing the patience and guidance of the men’s titan
The emerging sphere of the WNBA is on our minds. Will it be in our souls? I am ready to watch and follow women’s professional basketball, from why A’ja Wilson is being paid by Tom Brady to why Caitlin Clark is being poleaxed, but am I prepared to say it’s worth more than $2.2 billion for 11 years? When the NBA says it’s worth about 33 times more in new media deals — beyond $73 billion?
The TV people and leagues stretch their financial contracts far beyond societal value and knowledge. God only knows what will happen in this country — where President Joe Biden really said he did “the goodest job as I know I can do’’ — from 2026 through 2036. Is it overboard to think Clark and Angel Reese will carry on as storied American legends for years? Will JuJu Watkins follow in celebrity life? The NBA, clearly, is established as the No. 2 sport and makes legitimate global impact while commanding monstrous stuff worth beyond commissioner Adam Silver’s initial hope of $65 billion. The owners, who own about 60 percent of the WNBA, have been patient since the 1997 founding.
Now that we have hope for a detailed future, should the WNBA’s labor leaders already be wielding fists? Can’t we simply enjoy Saturday night’s All-Star Game, which is on our official watch list, instead of claiming Silver and other men suck? The NBA commands our attention with ratings, especially in the postseason, that regularly fall only behind the NFL colossus. Suddenly, Terri Jackson wants to overtake the domain of LeBron James, Steph Curry and, once upon a time, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
“We have wondered for months how the NBA would value the WNBA in its media rights deal,” the league’s executive director said. “With a reportedly $75 billion deal on the table, the league is in control of its own destiny. More precisely, the NBA controls the destiny of the WNBA. We look forward to learning how the NBA arrived at a $200 million (per year) valuation — if initial reports are accurate or even close.”
Nah, let’s assume the NBA is about to die and the WNBA will take over hoops interest everywhere. What? Said Jackson: “Neither the NBA nor the WNBA can deny that in the last few years, we have seen unprecedented growth across all metrics, the players continue to demonstrate their commitment to building the brand, and that the fans keep showing up. There is no excuse to undervalue the WNBA again.”
If she is correct, her league can boycott the NBA and find fresh owners. That will not happen, got it? Any allegiance with Silver will help the WNBA grow and move on from current problems, which only recently involved Black players such as Chennedy Carter smacking Clark. Those episodes never should have happened if anyone realized Clark, with Reese, injected unprecedented buzz into the game. It required Silver to call the dirty foul a “welcome to the league” moment, saying it was “nothing new in basketball.” Without him, would the same mayhem have continued under WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert? He sensed ferocity would create interest. He was right, in an odd way.
“Of course, I want to see Caitlin treated fairly and appropriately in the league,” Silver said. “I would say it seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player. It’s generating tremendous additional interest. In fairness to the other players and in fairness to Commissioner Engelbert, this didn’t just start this year.
“If you went back and looked at our original business plan from 28 years ago, we didn’t think it would be such a long timeline to break into the popularity we’re seeing now. Ultimately, I don’t want to make too big of an issue about one particular player, one particular call. But I think the burgeoning rivalries within professional basketball, you see rivalries obviously among clubs but also among individual players, too, and I think that can be ultimately good for the sport.”
At a time when fans bemoan the demise of All-Star Games, the WNBA has a doozy against the U.S. Olympic team. Clark will play as we wonder why she isn’t with the Olympians, a farce that will cost NBC a measure of ratings. She also won’t participate in the three-point shooting contest in Phoenix, her decision. But she showed up wearing more than $200,000 in jewelry. “I’m wearing Armani dress, Versace shoes, Versace bag, Tiffany bracelets and Tiffany necklace, Cartier earrings,” she said.
Her team in Indiana is playing better, fueled by her outbreaks. She managed a league record 19 assists Wednesday and leads all players with 8.2 a game, along with leading rookies at 17.1 points per game. “I feel like I’ve been nonstop go since, like, probably September of last year,” Clark said. “I think it’ll be really good for myself and my body. You’re getting close to a full year of just playing basketball nonstop. So it’ll probably be a little weird for me not playing games. But I think it’s definitely going to be good for my body.”
She has played 65 games since last Nov. 6. It is, without much argument, the most important stretch of marketing for a female athlete in American history. “Honestly,” she said, “I feel pretty good.” She makes $3.5 million a season with Nike over the next eight years. She does a Gatorade commercial with Michael Jordan and Jayson Tatum in which she says, “Is it in you?” And joining Reese this weekend? “That’s what everybody wants to see,” Reese said. “Everyone can wear their ‘Get Along’ shirts together for one day.”
The WNBA has our vision. Let’s enjoy it. Don’t exploit it.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.