WNBA Projected To Lose $50 Million Despite ‘The Caitlin Clark Effect’ And The League Being More Popular

[xfactor]

WNBA Projected To Lose $50 Million Despite ‘The Caitlin Clark Effect’ And The League Being More Popular: REPORT​

ANDREW POWELLSPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT BLOGGER
June 13, 20246:56 AM ET

Okay … I can’t help it when I say, “hahahahahaha!”
Thanks to “The Caitlin Clark Effect,” the WNBA‘s popularity and interest in the league has skyrocketed. However, despite the uptick in numbers, and it’s a BIG one, the WNBA is still projected to lose money this season to continue their “in the red” ways, according to a report from the Washington Post.

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In literally every year of the WNBA‘s existence, the league has been losing money while operating and the sole reason they’ve survived so long is because the NBA subsidizes them. Here in the 2024 season, the WNBA is expected to lose a whopping $50 million, per The Post.
“On average [we’ve lost] over $10 million every year we’ve operated,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver while speaking to the Associated Press back in 2018 in regards to the finances of the WNBA.

This report gets crazier when you do the actual math.

Altogether, the WNBA has been a thing for 28 years, so if you go by the numbers, the NBA has put in more than $250 millioninto the league for almost three decades and with zero return on investment. Insane!

A lot of these WNBA players will b**ch and complain, but what other company is doing something like this as far as subsidies are concerned?

 

[xfactor]

 

[Duece]

For transparency, The article is from the Daily Caller which is a right-wing publication.

 

[M.H.C.]

That’s the full article?

I was reading to gain more knowledge and reasons why they’re going to lose that money but….it never got there.

 

[Database Error]

That’s the full article?

I was reading to gain more knowledge and reasons why they’re going to lose that money but….it never got there.

Like reading the Bible waiting to gain more knowledge sometimes it's just not there.

 

[COINTELPRO]

It attracts women to the NBA which boost their ratings. It makes basketball not just a sport that men play and watch. You can't quantify this financially. Now football does not have this except for their use of cheerleaders. However, when they highlight women watching the sport, the ratings take off.

One of the ways you can weed out the transgender is wearing tighter uniforms which will expose them on national TV. They will either have to get the expensive surgery or risk running around with junk flopping up and down.

 

[The Untouchable GDFOLKS]

Article might be fake but the REAL is noone watch or go to that bullshit

 

[durham]

The full article says the same thing, just hidden in the context of the WNBA's relationship to the NBA

http://washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/11/wnba-tv-deal-nba/

 

[Van Allen]

Seems to me, NBA owners aint dumb. They are investing for a reason. The value is the LONG TERM PLAY of being the hub of women's basketball in the world. You fuckin dummy. They are playing chess not checkers.

Also, $250 million is NOT a lot of money to the group. Pretty much equal one Jalen Brown contract. To own a whole league that appeals to half the population...........

 

[NightMare Paint]

For transparency, The article is from the Daily Caller which is a right-wing publication.

Look who posted the shit.

 

[pookie]

How can they project that when only 1/4th of the games have been played, I thought they usually lose 10 million so how is the article saying it's almost five times that amount this year?

 

[xfactor]

The full article says the same thing, just hidden in the context of the WNBA's relationship to the NBA

http://washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/11/wnba-tv-deal-nba/

Thanks for the post. It is unfathomable that grown men discount an article because a “right wing” source was used. Although I posted two different sources.

I guess the money value on the red side is different than the money on the blue side

 

[xfactor]

How can they project that when only 1/4th of the games have been played, I thought they usually lose 10 million so how is the article saying it's almost five times that amount this year?

Increased operating costs and marketing costs and they revenue isn’t there to cover it yet.

The key question for me is why are certain people allowing a business that has never been profitable, losing 10s of millions a year, still in operation?

 

[darth frosty]

 

[EGO-TRIP]

Tax write off

 

[xfactor]

The Sky and Fever played on CBS on Father’s Day. If the ratings are there, they could leverage it to get a lucrative TV deal.

Why aren’t any BGOL ballers putting in a bid to own a team with expansion coming up?

 

[xfactor]

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

It’s the best basketball on planet earth.

The lay-ups are tremendous.

 

[tallblacknyc]

It’s the best basketball on planet earth.

The lay-ups are tremendous.

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

 

[militantmidget]

That $50 million is nothing considering the NBA subsidizes the WNBA.

If the WNBA operated as it's own entity it would've folded 20 plus yrs ago.

Their next TV deal will bring forth the 1st player to make a million dollars/yr (Probably Aja Wilson).

 

[AwwSchitt]

There is no reliable source in the article to confirm the league is losing $50mil this year. They probably came up with that number because that is the amount the league has paid Delta to charter flights the next 2 season.

Also, as @Van Allen mentioned, I'm sure the owners see this as a long-term investment. It's why Mark Davis (owner of the Raiders) purchased the Las Vegas Aces in 2021. He saw how the league has grown year over year and that revenue, while being small, has continually risen. These people are billionaires for a reason. They know how to invest in something early and watch it grow over time.

 

[ANGRY MAN]

It’s the best basketball on planet earth.

The lay-ups are tremendous.

They need to lower the rims, so they can dunk on people. Who the fuck wants to see a break away lay-up!

 

[Politic Negro]

"What remains confusing, even to some around the league, is how the ownership structure of the WNBA works. The NBA’s stake in the league includes its original investment in 1996, in addition to the owners who jointly own NBA and WNBA franchises. It also includes an additional percentage from a $75 million capital raise in 2022 by the WNBA — investors included Nike, some NBA team owners and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

The amount of equity the WNBA sold, which not all league owners supported, was around 15 percent, people familiar with the figures said. That suggests the league was valued at around $500 million. (Teams were not included in the valuation. The money, Engelbert said at the time, was used for player marketing and fan engagement.)

Now, the league is in line for more cash infusions in addition to the media rights deal. Toronto is also set to get an expansion team, and another city — possibly Portland, Ore. — could soon follow, with each new team paying the league a hefty expansion fee. Engelbert has said she wants the league to have 16 teams.

Multiple people connected to the WNBA, however, cautioned that only around 40 percent of WNBA revenue actually reaches the league’s teams and players. The NBA gets around 40 percent, and the outside investors get a percentage, too. That, the people said, affects franchise valuations and the financial windfall from the new TV deal. (That’s a different setup from the NBA, where revenue is distributed equally among its 30 teams. The disbursements in both leagues come after league office expenses are covered.)

The WNBA currently has a salary cap of around $1.4 million for each team, which puts the average salary for each player at a little more than $100,000. Also hanging over the league: the expectation that the players will opt out of the collective bargaining agreement next year. In the past, the players have been frustrated by what they view as a lack of transparency about the league’s finances.

Another lingering question in WNBA circles is how league decisions are made. When Engelbert announced the league would pay for charter flights ahead of this season, plenty were pleased but didn’t understand what had changed or who ultimately signed off on the expense, which Engelbert said would cost $25 million per year for the 12 teams. Others around the league believed it was Engelbert’s call.

The same questions arise around expansion, with some around the league unsure who approves expansion groups: the WNBA or the NBA. Engelbert reports to Silver, and the marketing and communications departments for the WNBA report to the NBA as well. (A WNBA spokesman referred all questions for this story to the NBA. An NBA spokesman declined to comment.)"

 

[geechiedan]

thats all?? just 50m??

 

[pookie]

They need to lower the rims, so they can dunk on people. Who the fuck wants to see a break away lay-up!

The women feel like lowering the rim is an insult because only little bitty kids play in lowered rims. Haven't y'all been listening the women in the WNBA feel they are just as good as the men, something like lowering the rim is saying people don't even see the WNBA as real basketball.This is what Diana Taurasi said about it

Once we fully unpack the concept of lowering the rims, the idea quickly morphs from wildly tempting to incredibly flawed.

Phoenix star guard Diana Taurasi didn't mince words when asked her opinion. The Olympic gold medalist, currently playing in Russia, said the following: "Might as well put us in skirts and back in the kitchen."

 

[ANGRY MAN]

The women feel like lowering the rim is an insult because only little bitty kids play in lowered rims. Haven't y'all been listening the women in the WNBA feel they are just as good as the men, something like lowering the rim is saying people don't even see the WNBA as real basketball.This is what Diana Taurasi said about it

Once we fully unpack the concept of lowering the rims, the idea quickly morphs from wildly tempting to incredibly flawed.

Phoenix star guard Diana Taurasi didn't mince words when asked her opinion. The Olympic gold medalist, currently playing in Russia, said the following: "Might as well put us in skirts and back in the kitchen."

And there’s the problem I usually don’t say this…….Bitches won’t listen to men to safe their life!! This is why the WNBA is struggling, they are an insult to men. Since they can’t dunk they don’t even have handles, their put backs be out of control.

Diana Taurasi been in the league for..I don’t even know…While Caitlyn can hoop, now imagine with all the beef. Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese got, if Caitlyn would’ve came through the hole and dunk on Angel Reese!

Keep the rims 10 feet and you get weak ass dunks by, Lisa,Britany, and Candace.

 

[woodchuck]

 

[BrownTurd]

That’s the full article?

I was reading to gain more knowledge and reasons why they’re going to lose that money but….it never got there.

May assumption is that the TV and media rights deal is what causing the money to be off. A more lucrative deal will fix the debt immediately

 

[BrownTurd]

How can they project that when only 1/4th of the games have been played, I thought they usually lose 10 million so how is the article saying it's almost five times that amount this year?

It is more like to be due to the TV deal and media rights. That’s were the money is made. I think the rumor of the new deal should instantly fix this problem

 

[Mr. Met]

 

[Pworld297]

I agree with what Rob Parker is saying. They had the NBA bailing them out for several years, if they were on their own that league would no longer exist.

 

[Mr. Met]

A’ja ain’t even in the top 10.

 

[xfactor]

It attracts women to the NBA which boost their ratings. It makes basketball not just a sport that men play and watch. You can't quantify this financially. Now football does not have this except for their use of cheerleaders. However, when they highlight women watching the sport, the ratings take off.

One of the ways you can weed out the transgender is wearing tighter uniforms which will expose them on national TV. They will either have to get the expensive surgery or risk running around with junk flopping up and down.

The other countries in the Olympics exposed this, having feminine looking women compete. This is proof that the bulldaggers aren’t needed to win.

If France won the Gold, it would have started a chain reaction, but Gabby Williams foot was on the line at the end.

 

[COINTELPRO]

The women are talking about wearing looser uniforms that is when you need to utilize the transgender athletes to scare them away from that. Germany was talking about their uniforms sexually objectifying them. There can be role for transgender athletes with scaring women away from this crazy talk.