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Caitlin Clark had already emerged as a household name before she ever played her first game in the WNBA and has since gone on to live up to the hype and driving WNBA TV ratings up 155% YOY and this was all while getting paid a salary of just $76K/year.
There has been a lot of talk about the NBA-WNBA pay gap. The NBA rookie salary minimum starts at $1,157,153 and immediately jumps up to $1.862M for players with at least 1-year of experience. Again, Caitlin Clark’s salary is just $76,535. She will receive a modest raise in Year 2 and see her pay bumped to $78,066. That’s not to say that Caitlin Clark isn’t making a fortune off the court, she is, but the WNBA isn’t responsible for that.
Appearing on the Let’s Go! Podcast which used to be Tom Brady’s podcast but is now hosted by Maxx Crosby, Peter King, Jim Gray, and Bill Belichick, President elect Donald Trump was asked about Caitlin Clark, the WNBA-NBA pay gap, and if there is anything that can be done about it. Here is what he had to say on the podcast which aired on the election eve (full quotes below):
Full Quotes From Jim Gray and President Donald Trump Discussing Caitlin Clark
Jim Gray: “We’re here on “Let’s Go.” President Trump, we hear so much about fair pay and athlete contracts. Should there be more support or supportive measures to ensure equitable pay across sports? I mean, you look at Caitlin Clark. She is driving basketball. She has higher ratings for her women’s basketball in college and the WNBA than any NBA game in the past two years. She makes $76,000 a year, a year, and LeBron James and these folks, Steph Curry, making over $50 million a year. Should something be done about this?”
Donald Trump: “Well, you’d like to do that, but it’s a very complicated thing. You know, it’s a very unusual — she’s incredible, by the way. I watch, too. I think she’s incredible. The shot, you know, I watched the shot go in. It’s like couldn’t she shoot that way in the NBA? If you want another, just give her the ball.”
Donald Trump: “She is unbelievable. And it’s a — you know, it’s a phenomenon. It’s something that is taking place, and it’s unusual. You know, Tiger, when he first went out, remember those days when Tiger went out? He was — or just a great baseball player in the minor leagues or a first-year football player. You know, you see a running back who’s making, like, minimum, and he turns out to be a superstar. You have that. And, you know, probably there’s no real way to guard against it. It sounds unfair, but somebody agrees to a contract. Hopefully, she’ll keep it going and probably will. She’s going to make a lot of money.”
‘You Got To Rely On The Market’ — Donald Trump
Jim Gray: “But there shouldn’t be any — in other words, there’s really nothing you can do. It’s just what the market will bear.”
Donald Trump: “Well, yeah, it’s really — you got to rely on the market. You know, you can’t go in and just say, “Well, we’re going to break this contract because this person did well.” The league could probably go up and give her a bonus. You know, it wouldn’t kill the league if the league is doing OK. But they could — I mean, the league could really do something with it because it’s — you know, it seems unfair, but you have a lot of that.”
Donald Trump: “I see it all the time with football and baseball and even basketball, where somebody comes in and he turns out to be 10 times better. The quarterback for San Francisco, wasn’t he the last draft choice? And I watched as two quarterbacks got hurt for the team and — they were having a hard time anyway, but they got hurt. And he comes in as the last draft choice, and he moves the team. You know, he moves it, and other guys that get drafted No. 1 don’t move it at all. It’s a — it’s an amazing thing. I’ve watched it for so many years. It’s amazing how — with all the brilliant minds involved and all the draft choices. And the coach knows this stuff better than anybody in the world.”
Donald Trump: “He could probably write 10 books on it. But, you know, you take some of these guys. They’re not as highly thought of, but they can move the ball. Nobody knows why they can move the ball. San Francisco, I was watching a game the other day, and you know, he’s playing so good. I think he was the last draft choice, actually. And he moves the ball great. And then you have other people that are drafted No. 1, 2, 3, 4. Well, No. 1 has — you know, he’s had a hard time, as an example, from last year. And No. 2 is doing great, and you say, “What’s going on?” And it was pretty unanimous that that’s the way it should have been done.”
Donald Trump: “You just don’t know. Then they get into that higher — it’s very interesting how they get into a higher category of talent, and some guys that didn’t play as well in college play actually better with higher talent, and other guys lose their game. And they’re very complex. And this is a lot of luck. You know, look at Washington. You know, that’s a great find, although I think he was very highly thought of. But look how he’s playing. So, you say he should be making because he’s, you know, like probably the best quarterback in football right now in terms of just stats, but one of them, so he should be making pretty much what the others.”
Donald Trump: “But you can’t do that. He’s got a contract, and you can’t do that. And he’ll have his day, you hope. You know, he’s got to hope he doesn’t get hurt, etc., etc.”
Jim Gray: “The only difference is, Mr. President, there’s a whole class. In other words, the whole women’s sport is relegated to a salary cap that is much, much lower, yet they’re driving an audience that’s much, much bigger.”
Donald Trump: “Yeah. Well, maybe they’ll have to change that, but it is based on the one player, it seems to be. It’s sort of incredible. It’s a phenomenal thing she’s got going. But very tricky. When you start getting involved with trying to recreate markets, it gets very, very tricky. I mean, the downside is greater than the upside, Jim.”
As far as TV ratings go, the leagues aren’t *that* far off. The NBA averaged 1.6 million viewers during the regular season on ABC/ESPN and TNT while the WNBA averaged 1.19 million on ESPN and 1.1 million viewers on CBS, according to Sports Illustrated.
It is when revenue is compared that the two leagues are night and day from each other. The WNBA generated an estimated $200 million in revenue for the 2023-24 season compared to the NBA’s $10.58 billion in revenue. Average attendance is also nearly double for NBA games at 18,324 compared to a WNBA average of 9,195 per game.