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New York Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Caitlin Clark to WNBA commissioner on pay: ‘It makes no sense. … Help us out'
When the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup was introduced five years ago, the league branded it as another opportunity to put money in players' pockets. The trophy for winning rewards a team for excelling in regular-season intraleague competition and comes with a $500,000 purse to be split among the winning squad's players. The event is popular among fans and appears to be motivating for players. Advertisement But after Tuesday's win in the event, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark used the prize to point out the desire for WNBA players to receive higher salaries. 'You get more (money) for this than you do if you're the (WNBA Finals) champion,' Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark said on a teammate's locker room Instagram livestream Tuesday night after her team won the championship against the Minnesota Lynx. 'It makes no sense. Someone tell (WNBA commissioner) Cathy (Engelbert) to help us out.' She jokingly referred to the competition as the 'Cathy Cup.' The WNBA champions receive $11,356 per player, significantly less than the Commissioner's Cup winners receive. Clark didn't play in the game due to a groin injury, but her $78,066 salary is a pittance compared to her net worth, a discrepancy similar to that experienced by many WNBA stars with their paychecks. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the WNBA supermax contract is $249,244, and Clark would have to complete her four-year rookie contract before earning that amount. Caitlin Clark spoke on the pay differences between Commissioner Cup and WNBA Finals Clark: 'We get more for [the Commissioner's Cup] than you do if you're a [WNBA champion]. Makes no sense. Someone tell Cathy [Engelbert] to help us out.' — Nick Hamilton (@NickHamilton213) July 3, 2025 These terms were agreed upon in the 2020 collective bargaining agreement. However, the players' association and the league are currently in negotiations again, following the players' decision to opt out of the current agreement. Salaries are reportedly a key issue in these talks, as the league's popularity is on the rise. The current agreement included more than $1.6 million in annual marketing opportunities for players and various performance bonuses. 'I think the money has been more top of the mind for (the players) than anything else,' Fever coach Stephanie White said before Tuesday's game. The league is in the spotlight like never before. The WNBA reported that its broadcast audience reached a record 54 million unique viewers across networks in 2024, setting a new benchmark with 22 regular-season telecasts that averaged at least 1 million viewers. Attendance also reached new heights, and merchandise sales substantially increased, primarily driven by the emergence of new stars like Clark, Angel Reese and others entering the league. Advertisement Significantly increasing salaries is a complicated issue. Unlike the 50-50 NBA split, WNBA player salaries currently account for less than 10 percent of the league's revenue. The league also has a hard cap per team — $1.5 million total shared among 11 or 12 players on a roster — that limits player salaries. A key to increasing revenue, thus salaries, is media rights contracts. Last year, a $2.2 billion media rights deal, spanning 11 years, was the richest in women's sports league history. WNBA expansion is also changing the landscape, with additional roster spots expected to become available over the next five years, including the addition of three new teams. The league announced it will bring in Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, in addition to the new franchises in Toronto and Portland (beginning next season) and the Golden State Valkyries, which launched this season. Indianapolis hosts the All-Star Game on July 18, when the topic of salary and league growth will be center stage. Clark and Minnesota's Napheesa Collier were named captains. (Photo of Sydney Colson, Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Fox News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Caitlin Clark says WNBA is 'sick' over Fever's Commissioner's Cup title
Caitlin Clark has finally snapped back at her opponents. Since making her WNBA debut last year, Clark has been the victim of hard fouls on the court and cultural wars off of it. The cries from fans saying Clark's opponents are jealous of her have been loud and clear, and they were recently amplified when players ranked her the ninth-best All-Star guard in the WNBA. Well, it appears Clark is hitting back. The Indiana Fever won the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup, an in-season tournament, with their 74-59 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night, and the team celebrated in the locker room with some champagne and vodka seltzers. Fever forward Aaliyah Boston took to Instagram Live to give a behind-the-scenes look at the celebration when Clark, who did not play due to a groin injury, took a shot. "Guys, I just know everybody in the league is sick," Clark is heard saying from out of the shot. The teammates replied with laughter, with Boston adding, "They're p---ed." While celebrating, Clark also voiced an opinion on the tournament and the $500,000 prize for the winning team. "You get more (money) for this than you do if you're the (WNBA Finals) champion. It makes no sense. Someone tell [WNBA commissioner] Cathy [Engelbert] to help us out," she said in another video. It's been reported that WNBA champions win an extra $20,000, but the in-season tournament winnings come out to around $30,000 per player. Clark was the first overall pick last year after becoming the NCAA's all-time leading scorer in both men's and women's Division I basketball. Her games in both college and the pros have been among some of the most-watched of all time. Her return from a calf injury on June 14 garnered 2.2 million viewers, the third-most watched WNBA game ever on ABC. The game peaked at 2.8 million viewers, a 76% increase from last season's regular-season average on the network. The WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 24 years last season and its highest attendance in 22 years. Ahead of the WNBA season, the Fever had the 10 most in-demand games on StubHub, with most of their games being moved to larger capacity venues. Despite this, Angel Reese once said that the rise of women's basketball "is not just because of one person - it's because of me, too." A'ja Wilson also once said that Clark's race was a "huge thing" when it came to her popularity. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WNBA expansion comes to Detroit, Cleveland and Philly on a 'monumental' day showcasing the league's rapid growth
NEW YORK — Deanna Nolan packed in a rush, opting by chance for the smaller suitcase she hadn't used in 15 years on this one-day trip from Detroit. Digging around in it on Monday morning in her New York hotel room, she stumbled upon what some might claim as a blast from the past, a piece of memorabilia to add to her collection as a three-time WNBA champion. But on this trip, it served as a sign. Even fate. All morning, she carried around the 2000s era Detroit Shock luggage tag in her pocket, embracing the history while broadcasting the future in a WNBA X Detroit T-shirt. Advertisement 'Everything is a full circle moment,' Nolan said. The WNBA announced Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia as expansion teams on Monday, further fueling a period of rapid growth in the league's trajectory. The development is monumental, moving the league's footprint from 12 teams one year ago to 18 by 2030. As recently as the 2024 WNBA Finals, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert targeted 16 teams by 2028 — a number they'll reach when the Cleveland franchise begins that year. Detroit will begin play in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. 'We wanted to make sure everybody knew the path, the strategy on a long-term basis through the end of the decade,' Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. Advertisement Amid a new surge, the WNBA is moving fast to capitalize. The list of potential bids grew longer in the years since Engelbert, who took over in 2019 as the league's first commissioner, first mentioned the word expansion. The onus is now on ownership groups to deliver on the long-held insistence that this is not a mere moment, it's a movement as the WNBA hits its third decade. The spike in the franchise fee alone points toward the rapid ascension in value. The three expansion teams each reportedly paid $250 million, about five times the reported price of the Golden State Valkyries when their bid hit the airwaves in October 2023. Engelbert said they don't disclose financial terms, 'but I'll say these are historic franchise fees.' The ownership groups, headlined by the respective owners of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers, are committed to practice facilities specific to their WNBA teams and have large NBA arenas to hold games. Advertisement To announce the news of three all at once is a boulder dropped in the lake as the league speeds along its path of monumental growth. Games are reaching millions of viewers. Merchandise is en vogue. The league's relevance took a sharp turn from punchline to must-see. The time to jump on board is now, and it appears NBA ownership groups have taken note, eager to reap the rewards. 'We'll look back on this day 5, 6, 7 [or] 10 years from now and I don't know if you'll ever see this growth in one given time period in the WNBA,' Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers, said. 'To announce three teams and to close us out through the end of the decade, it's monumental. And it's something that we should be very proud of and something we're embracing and we're looking forward to getting to work.' As with previous expansion selections, the three hit all of Engelbert's data notes. There is established women's sports success, obvious market value and marketing opportunities. Philadelphia, she said, will serve as a missing corridor link for localized rivalries in New York and Washington. Cleveland hosted the 2024 Final Four, a marker Barlage said served as a 'final catalyst to kind of go all in and go all in the way we did.' The 'city was on fire' supporting those athletes, peaking with a national championship game between Philadelphia native Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks and the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes. Advertisement In growing its future, the league hasn't forgotten the peaks of its past. Half of the six expansion teams announced since October 2023 are in markets that previously hosted the WNBA. Another could be coming in the next wave. Engelbert said 'there might be opportunities' in Houston, the former home of the four-time champion Comets, and singled them out for their bid. The Portland Fire had the shortest runway, folding after three seasons when Blazers owner Paul Allen sold the team back in 2002. The league announced a Portland expansion franchise in September 2024, and it's set to begin play next year. The Cleveland Rockers were an inaugural squad running from 1997 to 2003 with four playoff appearances. Their final games played out against the 2003 Shock, who would go on to win the title, and in front of an 18-year-old LeBron James. The Rockers became collateral damage and folded when team owner Gordon Gund opted to sell the Cavs. The Shock launched in 1998 and became one of the marquee franchises with championships in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Nolan started nearly every game in her nine-year Detroit career, winning Finals MVP in 2006 and earning annual MVP ballot nods. She's still recognized around the city by a broad spectrum of fans, from those who attended games to those who made their own discoveries long after the fact. Advertisement 'It's so cool. So, so cool,' Nolan said. 'Especially this day and age of women's basketball and how it's on the rise. It's growing and everybody just wants to be some part of it.' The league peaked at 16 teams from 2000-02, building off the early excitement of the WNBA's launch under NBA leadership in 1997. An average of 10,000 fans attended games throughout the league in 1998 and 1999, according to Across the Timeline. It peaked at a total of 2.3 million attendees in 2002. Attendance averages dropped to around 6,000 per game league-wide in the late 2010s after franchises folded and others moved. For a list of reasons that could rival the scroll of bidders ready to buy into the W, interest in women's sports took off in recent years, and the league's average attendance is up to 10,849 through 108 games this year. That's slightly off the 1998 record. Advertisement Golden State, the first expansion team since Atlanta in 2008, leads the league with 10 sellouts of 18,064 in as many games. Indiana and New York are also averaging more than 16,000 in NBA arenas. Las Vegas, maxed out around 12,000 per game at Michelob Ultra Arena, is at 11,354. Barlage kept his eye on Golden State as the Cleveland ownership group grew closer to its accepted bid. The Valkyries announced a full brand identity early, selling merchandise long before tip-off in a blueprint for the other expansion teams to follow. Toronto announced its Tempo identity, but the Portland franchise set to launch in less than a year has deviated with no announced brand and a jostle at the top of its front office. Advertisement Engelbert said announcing the three expansion teams this early is partly for the runway, and partly the double-duty of also owning NBA teams. They'll have more time to launch a brand, hire front office personnel and work with Nike on gear, the longest timeline of the bunch. 'We don't dictate when they get that done by, but at least we feel good now that they'll have enough time,' Engelbert said. Cleveland launched merchandise and a season ticket deposit portal after the announcement. Barlage said they have a road map leading up to April 2028. Detroit has 'similar plans,' Pistons vice president Arn Tellem said, and will reach out to its communities soon. Tellem took the podium equipped with one of the WNBA x Detroit T-shirts, asking Engelbert to hold it with him as if he were a player on draft night. His first remarks to the full room exclaimed, 'The W is back in Detroit.' Advertisement The return validates the 'incredible transformation that's still ongoing in Detroit,' he said. As with Cleveland, the ownership group will build on its rich basketball history while not relying solely upon it. They'll share the moment with Shock legends like Nolan, and celebrate what they've meant while building forward into a new era. 'What will be different [than the Shock's exit] is the league is at another level as far as interest and coverage. I know one thing now that I was saying is that going from our business community to our vivid and philanthropic community, everyone wanted this. And our fans, it's been the talk of Detroit. So I know now this is going to be a huge success.'
Forbes
16-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
2025 Forbes Iconoclast Summit: Building Winning Teams
| Jun 16, 2025, 12:58PM EDT Forbes Chief Content Officer Randall Lane is joined by A-Rod Corp Chairman & CEO Alex Rodriguez, 2024 WNBA Champions New York Liberty and the Brooklyn Nets Owner Clara Wu Tsai, and Avenue Capital Group Cofounder, Chairman & CEO Marc Lasry at the 2025 Forbes Iconoclast Summit in New York City.
Reuters
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
3-time All-Star Allie Quigley makes retirement official
June 10 - Three-time All-Star and former WNBA champion Allie Quigley officially announced her retirement on Tuesday after 14 seasons with five teams. Quigley, who turns 39 this month, last played with her hometown Chicago Sky from 2013-22. She helped them win a championship in 2021. "I just took the 2023 season off ... then I took the 2024 season off ... then I took the 2025 season off ... you get the idea," Quigley wrote in The Players' Tribune. "But all jokes aside, I never actually meant to do an Irish goodbye. When I sat out after 2022, it was for a very specific reason. It was so I could start the next phase of my life: becoming a mom." Quigley and her wife, Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot, welcomed their first child, a daughter, in April. Vandersloot suffered a torn ACL in her right knee on Saturday in a Sky loss to the Indiana Fever and will miss the rest of the 2025 season, Quigley was named the Sixth Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015 and won the All-Star 3-point shootout four times. She averaged 10.9 points and shot 39.4 percent from 3-point distance in 347 career games (172 starts) with the Phoenix Mercury, Fever, San Antonio Silver Stars, Seattle Storm and Sky. "I love knowing I can look back on my career and say it was really, really good -- but it was part of the beginning of something truly great," Quigley said. --Field Level Media
