Iowa sharpshooter Caitlin Clark has captured the hearts of America and will now take her talents to the WNBA after she was drafted with the #1 overall pick to the Indiana Fever. Her game has brought a whole new audience to the sport of women’s basketball, and Iowa’s recent NCAA women’s national championship game against South Carolina was THE most-watched basketball game, in any league, since 2019.
Hell, people even tuned into the WNBA draft (myself included) for the first time ever, even though everybody KNEW Caitlin was going #1 to the Fever. In fact, the WNBA draft earned more viewers than the NHL and MLB draft this past year. Granted, nobody really watches those, but still… pretty damn impressive what Caitlin Clark, as well as women like Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and Kamilla Cardoso are doing for the game.
And while everyone is excited for Caitlin, all these new WNBA fans (and let’s be honest, people that don’t even watch sports but love to b**** about inequality) lost their minds when they saw that she would be making basically what an entry level accountant makes their first year at a Big 4 firm.
That’s right, Caitlin Clark, the #1 overall pick, signed a 4-year, $338 thousand dollar contract with an average annual value of about $85,000.
Needless to say, people are outraged, because OF COURSE they are… but it’s pretty well-known that the WNBA is bankrolled by the NBA, and historically, has lost money every year. The NBA brought in over 10 BILLION last year, while the WNBA racked up 200 million in revenue. Profits? According to NBA commissioner Adam Silver in 2018, the WNBA loses about about 10 million each year, which is absorbed by the NBA. In 2022, when asked if they were still losing money each year, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert:
“Despite the challenges of the past two years, we have made terrific progress in growing the business of the league. We feel very good about where we are today and interest in the WNBA is at an all-time high, which is why we are capitalizing on this moment for the W.”
Sounds like it’s still a net loss…
Of course, we’ll see what happens this year, and if Caitlin Clark can sustain this kind of attention for the league, but the conversation and outrage has people reminded of a certain sports fanatic and comedian who went viral couple few years back with an epic, and dare I say, perfectly articulated rant on women’s sports… the great Bill Burr.
If you’re looking for an unapologetic, no effs given comedian who isn’t afraid to offend a single person on this planet (seriously, the guy takes no prisoners), look no further than Bill Burr. If you’re in the crowd at one of his comedy shows, you better buckle up… it’s not for the faint of heart.
Two years ago, Burr dropped his latest Netflix special, titled Bill Burr: Live at Red Rocks, and he set his sights on cancel culture, feminism and more. Women’s sports have historically struggled to generate much of an audience, and according to ol’ Bill, the blame falls solely on the shoulders of… women.
First off, he gets the crowd going by talking about the revenue disparities between men’s and women’s sports, particularly when it comes to soccer and the WNBA. For Bill, the answer was real simple….
“You don’t sell any f***** tickets. Nobody is going to women’s soccer games. You’re playing in a 20,000-seat arena, 1,500 people show up. That’s not a good night! The promoter lost his f***** ass on that gig.
Nobody’s watching your f***** sport and then you’re gonna come an get mad at f***** men. They keep doing that sh*t. Why are you yelling at us? It’s not my f***** job to give a f*** about women’s soccer…
And then it’s the WNBA’s turn:
“Look at the WNBA… nobody in the WNBA got COVID. Nobody. They have been playing in front of 300 to 400 people a night for a quarter of a century. Not to mention, it’s a male-subsidized league. We gave you a f***** league and none of you showed up. Where are all the feminists?
That place should be packed with feminists… faces painted, wearing jerseys, flashing their titties… going f***** nuts like the guys do in the upper deck.
None of you went to the f***** games. You failed them. Not me. Not men… women failed the WNBA. Ladies, name your Top 5 all-time WNBA players of all time. Let’s hear it? Name 5 WNBA teams. Name the WNBA team in your city. You can’t do it!
You don’t give a f*** about them.”
Burr even brought the Kardashians into the equation, basically saying that they’re making billions of dollars by doing absolutely nothing because women would rather watch them than the WNBA:
Meanwhile, you look at the Kardashians… they’re making billions. You look at those Real Housewives shows, they’re making money hand over fist. Because that’s what women are watching and the money listens. You don’t wanna watch this sh*t? They shoot it over there… drowning these whores in money, purses and shoes and botox, it’s just raining money.
So, the money listens. You’d rather watch that sh*t, Real Housewives, just a bunch of women tearing each other down. That’s the message you send… we’d rather watch that than a bunch of women come together as a team and try to achieve a common goal.
We’d rather watch them absolutely f***** destroy each other. And then in the end, you come back… and you yell at f***** guys.”
Bill Burr, as usual, sums the situation up perfectly. pic.twitter.com/RDaShLRCHY
— Frank DeScushin (@FrankDeScushin) April 16, 2024
And he’s spot on… if you want Caitlin Clark to get a 7 or 8-figure contract for playing professional basketball games like the men do (she’ll make millions in endorsements, so let’s not act like she’ll be struggling), you’re gonna have to show up. Women are gonna have to show up. Buy tickets, buy jerseys, buy beer at games, watch games on TV… it’s really that easy.
The rest of the special was great too… here’s the trailer:
