“I would rather find 5$ then have the Mystics win the championship,” junior Daniel Rudden said. To students, this may not be a surprising statement. Professional men’s sports teams, such as the NBA, would likely have a greater value than just five dollars to any fan demonstrating how little students care about the WNBA. “I would pay $200 to see the Wizards win the championship,” Rudden said.
The WNBA and women’s sports in general receive less attention and money than men’s sports recieve. For example, “The average salary in the WNBA starts at around $50,000,” while the “starting salary for the NBA is about $560,000” according to CNBC.com. This may be a result of the amount of money the WNBA brings in as, “only half of WNBA teams have managed to become profitable 20 years after the league’s founding,” according to a New York Times report in 2016.
The NBA’s 30 teams “generated $7.4 billion in revenue last year” according to a Forbes report in 2018. This massive difference in revenues justifies the difference in pay between both athletes in the NBA and the WNBA. However, the WNBA lacks attention and a fan base, which is another one of the reasons their revenue is small compared to the NBA. The average attendance for the WNBA this year grew to “7,716 per game” compared to the NBA, which has a, “average attendance per game of 17,987,” according to usatoday.com.
The smaller fan base of the WNBA is a result of not only men caring more about men’s professional sports but, also as a result of women caring more about men’s professional sports than women’s professional sports. “I care more about the NBA than the WNBA because I find men’s basketball more interesting,” senior Abby Feitel said.
The attention towards women’s sports at the professional level translates to the high school level as well, especially in this school. The difference in fans for each boys’ and girls’ sports favors boys over girls.
However, the success of the team will attract fans whether it is a boys’ or girls’ team. If a girls’ team had a chance of making the playoffs then more fans would come to support the girls’ team. “Boys’ sports generally receive more attention than girls’ sports because they have a bigger fan base.” gym teacher and the girls’ varsity basketball coach Maggie Dyer said.