The commissioner works for the owners. People always forget that. It’s their job to be the bad guy and absorb the bullets for them.

The only thing that matters to the owner is more profit and/or higher valuation of the teams.

What makes you think she’s staying? I’d not be surprised if she suddenly announced she’s moving to a new job at a bank or some other soulless destination

As a Minnesotan who is very much so invested in both his basketball teams…..I side with my gals, and some of them were fairly clear how little they liked and respected her duplicitous nature

This is also the woman who wore a New York dress to the game 5 finals where the Lynx got hosed in OT off of generationally bad calls

Imagine silver showing up to a game 7 with a Knicks suit, and then the Knicks ratfucking the Jazz or Nuggets outta a finals win by not calling 5 step travels, then shots fouls in the final minute when no one touched the NY players, to extend the game to OT

No one would be amused by Silver. Especially since it’s a large vs smaller market, and the money is clearly in the large market succeeding

I’m honestly surprised the players didn’t ask for her head during the negotiations.

What did she say?

Its called a labor negotiation. Show me one time a union was on the brink of a strike and management wasn’t saying some bullshit. Happens. For all her issues she’s overseen the players getting multiple very large pay raises.

A search for a new commissioner will likely take a fair amount of time, she may already be on her way out behind the scenes with a lovely golden parachute to stay at the helm until they move on.

They weren’t going to replace her as negotiations start. I think they do after the season.

The previous player minimum was a bit over \(66K. That may jump to over \)200K, although this article doesn’t address it.

The entire WNBA salary cap last season (for all 13 teams/156 players) was around $15 million. That’s what Nickeil Alexander-Walker makes by himself.

Exactly. They pushed for everybody’s sake.

Which is what they had said they wanted for years. Stewie told players to prepare for a lockout two years. They launched Unrivaled so players could stay closer to home in the offseason if they wanted to. This wasnt “we demand this money,” it was “we need this money so we don’t have another Brittney Griner incident.”

Nah, people would rather just hate on the WNBA

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/us/wnba-fans-charlie-kirk-memorial.html

It’s a 57-43 gender split men vs women. That seems like women supporting the league?

Why cant people let these talking points go? Revenue is up because viewership is up period. People just need to to get their anti-women jabs in as if this was all relevant or a genuine concern.

And for the record, the commissioners have been pulling the classic capitalist playbook of “we’re losing money!” without actually providing details of how much money they are losing, in order to maximizing profit (a continuous issue in the US that’s making the class issues much worse).

When people repeat that refrain, they’re upholding the same system that feeds into why they can’t afford anything outright, and will probably have us renting water. Let those ladies get paid. There’s no excuse for NBA players who sit out ¹⁄₄ of the games they play, and are supporting genocides, sports betting, and other forms of tom foolery, while WNBA players just want to have one stable source of income.

people who still hate on the wnba are the lamest people ever

They are misogynists plain and simple. They will find any reason to complain about the WNBA or about WNBA players wanting more money, but they won’t outright say it’s because they simply don’t like women.

Omg rational thought? Not fake outrage? On Al Gore’s Internet? Quick boys grab the pitchforks!

Yea except it’s not getting passed on to the owners. I mean let’s be honest.. it’s not like ticket prices or jersey prices or hot dog or concession prices are going to stay the same and the owners are going to just take the hit.

It’ll get passed onto the fans and the narrative will be: well you don’t support the league if you have a problem with paying more for the same product.

I mean I guess it’s great the players get paid. But let’s not pretend like the owners are actually going to lose a dime over this. They won’t. If they were worried about losing money they wouldn’t be WNBA team owners.

Exactly, we’re talking about a total of 105 million dollars getting spent on players for the entire league. That’s like 4 Aspire sponsorships or like 70% of the Nets salary. I think the owners will be fine.

Aren’t they profitable from next year onwards due to the new tv deal?

It’s also untrue now. In the sense that they lose money. They made it and the ratings are there and the new tv deal will make them way better paid now.

Yeah if its really a loss maker they’d let player association auditors look at their books. Instead what’s happening is the owners are deliberately making “losses” whilst their assets massively appreciate in value.

This is what so many people miss. The WNBA gives credibility to women’s basketball all around the world and helps generate interest in the NBA which isn’t captured in the revenue of the competition.

I think people underestimate how much the women have leverage since there are womens leagues outside the US. Those same league exist for the men but the gap in pay isnt even in the same ballpark. So the men taking their talents overseas isnt a credible threat.

Agreed, I heard they were underwater on the current salaries, where are they going to get the money to pay for this? Certainly the recent boom they’re having isn’t making them 500% more money, right?

I just read the article and it seems like majority are still losing money. There’s a lot of talk about “most revenue EVAR!” but that’s irrelevant – profit is what matters.

As for why the owners still own the teams, that’s obvious too: they’re hoping for long-term profits. At the expense of short-term.

If the majority were really profitable they would say that. And then the NBA would state they don’t give subsidies anymore (because there would be no need to). The lack of any of those means they’re not, as a whole, profitable.

The nail in the coffin is the second to last sentence: “Multiple sources have told FOS there have been profitable teams throughout the WNBA’s history, including right now”. You wouldn’t say something like that if most of the teams are profitable.

That’s not what the article says at all, they’re pretty open about it being unknown and just speculation based on a recent proposal happening to line with with 58% but it’s a old number that they moved pass already.

Best they can do is cheap shot her

Clark might’ve started the engine but the rest of the league has gotten way more exciting and talented in the past five years besides her

yeah the viewership skyrocketed for her last season didn’t it

and im sure none of them will while they beat the fuck out of her.

Yeah I also live in Brooklyn and the energy that the Liberty bring night in and night out is unmatched. Folks that say the product is subpar need to experience something like Game 3 of the 2024 finals

People made jokes because it was a joke. People don’t make jokes because it’s no longer a joke. 

When the NBA first started, I promise you that shit looks like a joke too

Things improve with time

No. Public sector unions are inherently wrong. 

do not be fooled, Unrivaled sold out Barclays center and paid 100k mins and 220k average for an 8-week league on the depth of the basketball players.

Redditors are so conflicted in this thread lol

Who does r/nba hate more, corporations or women?

Sports ain’t going anywhere dawg, especially with the rise in and legalization of gambling.

Yep. Let’s go back to the 80s so just 40 years ago. I had a single MLB or NBA game on Saturday afternoon unless I was getting regional cable. I got one MNF and Sunday NFL game. NHL? No national TV deal at all. PGA and WTA had majors telecaster only. That was our sports landscape. 

The available sports on TV and of course in person have quadruple? Women’s sports alone make up a portion of that. There are just more entertainment options now such as streaming and gaming. Throw in ridiculous costs and the last time I checked we still only have 24 hours in a day and I am not sure how much more “support” i can give.

Can’t even spell her name right

This is a bullshit talking point from the owners and their allies in sports media. The W refused to open their books to the players union.

Most analysts believe it has broken even at the very least and likely profited in the last 3-5 years. It definitely profited last year.

It’s a way smaller league than the NBA. Definitly nowhere near the viewership or revenue. But people absolutely watch. Women’s team sports as a whole are really on the rise in North America.

Several of the teams (Indiana, Golden State, New York, Minnesota off the top of my head) play in the same arenas as their NBA counterparts and sell them out regularly. I’d wager Indiana and New York (who are called New York but affiliated with the Nets and play at Barclays) are a more expensive ticket than their NBA counterparts.

Really the big thing is that this new generation of players has come up in the era where they can get paid for their name and likeness while in college. So all these young players (Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers) become huge stars off the court before they make it to the league and then bring their fanbases to the league.

It’s nowhere near as popular as the NBA or the NCAA specifically during March Madness, but it’s grown a lot in the last couple years