After the WNBA player won her fourth championship with the Seattle Storm and LeBron did the same with the Lakers, a debate ensued about what everyone gains from achieving the top goal in their category.
Peninsula 360 Press.
Women's world sport has taken on a fairness dimension from the voice of some of its protagonists. For example, in the summer of 2019, the player and captain of the U.S. national soccer team, Megan Rapinoe, criticized FIFA for putting the final of the women's World Cup and the men's Copa America and Oro on the same schedule, arguing that in the top men's game it would be unthinkable to do so. Now the debate is about the abysmal salary difference between Sue Bird, Rapinoe's love interest, and LeBron James, basketball superstars.
Just a week ago, Bird and James managed to rise to the top of the WNBA and NBA rankings respectively. In doing so, both added their fourth championship ring in their careers and, although in sports the numbers are the same, the checks issued by the Association do not weigh the same.
While the Los Angeles Lakers veteran amassed $37 million this season for handing the 17th title to the gold and purple franchise, the historic leader in women's league assists earned $215,000 despite also being a champion.
It's not just about wages. It is estimated that James, for leading the championship as the main piece of the Angelino set, obtained approximately 370 thousand dollars in prize money, for the 11,356 of his counterpart.
The main reasons for basketball players to earn more money than women is based on the alleged trade agreements of each league and, therefore, on the income that each one maintains. On the other hand, the streaming platform that the league created to broadcast NBA games costs approximately $152.36 annually, while the same one, but for the women's division, is priced at $5.
Salaries were even lower before this season. In January, the players protested to demand improvements in the economic income of each one of them and, although they did not ask to be paid what the male superstars pocket, they did ask for an equitable distribution of the income, with which they reformed the collective work contract for the next nine years, the best paid players will be able to earn more than 500 thousand dollars, that is to say, more than triple what they obtained only last season.
Although there is a nine-year, $24 billion contract in place since 2015 for the broadcast rights to both leagues, most of the money goes to the men's campaigns, which also attract the attention of major sponsors, fans and the purchase of T-shirts, as well as specialized footwear.
The main protagonists in the WNBA stave have raised their voices. The push to improve conditions and make the gender pay gap visible to the world every day brings to the table the debate about how work is evaluated in an industry that moves hundreds of thousands of dollars.
