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Message: [QUOTE="Cuango, post: 5314433, member: 3834"] All of the leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA) you mention have something the WNBA does not. Those leagues are profitable. The W, according to everything I have seen, has been losing money since it’s inception. There [B]are[/B] some who claim the owners are “cooking the books” to maintain this illusion so they can continue to keep salaries low but if that is true, doubtful imo, but if so, why does the player’s assoc. not sue them in court thus presumably forcing them to open up the books? The reason I doubt any full throated attempt at deception is because the NBA has also said the W has been a consistent loser (financially) and it is hard for me to believe they would risk the fallout that would follow if it came out that they and the owners have been lying about this for (presumably) years and years. I just don’t believe a profit making behemoth like the NBA would risk all that for a mere pittance (to them) like 10-30 million per year! I [B]was[/B] surprised that they (the WNBA) even lost money last year (with the Clark bonanza) but then I remembered they paid for charter for the first time which reportedly cost $25 million+. This could have very believably eaten up the profits earned from the Clark bump. Finally, if the players can show some kind of evidence that there [B]has[/B] been some kind of financial hanky panky going on, I will back them 100%. Even though I believe the players (in general) have behaved very stupidly in many ways, are generally unlikeable and arrogant, have behaved very badly in reference to Caitlin Clark, and have a loooong way to go in learning how to successfully present their product in ways that will encourage rather than alienate fan support, I still would obviously root for them if the owners have indeed been dishonest. I just doubt that will happen in any big-time, RICO, conspiracy kind of way, mostly because of the consequences to the NBA that would/could ensue from such actions. Just imagine the damage the NBA would suffer if it were to come out that they had actually participated in some sort of conspiracy to keep women basketball players from receiving a just and equitable return from a league they themselves had built? I simply cannot believe they would expose themselves like that. I think it is far more likely that the W [B]has[/B] been a money pit but one that most of the owners believe will eventually grow into a money [B]maker. [/B] As for the NBA, I do not think they are concerned about the money at all. Rather, they find themselves in a trap of their own making! They [B]cannot[/B] under any circumstances let the W fail! The backlash would be extremely damaging in view of the financial success they continue to enjoy. Letting the W fail for what the vast majority of fans would term a “pittance” when compared to the 78 billion dollars they just recently made for their tv rights, would [B]not[/B] be a good look! [/QUOTE]

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