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Message: [QUOTE="bballnut90, post: 2900818, member: 2117"] Hoping for the best, but honestly I think there is huge potential for this to backfire big time. Women's sports just don't appeal to most sports fans unfortunately and I'll be surprised if the money is there. You look at other women's sports opportunities and you have: -Pro soccer: Max pay is $44,000/player for 24 game season. -Beach volleyball: April Ross is unquestionably one of the best beach players in the world and has earned just 1.8 million in 13 years of play, for an average of $138,000/year playing year round internationally. She has to foot the bill for flights, insurance, benefits, hotels, coaching, and many other expenses that the WNBA covers for its players. Ross is also an anomaly because she's the best in the. Take a different player, Lauren Fendrick, for example. Fendrick has played consistently for 13 years and has a net earnings of $678,000, or an average of $52,143/year. Fendrick is also not your average player, she was an Olympian in 2016. Think about that...an Olympic athlete is making just $52k/year at age 36, footing her own bill out of her earnings to travel to and participate in these tournaments with no guarantee of income. -Indoor Volleyball: you have to go overseas to play and make a living. Once there, unless you're one of the very best in the world, you'll likely get payment in the form of housing and a minimal stipend (maybe $1,000-2,000/month). Longevity of playing isn't an option for more than a couple of years unless you're a top player, where you still aren't making near what top women's basketball players make. -Softball: Want to play in the NPF? Good luck living on an average salary of $5,000-$6,000/year. The best players top out at $20,000/year for a 50 game season. -Hockey: The Canadian league pays players 5-7k/year to play per season. Season runs from October to March. Compare the above leagues to the WNBA. For a case study, look at Layshia Clarendon. An article just came out alleging that she makes $91k/year for 4 months of WNBA play, playing an average of 16 minutes per game. Overseas she has the opportunity to clear 6 figures, but decided to stay home and train, work as a broadcaster, and bought a condo in the Bay Area at age 27. She has insurance, benefits, meals, travel costs, hotels, and coaching all paid for while she plays. The only other sports where women can make decent money are golf and tennis. Golf and tennis requires most players to pay their own way for travel/hotel/food/coaching/etc unless you're one of the very best. In those leagues, you also earn your pay you based on how well you do, women's basketball players get locked in salaries. I do agree that it is ridiculous how male athletes are compensated so well compared female athletes, but at the end of the day, it comes down to revenue, and money talks. The league needs to get more butts in seats and viewership on TV to make money. And considering that the WNBA viewership and fan support is more similar to volleyball/softball/hockey/soccer than it is golf/tennis, I'm guessing once the numbers come out they aren't going to be so pretty and players might regret their decision. [/QUOTE]

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