The world of women’s basketball is on the rise — and everybody knows it. With hundreds of sold-out games, record-breaking viewership, and now one of the largest fan bases in the country, the league is proving that it is worth more than just a roaring crowd. With last year’s WNBA draft reaching its record high of 2.4 M viewers, many assume that the pro players are reaping the benefits of the hype. However, despite the undeniable spike in recognition, players in the WNBA are plagued by an extremely unrewarding income in comparison to the men’s pro teams. Not only does this income disparity affect paychecks, but it creates a barrier that undermines the value of women in sports, limits opportunities for women to succeed, and further perpetuates the cycle of gender inequality that women have fought so hard to undo.
The rise of WBB
Women’s basketball — alongside dozens of other women’s sports — is a nearly unavoidable sport in terms of its gaining popularity. With new stars like Caitlin Clark, JuJu Watkins, Angel Reese, and UConn’s own alum Paige Bueckers, it is difficult to avoid the rapid emergence of this enticing league. A portion of the rise of these stars can be attributed to the attention they’re gaining on social media through interviews, TikTok trends, and the thousands of fan edits. The Paige Bueckers hashtag alone has over 200K posts on TikTok with an accumulation of billions of likes and saves. But once you get past the undeniable charm of these players, their talent is what sticks, and it’s equally if not more deserving of the attention that the male players receive.
Arguably, college basketball is what tends to draw people in — watching your favorite players compete for a national championship is a thrilling feeling come March. Not long after, though, many of those senior players start to declare for the WNBA draft held in early April, and I’ll say being able to watch someone go from college to the big league is a pretty special thing.
The WNBA draft
As an undergraduate student at “The Basketball Capital of the World” — and as someone who is deeply invested in women’s basketball — following our players throughout the season and into draft night is truly an unbeatable experience. Last season, I was able to watch UConn’s own Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Mühl be drafted to the WNBA after an adversity-ridden season. Getting to see them live out their dreams of making it to the big league was hugely rewarding, although I can admit that I was a bit confused about the whole process, so here is my simple understanding of it.
All eligible players (those who are NCAA seniors or turning 22 in the year that the draft is taking place) can declare for the draft, which is usually held within a month after the regular season ends. Draft night consists of three rounds; the first round has 12 picks, and the last two have 13 picks. There are 13 total teams in the WNBA as of 2025. Each team gets its pick number assigned based on the inverse of how they finished the last regular season. There is a draft lottery that occurs in which the four teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the previous season get put into a lottery and randomly selected for first pick. To use a relevant example, the Dallas Wings, L.A. Sparks, Chicago Sky, and Washington Mystics did not make the playoffs in the 2024 regular season and, therefore, were placed into the draft lottery. The Dallas Wings won that lottery, which resulted in them getting the first pick. The first pick is usually the most sought-after player with the best stats or performance in the previous season. Because Paige Bueckers is, well, Paige Bueckers, she was the first pick and got drafted to the Wings on April 14, 2025. Hopefully, that Dallas weather is treating her well!
So, what’s the pay like?
It’s hard to believe that after a persistent urge for change through new contracts, rising viewership, and intense advocation that women in the professional league are only making a fraction of what men are making. While there are a number of factors that influence the salaries of these female athletes, it is shocking that even the biggest of the stars aren’t nearly making enough to pay their bills.
The Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, who was also one of the biggest college stars and the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft, has not been shy about the realities of the WNBA’s pay. According to The Sports Economist, Reese stated that she makes a little less than $74K as a rookie, where her monthly expenses accumulate to far more than that. Luckily, she is able to rely on endorsements from brands like Reebok and Reese’s Chocolate, which significantly make up for that gap in income versus expenses. However, this is not the case for everyone in the league. If a player leaves college without any social media presence or marketability, it is unlikely that they will receive endorsements from bigger brands that may fill that gap. A lot of players have to rely solely on the WNBA salary, which is very rarely a livable wage. For reference, the WNBA’s highest-paid player, Jackie Young, has a yearly salary of $252,450. Comparatively, Steph Curry made $51.9M just last year. So yeah, there is clearly a huge gap, but why?
Why so low?
The wage gap can be explained by both external and internal factors influencing the amount of revenue and compensation generated by the league. One of the primary reasons that female players make less is due to the revenue that the league makes in comparison to the NBA. The NBA is a multi-billion-dollar industry with a widespread and extremely dedicated fan base, so naturally, they are going to bring in more money. While women’s basketball is increasing significantly in viewership, it is likely that those numbers will not be reflected in players’ salaries right away. The WNBA also struggles to have its games aired on major sports networks, which results in less viewership and media coverage. With less coverage and attention being brought to these games and players, it is difficult to generate revenue.
While there are a number of monetary and technical factors that explain the gap, including the fact that the NBA is nearly 50 years older than the women’s league, a lot of these circumstances stem from gender-based discrimination and the general discounting of women’s sports. The structures of women’s sports, including the facilities they practice in and the arenas they play in, can have a strong impact on performance, both physically and economically. When the NBA started providing promising performances back in the 1950s, people began pouring money into the league, knowing it would pay off. So why aren’t we investing in the women’s league in that way? These athletes have undoubtedly proven that the investment will be worth it, so where’s the sports betting and investment for them?
However, equity in women’s sports doesn’t start by blindly throwing money at the women’s teams, but more so by building accessibility to travel accommodations and equal promotion through accessible media coverage. In other words, the way to succeeding in the end goal of higher salaries for these extremely dedicated and talented women, is to target the foundations of the league. Investing in women is going to have a huge pay-off, and it is something that should’ve been happening a long time ago!
What can fill the gap?
Despite it all, there is a lot of good news about the future of the women’s pro basketball. We’ve already seen it gaining life-long supporters, and the reaction to the retirement of Diana Taurasi last season proved that a lot of emotional investment is being poured into these athletes. Sponsorship deals and media rights contracts stem from fan support and viewership, so technically speaking, the gap can be shrunk just by watching and supporting the teams.
We’ve also seen a glimmer of hope from WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, both UConn alums who got drafted to the league in the late 2010s. Their formation of the new Unrivaled Basketball league provides players not only with an alternative to playing overseas in the off-season but also a guaranteed six-figure salary and a share of the league’s equity. It consists of a three-on-three game style with six different teams and a number of other alterations to traditional basketball regulations. This league is not only providing an exciting new spin on professional women’s basketball, but it is a huge step towards women being able to make a living off of playing a professional sport. “We exceeded our financial projections, which means we get to expand sooner than expected and offer more spots to deserving players in Unrivaled. Women’s sports are in an amazing moment, and we’re incredibly grateful for the support that has helped make this possible,” Collier stated in a Forbes interview after receiving $35 million in investment for the league.
The bottom line is, women’s basketball is unquestionably a huge deal. These athletes have repeatedly proven that their talent and skill are worth the attention of every sports fan, regardless of gender. Even something as simple as putting a game on in the background can help grow the league. It starts with you, so tune into the regular season starting May 16 and make a difference in the growth of women’s sports!