Terra Incognita

Michele and I were sitting on the couch last night watching “Jeopardy!” when the conversation turned to Caitlin Clark. “I’d go see her play,” I said a little before Final Jeopardy. “But we’d have to get tickets like now,” to which my wife immediately leaped into action. Bad news travelled lightning fast: “I can’t find anything under $200 a ticket.” In all likelihood, scalpers have been buying up tickets for all the road games Clark will be playing with the Indiana Fever, and they likely started before she was drafted even. Your market economy at work. Of course, Clark isn’t going to see any of that money, which leads us to her rookie WNBA salary, in the neighborhood of $76,500. Contrast that to the NBA rookie minimum of $1.19 million. Again, your market economy at work. This disparity sucks if you’re a WNBA player, but it isn’t proof of some sort of conspiracy. The NBA has been around since 1946, the WNBA since 1996. The men “got game” because they’ve been around longer and play a longer season, 82 regular-season games to 40 for the women. Closing the pay gap will require more games and a better TV contract. Right now, the WNBA pulls in $60 million annually, as compared to roughly $2.6 billion for the NBA. Both deals expire shortly. So, things could actually get worse before they get better. Or not. Much of it depends on Clark. I won’t be paying to watch her play, but we will tune in.