Following Saturday\u2019s WNBA All-Star Game, which Team Collier won 151-131 over Team Clark, chants of \u201cpay them!\u201d echoed through the sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse.<\/p>\n
Those chants were a continuation of a conversation<\/a> started by the players themselves, who wore black shirts that read \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us\u201d during warmups. That statement came two days after over 40 players met with the league as part of collective bargaining agreement negotiations and expressed concern that the WNBA was not making enough progress<\/a>, as an October deadline to avoid a lockout looms.<\/p>\n Those t-shirts and their messaging immediately went viral as intended. And perhaps as expected, responses were split down very predictable lines. On one side were the people defending players and their desire to be compensated fairly for playing in a league that is experiencing a surge in popularity. On the other side were people chastising the players for being entitled and demanding more money from a league that reportedly operates at a loss.<\/p>\n WNBA all stars wearing a \u201cPay us what you owe us\u201d shirt in warmups pic.twitter.com\/jIj2W6N6kw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CJ Fogler \ud83e\udee1 (@cjzero) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It was hard not to notice that many of the people in that second camp are also the same people who have passionately voiced their opinions around \u201cprotecting women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not coincidental, as it has long been observed that the same people who are vocal about \u201cdefending\u201d women\u2019s sports<\/a> are also the ones who loudly complain when the women playing in the sports ask for what they want or demand to be treated fairly. It\u2019s also often noted that these supposed champions of women\u2019s sports didn\u2019t seem to care about them, or would make fun of them, until recently.<\/p>\n Former ESPN talent Jemele Hill has certainly noticed the dichotomy over the years and saw it on full display Saturday night.<\/p>\n \u201cFunny how all that protect women\u2019s sports energy went out the window as soon as WNBA players showed up with T-shirts bringing awareness to the lack of financial equity they have in their league,\u201d wrote Hill on Bluesky<\/a>.<\/p>\n The host of Spolitics elaborated about the topic on X, the everything app.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother thing I notice is that all the people saying what these women don\u2019t deserve keep citing the financials from this year, conveniently leaving out that their new media rights deal kicks in next season and is $200 MILLION a year,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe WNBA is adding multiple franchises because there are a line of investors wanting in. The financial trajectory is high. You think billionaires want to be in on bad products? The NBA lost money for over 40 years. Do you think player salaries stayed the same for 40 years? (Hint: They did not).\u201d<\/p>\n The main pushback you saw on social media Saturday against the WNBA players is that a recent report tallied the league\u2019s yearly losses at $40 million. However, as Hill notes, and as ESPN\u2019s Mina Kimes would also note on Bluesky<\/a>, valuation is more critical than the current balance sheet in these situations (ask any tech company that receives billions in funding despite making no profit). Not to mention a new media rights deal valued at about $2.2 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor anyone who is saying the comparisons to tech are off\u2014ppl are bending over backwards to invest in this league,\u201d wrote Kimes<\/a>. \u201cFollow the money.\u201d<\/p>\n The argument is somewhat similar to the one you hear about the NBA and TV ratings. When those ratings seemed low to start last season, certain individuals tripped over themselves<\/a> to claim the league was in trouble and on the verge of financial ruin<\/a>. The $76-billion NBA media rights deals<\/a> that were signed later that season put that laughable idea to bed. It\u2019s likely the same will be the case for the WNBA as it only grows in popularity and reach in the coming years.<\/p>\n Lot of these folks angry that they gotta put up the Baptist finger when they leave the room in front of their boss, so they\u2019re triggered by a group of people who are standing up for what they deserve. https:\/\/t.co\/49baU45MiA<\/a><\/p>\n