By now everyone who watches the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), which is to say a tiny fraction of the population, has seen the t-shirts sported by the league’s best players during its all-star game. Those shirts were emblazoned with the phrase, “Pay Us What You Owe Us”.
Not since the Donner Party has a group of people so badly misinterpreted the circumstances of their situation.
To “owe” someone indicates there is a debt to be paid. If there is a debt to be paid in the WNBA, and normal accounting principles are applied, those shirts should have read, “We Owe You Money”.
The WNBA is a study in entitlement.
It has never turned a profit in its entire 28-year history. The NBA subsidizes the WNBA, to the merry tune of approximately $15 million annually, to cover operating costs.
The NBA doesn’t merely keep the WNBA afloat; the assistance it provides includes an unending supply of life preservers.
According to the league, WNBA and the NBA hold equal shares of 42% in the league and the remaining balance of 16% is owned by investors who pumped in $75 million in capital in 2022. NBA team owners own five of the WNBA’s 13 franchises. NBA owners control more than 60% of the WNBA.
When Caitlin Clark entered the league in 2024 attendance soared with what became known as the “Clark Effect”. That effect increased attendance by 48%, growing average attendance to 9,807 per game. Despite this, the league’s losses for the year 2024 are estimated at $50 million.
By comparison, the NBA averaged more than 18,000 spectators per game in 2025 and earned $11.3 billion in 2023-2024 season.
The WNBA is a perfect corollary for government subsidy and entitlement programs. It is a product no one wants, paid for with money earned by others. It survives not on the merits of its value, but rather on the woke risks associated with its demise.
Why did the government subsidize electric cars, solar and wind farms? Because it assuaged the Leftists’ consciences. It didn’t matter that the money was wasted if “mother earth” was saved. That the purported beneficiary and the actual benefits of these efforts failed to exist bothered none among the Progressive hordes.
As the ineffectual nature and outcomes of these programs were of no concern, then so too were they perpetuated without regard to the waste of time and money they represented. These programs benefit exclusively the federal workers that administer them. As with these grifts, the WNBA continues as a benefit to its players and the small sliver of the population that watches.
This league loses money with regularity, yet no one in the league fears its demise. Despite this, its players believe they are “owed” more money. Money their efforts have not earned.
This league is populated with players, coaches, and executives that support the participation of biological males in sports. This league has had one openly admitted transgender player, Layshia Clarendon. Having a man on a WNBA roster did nothing to improve the pay scale.
So accustomed are they to a business model where credits outnumber debits and where the ledgers drip with red ink, they don’t ask how or why the league continues to exist. To them consistent money losses, lack of profits, and half empty venues is what success looks like.
When will this league leap to profitability, who knows? The NBA, as progressive a sports behemoth as exists, seems not to care. To defend inclusivity and diversity, no amount of money is too much.
Sports has always been the ultimate meritocracy. The best athletes play and the rest sit. There is no sport in which an inferior athlete is promoted to the starting lineup because of their sex, ethnicity, or ideology. The WNBA is anathema to the premise of sports. It exists not on its own merit, but rather on the idea of equity. That means it can fail spectacularly with no consequences.
Someday the American populace may become sufficiently enlightened to enjoy women’s professional basketball, but there is ample evidence it may never occur. We’ve yet to accept a second professional football league despite numerous efforts. USFL, XFL and now the UFL were not subsidized by the NFL. If male athletes are involved, failure is an option.
If the NBA withdrew all support for the WNBA today, it would fold in a matter of minutes. Its existence is predicated on an idea of equity that works only in theory. In the real world any product must have sufficient appeal to deliver a profit. In some cases, it takes time and patience to reach profitability. I doubt many business owners would wait twenty-eight years to achieve that goal.
Of course, only in a league funded by subsidy could players think they are “owed” something.
Most people earn an income, but not in the WNBA. In their world, the income is “owed” not earned.
Stephen Piccirillo © 2025
