Courtesy of Markus Spiske
The 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend wasn’t just an action-packed event for women’s basketball. It was a protest.
Players from both teams took the court wearing shirts that read: “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” In a league riding the wave of growing fan interest, social media talk, and a wildly talented rookie class, the shirts were a clear call that they want more.
However, beneath the statement lies a complex truth: the WNBA is still operating at a loss, and increasing salaries may not be financially viable, yet.
NBA players receive about 50% of the league’s revenue, while WNBA players receive less than 10%. It’s not that WNBA players expect as much as NBA players, but the gap in revenue share is striking. They’re training year-round, traveling constantly, and competing at the highest level of basketball. So, when their paychecks don’t reflect their labor or the progress of the league in recent years, it feels unfair.
Yet demanding a larger share gets complicated when the league simply isn’t profitable.
Despite surges of attendance and increased media attention, the WNBA still loses tens of millions of dollars each year. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said that the WNBA “wants to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path to profitability as well as continued investment.”
The players’ protest highlights a fundamental tension: they deserve more for their work, but without profitability, the raises they seek could threaten the future profit potential of the league.
One of the most striking signs of the WNBA’s rising profile is the massive increase in team valuations over the past year. According to Forbes, the average WNBA franchise is now valued at about $272 million, up from roughly $96 million last year, an astonishing 183% increase in just one year. Certain teams have seen even bigger jumps. The Indiana Fever, boosted by Caitlin Clark’s arrival, soared by 273%, reaching $335 million. The New York Liberty’s value climbed 222% to $420 million.
A high valuation reflects what investors believe a team could be worth based on future growth potential, not current income. It’s about projected media deals, branding opportunities, and the long-term trajectory of women’s sports. A franchise can be worth hundreds of millions on paper while still operating at a yearly financial loss, and right now, that’s the reality for much of the WNBA.
Caitlin Clark’s arrival supercharged WNBA popularity. Her presence boosted ticket sales, broadcast ratings, jersey sales, and overall media attention. In a matter of months, she became one of the most talked-about athletes in America.
That wave of interest helped drive one major improvement: for the first time in league history, all WNBA teams now fly private. The change, long demanded by players, finally became reality, but it came at a cost. Charter travel reportedly adds $25 million in expenses annually. That’s not trivial in a league already operating at a loss. The symbolism of the shirt “Pay Us What You Owe Us” contradicts this context. The league is costing more than ever before, but players are expecting pay raises.
One of the harshest truths of this entire debate is that the people most vocal against the WNBA’s protest are often diehard NBA fans, exactly the audience the league needs to close the viewership gap.
And yet, many of these critics aren’t watching the WNBA from an informed position; they’re making judgments based on cherry-picked lowlight clips, TikToks mocking missed layups, or sexist beliefs that women simply can’t play basketball. This kind of normalized online misogyny hurts the league because it suppresses potential growth by deterring viewers who might otherwise tune in and it’s then used as justification for the WNBA’s lower pay and lower ratings. In other words, the same people laughing at the league for “not earning enough” are the ones actively keeping viewership and respect low.
A report by Kelsey Plum of the L.A. Sparks later revealed that Team Clark players didn’t attend the early morning meeting where the protest shirts were discussed. While they did wear the shirts, their absence from planning sparked debate about whether the league’s new stars, especially Clark herself, are aligned with the protest. Whether intentional or not, it highlighted that as the league rises in visibility, not all players may agree on how radically to push for change. For players like Clark, who make millions from brand deals, pay increases may not be worth the protest.
There is no easy fix for the WNBA’s financial problem. Demanding equity in a league that hasn’t reached financial stability yet puts players in a tough position, especially when hatred from outside fans actively holds back progress. To truly close the gap, growth has to come first— in media coverage, in marketing investment, and especially in changing how fans view women’s sports. Until that happens, even the most justified protests risk being misunderstood. Still, protests like these keep the conversation alive.
