The highly anticipated next matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky is set to take place on Sunday. The primary reason for this hype is the ongoing rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Amidst this, Stephen A. Smith once again stirred up a little bit of controversy, as he made it clear that it is only the Fever star that will rake the WNBA its next big paycheck.
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On the Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith outlined the massive gap in the revenue between the WNBA and the NBA. Stephen A. said that the average salary in the NBA is $10 million while the league is about to ink a new deal worth $76 billion.
The WNBA on the other hand is looking to get past the $200 million mark and Stephen A. is confident that Clark’s presence will help them get there.
“The WNBA is gonna be happy when they push it past $200 million in terms of revenue, which they easily would do because Caitlin Clark’s mere existence is seen to that. We have to acknowledge what the hell is going on. It’s not something to hate, it’s something to appreciate.”
Stephen A. said that players can go against CC to beat her down and try and prove to be the dominant one, but ignoring her contribution to the league is unfair.
It is a tad unfair to only credit Caitlin Clark for the WNBA’s upcoming TV rights deal. However, his words do stand to be true. The Indiana Fever star clearly deserves the grand majority of the credit. And indeed, what she is doing for the WNBA deserves to be appreciated.
Yet, the world seems to be against Clark, despite her contributions, something that may have even shown up in her being snubbed from Team USA. This is something Stephen A. Smith recently spoke on as well.
Stephen A. Smith’s comment on the Caitlin Clark snub
When the Team USA roster for the Paris Olympics was announced, many found it odd that the biggest star in the world of women’s basketball was left out. Clark’s exclusion from the team created a huge uproar in the media and on the internet.
On an episode of First Take, Stephen A. went on a long, passionate rant about how this was a missed opportunity for women’s basketball and the WNBA to grow its brand on a global scale.
“It compromises what your ultimate goal is, which is to elevate the WNBA brand…How could you be that idiotic and not make that call, when throughout history, Team USA has been, in part, about marketing? It’s dumb, period.”
Smith’s words came purely from the marketing standpoint of the WNBA. Indeed, Team USA will likely win with or without Clark, that’s just the quality the side has. However, the viewership that the 22-year-old would bring is undeniable.
So, as Stephen A. Smith said, this does indeed seem like a massive missed opportunity for not just the WNBA, but for women’s sports as a whole.
