It is bad news for the WNBA that she's not continuing to play. W thinks that they don't have to pay us more. Commissioner talked about us being able to make 700,000.
That's actually that's not true at all. Welcome back to the Clark updates. I'm back with another major story and I hope you enjoy today's video.
Today's big story is about Caitlyn Clark and Sophie Cunningham as reports of a huge European League contract offer have sparked major buzz. How real is this story? And what could it mean for Indiana Fever and the WNBA if they actually make the move?
Stay with us until the end to get all the latest details. Now, let's get into today's big story. One of the WNBA's brightest stars, Caitlyn Clark, has made the startling decision to leave the league and pursue her talents abroad.
This is enormous news coming out of the league right now. In all of the sellouts, Caitlyn asked the WNBA if they would pay spot bonuses to the away team players. Nobody anticipated this move, but when we examine the factors that led her to make it, it begins to make a lot of sense.
Our biggest star in the league, Caitlyn Clark, is only making a base salary of around $76,000. In today's video, we go deeply into the reasons behind Caitlyn Clark's decision to leave her lowpaying job and join the European League. NBA players make millions and millions of dollars.
Victor Webbmanyama rookie salary, which was around 55 million for four years. And then you look at Caitlyn Clark's $338,000 salary that she signed for 4 years. It's around $162 times more that Victor made then.
We're addressing everything from the persistent problems with the league's treatment of her to racial bias, biased refereeing, and [music] more. If you appreciate this content, consider giving this video a like and subscribing to the channel. Believe it or not, more than 80% of viewers haven't subscribed yet.
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Thank you so much for your support. Now, back to the video. Kayn Clark was the solution for so many things, but so many players, coaches were also painting her out to be the problem.
There was all of this just nonsense about things that Caitlyn was doing wrong when, in my personal opinion, she was doing nothing but going out there and playing great basketball every night and ignoring the hate that was coming to her from all sides. She was getting all of that, yet all of these eyeballs were coming to the league because of her. Additionally, we'll discuss how Caitlyn's presence alone is the primary reason the WNBA is currently buzzing despite the fact that she still doesn't receive the support she merits.
Caitlyn Clark came in and made such an [music] impact on how many people started to care about the WNBA. This was the highest viewed season in the history of the league. This is going to get serious.
Let's start with the main reason Caitlyn Clark is quitting the WNBA, the pay gap. We'll go down the stats and compare salaries so you can see how absurd the scenario is. Foreign player Gabby Williams warned the WNBA.
If you want to keep international players, you need to do better. W thinks that they don't have to pay us more in order for us to be here. And I think I didn't um express that when I first talked about prioritization.
You know, our commissioner talked about us being able to make 700,000. That's actually that's not true at all. There's not one player who makes that.
We were promised, you know, team marketing agreements and legal marketing agreements, but they've fallen quite short. So, it's still not enough for us international players to want to stay here and that's a choice of the players. If I make a choice to make more money and whatever and then the, you know, teams are mad that I don't come back, but that's how it is.
So, yes, it it just the WNBA, you know, if you want us to be here, you have to [music] pay us more. It's business. It's how it works and that's that's all that.
From the sounds of this interview, it seems like she's probably going to make more money overseas in Euro League than she did during this WNBA season. It's no secret that WNBA players earn significantly less than their NBA counterparts. While NBA players earn millions of dollars each season, the average salary for a WNBA player is startlingly low.
Despite Caitlyn's talent and the attention she has brought to the league, her pay doesn't match that. Anna Terasi played in Russia and did not play in the WNBA. Russia paid Diana $1.
5 million salary to play in Russia. In the WNBA, the highest salary in the league was $107,000. So obviously that's a huge job.
Even more annoying is the fact that Caitlyn has been a game changer for the WNBA. We're talking about soldout arenas, thousands of new fans, and an increase in viewership all because of her. Highest paid pay player in the WNBA currently makes a little over $200,000 in salary.
I don't know what the WNBA does with their marketing dollars. Just take a look at what Allison Barber, president of the Indiana Fever, said. When Caitlyn played away games, the arenas were packed, selling out tickets and even standing room only spots.
Here's all you need to know about Caitlyn Clark. When we would go to away games, they always sold out. Unbelievable.
So, Atlanta would normally have 3,000 4,000 people. Now, they have 17,000 people. And they sold a,000 standing room only tickets.
So, when we walked into the arena, people were on that third balcony looking down at the tops of our players heads to watch. It's really hard to take in. After a few away games and all of the sellouts, Caitlyn asked the WNBA if they would pay spot bonuses to the away team players.
She said, "Wow, we're we're making all this new revenue and I would like the away team to benefit from that. Could they get a spot bonus? " So, that's the heart of Caitlyn Clark.
While WNBA players, including those who generate enormous revenue like Caitlyn, receive relatively low pay, NBA players are profiting from expensive deals. When Caitlyn noticed how much money her games were making, she went out of her way to campaign for spot incentives for rival team players. However, because of the WNBA's current CBA, those bonuses weren't given.
Caitlyn isn't the kind to ignore that. Caitlyn's rookie salary is is a little over 300,000 for 4 years, and that's all that she's going to make in the WNBA. Now, I feel like there could be a team overseas who would love to snatch Caitlyn Clark away from us and give her a crazy offer.
I mean, Ice Cube was about to give her 5 million to play in less than 10 games in the big [music] three. Given all of this, it should come as no surprise that Caitlyn is searching for a league where her talent can be fairly compensated. The European League offers players better salaries, respect, and general treatment.
Things that Caitlyn Clark more than deserves. It's not just about the money. It's also about being appreciated for the impact she's made, and the WNBA isn't currently providing that.
The money is there, and if these owners are smart with it, I could definitely see more WNBA players going overseas and possibly not returning. The racial dynamics in the WNBA were another important element in Caitlyn Clark's decision to leave the league. During the season, Caitlyn was under constant scrutiny from players and coaches, as well as fans who seemed to unfairly target her.
Caitlyn was still advocating for players on the other team to get bonuses because she saw the kind of money and and eyeballs and viewership that all of this was generating. Despite her extraordinary abilities and accomplishments, many narratives portrayed her as the issue rather than as a solution to the league's problems. This season has been nothing short of a mess.
It has been so unprofessional and they need to step it up. And they need to step it up quick. This brings us to a crucial point.
The league has witnessed a number of instances where referees seem to favor black players, frequently ignoring fouls against them while punishing Caitlyn and her teammates more severely. This unfair treatment can be depressing for any player, but it can be particularly so for someone like Caitlyn, who has been under constant scrutiny. The NBA in 2022 made around 10 billion in revenue.
That is about 166 times the amount of money that the WNBA makes. She felt alone and frustrated since it appeared like the system was biased against her while she performed her talent every night. Clark is just such a class act.
She was incredible, breaking all types of records and that's something she was certainly proud of. We saw lots of smiles on the court. Caitlyn is the face right now and that's also good.
Like she's selling out gyms of course. Like why would you hate against that? We saw dirty play after dirty play on Caitlyn Clark and still she just handled every single situation with the highest levels of dignity.
If Caitlyn felt that she was being unfairly singled out and that refereeing biases were affecting her gameplay, it would only fuel her desire to play somewhere else where she can showcase her skills without fear of bias impacting her performance. Players like Gabby Williams have publicly discussed the messiness and unprofessional ISM within the WNBA, highlighting the drama and chaos that overshadowed the season. WNBA players and their pretend friends in the mainstream media.
They have done everything they can to diminish the impact of Caitlyn Clark. They tried to convince us that there are other players in the dump capable of drawing an audience. They tried to convince us that other players deserve the spotlight.
By joining the European League, Caitlyn is able to get away from this stressful situation. In Europe, she can find a more level playing field and concentrate on her game without having to constantly prove herself in the face of perceived prejudices. Owner of the Atlanta Dramer said this is our league.
All those people who have been saying this is our league. They can't sell out playoff games. I I don't think the WNBA is ready for this type of attention that that she's bringing racism.
Everybody's talking about enough with the racist BS. She's nasty. She knows how to ball.
Everybody else is jealous. They're pissed off cuz you get this like it it's it's ridiculous. And we're never going to advance as a species and we're never if he keeps having that type of attitude.
It it's ridiculous. It's like what? Everything has to go back to race.
Everything has to keep going back to race. She's really good. Let it be that.
And the other players should shut the hell up. Like nobody was talking about your league. Nobody cared about the WNBA until that girl.
That girl Caitlyn K. I don't care what color she is. She's ridiculous.
She's nasty. And now people are watching and you guys are talking about her. She should leave.
She should have got those other contracts, Pat. Where where where does she have a contract to go somewhere else? Big three.
She should have gone to the big three. To hell with the WNBA. They're nothing.
They're nobody. Caitlyn Clark Deserves to play in an environment that fosters her growth as a player. And sadly, the current state of the WNBA isn't providing that.
The idea of playing in a league that might recognize her talents without the additional complications of racial dynamics could be very alluring. There's a league with players that feel like they should be getting the attention. Now they have center stage, but the ratings are going to go down.
Are they going to be pointing fingers and blaming Indiana Fever fans and Caitlyn Clark fans whenever the ratings don't stay the same? Yeah, they will. Despite her extraordinary talent and the number of fans she attracts to the league, Caitlyn Clark has had to deal with the harsh reality that her WNBA salaries are significantly less than what she could make abroad.
This is one of the most obvious reasons she decided to leave the WNBA for the European League. Hey, look at the numbers everywhere else across women's basketball. It's not just Caitlyn Clark.
It's all of us. And then the moment the ratings tank, they're going to come back and say, "See, we were right all along. It's all the racists that follow Caitlyn Clark that were watching the product and now they're gone and we're back with our die hards.
" It is bad news for the WNBA that she's not continuing to play. Let's examine the numbers. In the WNBA, the average salary for a player is around $120,000 per season with top players earning between $200,000 and $300,000.
In contrast, players in European leagues can earn significantly higher salaries. For example, top European players can earn up to $1 million per season, and some reports suggest that certain stars can command even more based on their marketability and performance. This obvious financial incentive makes it difficult for Caitlyn and many others to stay in a league that doesn't fairly compensate their contributions.
Most [music] points by a point guard in a season in WNBA history. Most double doubles by a rookie guard in WNBA history. Most points by a rookie in WNBA history, most assists by a rookie [music] in the history of the WNBA, first WNBA rookie to record two triple doubles, first triple double by a rookie in WNBA history, first triple double in Fever history, the first player to be named WNBA Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month in the same month, first player in WNBA history with 20 or more points, 15 or more assists, and five [music] or more rebounds in a game.
She won rookie of the month four times, Eastern Conference player of the week three times. Single season rookie record for assists, single season rookie record for three-pointers, single game record for assists, 19 franchise record for most double doubles, uh, three-pointers, career 10 or more assists in a game, franchise record for most career 10 or more assists in a game. Fastest WNBA player to reach a 100 three-pointers.
She did it in 34 games. Most assists by a rookie in a WNBA All-Star game for which she received the most fan votes ever. 700,000 of those.
fastest player to reach 350 points and 150 assists to start a season regardless of years in the league. People will say pay more attention to the other folks like she couldn't do it herself. You know, LeBron has teammates, Jordan had teammates.
I understand. Additionally, the data show that the WNBA has seen an unparalleled increase in viewership primarily due to Caitlyn's performances. Caitlyn Clark has been the best thing, the most dominant thing to happen to the WNBA ever.
Remember, there's been good players come out of college, but nobody really cared. We'd seen it. Nobody really really cared.
She has demonstrated her ability to draw spectators and increase ticket sales by turning away games into home game environments for her team, the Indiana Fever. However, despite being a major contributor to this buzz, she is not paid a salary that is commensurate with her market value or the money she brings in for the league. Caitlyn Clark is box office.
Caitlyn is the face right now, and that's also good. like she's selling out gyms. Caitlyn Clark is a mega star.
TV ratings have spiked 153% from last season, and that's before the playoffs, which began last week. Caitlyn Clark is a box office draw. While the rest of the WNBA, it is nothing but a polished turd.
But the attention she brought to the sport hopefully going to have a residual effect for years to come. They have done everything they can to diminish the impact of Caitlyn Clark. Caitlyn Clark is just such a class act.
She was incredible, breaking all types of records, and that's something she was certainly proud of. We saw lots of smiles on the court. The dilemma is made worse by the disparity in how Caitlyn Clark and other players are treated.
Respect and recognition are more important than money. I was wrong about the impact that Caitlyn Clark was going to have on the WNBA. I did not think it was possible that one player could come in and basically quadruple the ratings.
Caitlyn Clark in terms of pro team sports impact is the single most influential athlete that I have ever seen in my life. Caitlyn Clark 25 points, six rebounds, nine assist. The last rookie in NBA WNBA playoff history to reach these numbers was Magic Johnson.
Magic Johnson was great. He could do everything. Caitlyn Clark just had a playoff series like Magic Johnson did way back in his rookie year.
Her game resonates with people in basketball and across the country because she's got that edge. She plays with a flare, but she's got that edge. The hands go up.
Many WNBA players appear to get preferential treatment when it comes to pay talks and endorsements, particularly those with large social media followings or marketing clout. Despite Caitlyn's success on the court, her compensation is not commensurate with her contributions. It was such a bittersweet end to a phenomenal rookie season that Caitlyn Clark had.
And it honestly got me to just reflecting on this season and it sucks that so much of it was riddled with so much drama and so much negativity and so many mishaps that the WNBA had throughout the entire season. As we conclude this discussion, it is evident that Caitlyn Clark's decision to leave the WNBA for the European League is rooted in a complex web of factors from salary disparities and the difficulties of competing in an environment that hasn't fully embraced her to the recognition she deserves as a gamecher. In the end, the decision to join the European League gives Caitlyn the chance to secure a salary that matches her talent and marketability.
It also allows her to escape the frustrations of a league that may not fully appreciate her impact. Caitlyn Clark was the gift that kept on giving. Absolutely 1,000% kept on giving.
And while she was doing this, I told you that even boys, men are going to figure out, hey, wait a second. I'm kind of digging this. Not for her looks, not Angel Reese taking off her topper, showing her ass, or whatever she's doing.
No. Caitlyn Clark's game resonated. Caitlyn Clark's rivalry with Reese resonated.
It resonated with me, which means it resonates with men, real men. There are still people who seemingly feel like they just don't want Caitlyn to be a part of it because with Caitlyn comes millions and millions and millions of more eyeballs. And with those millions and millions and millions of more eyeballs, unfortunately, is going to come some people who are not nice.
What the WNBA is is measuring one type of greatness against the other greatness. Am I saying it's right that she's being pushing a bag? No.
That's foul. That's that has no space in the sport. And we all know that.
I'm not going to let you make it seem like Caitlyn Clark was averaging five points a game. At the time, she was still averaging 16 points a game, which was more than a lot of other guards that made the team. So, don't do that.
Don't make it seem like she was averaging five points and this was like a handout. Look at her numbers. Look at her numbers comparable to the other guards that were on the team.
Caitlyn Clark. What she's doing doesn't minimize what they've done. But we should have been giving her the credit.
We saw the ratings. We saw the merchandise sales. We saw the attendance.
But y'all want to make it make it about something else. Oh, what about the women that laid the foundation? What about this?
What about it? That ain't got nothing to do with Caitlyn Clark. Caitlyn Clark is box office.
She's doing this. And instead of giving her credit, y'all tried to make it about Oh, y'all poo pooing the old guard. Y'all never talk about the old guard like this.
Nah, I ain't going to let it slide. Time will tell, but one thing is certain. Caitlyn Clark's impact on the game is undeniable, and her journey will continue to inspire many.
Thank you for joining me today. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe. By making this move, Caitlyn isn't just prioritizing her financial future.
She's taking a stand for her worth in a league that has sadly not kept up with her contribution. As fans, we should celebrate her decision. And that's a wrap on today's Clark updates.
The story surrounding Caitlyn Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and the reported European League opportunity is definitely one that has fans talking. But what do you think? Could we actually see Clark and Sophie playing in Europe, or will they remain with the WNBA?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video, make sure to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss the latest Caitlyn Clark and WNBA updates. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.
