Dear WNBA, Lower The Rim to 9 Feet
The truth hurts, but the unfortunate reality is that despite basketball being the second most popular sport in America, very few people tune in to the WNBA. The reason why is very simple, it’s just not entertaining in its current form. The WNBA is a subsidiary of the NBA, and loses the league 10 million dollars a year. Something needs to change. The solution is a very simple one: lower the rim to 9 feet.
The draw of the NBA has and always will be, the athleticism of the players. The fastbreak dunks, the alley oops, the chase down blocks off the backboard. It’s hard to imagine the NBA without these things. But this is a reality that takes place in the WNBA. It’s not to say that the skill level and the athleticism of the players in the WNBA isn’t off the charts, but they’re fighting a losing battle – they’re playing a game that in its current form is most suitable for men. Biologically, men are obviously more athletic than woman, and that’s never going to change. It’s not sexist to acknowledge this reality and other sports do so. Women’s Tennis has only three sets maximum. Softball is the women’s alternative to baseball. Women’s golf has shorter distances. Lowering the rim to 9 feet would allow women to showcase their athleticism and skill in a situation more suitable for them. Can you imagine women putting each other on posters? This is a no brainer.
The pay gap between the NBA and the WNBA is huge, and no, it also has nothing to do with sexism. The average salary of a WNBA player is around $120,000. Compare that to nearly $10 million in the NBA. Some of the highest paid players in the NBA make close to the total amount of revenue brought in by the WNBA in a whole season. The average attendance for a WNBA game in 2022 was 5,679. Compared to 17,184 in the NBA. NBA teams draw millions of more viewers on TV and sell millions of more jerseys. While there’s no real way of quantifying how many more people would start to follow and regularly tune into the league, the added level of entertainment that comes as a result of lowering the rim would cause an increase. It’s about time the women of the WNBA start pushing Adam Silver to make the change to 9 feet. WNBA players have dedicated their whole lives to the sport of Basketball. They deserve to get paid more, play Infront of larger crowds, and live the true glory that is being a professional athlete.