Basketball analyst Skip Bayless was quick to slam Caitlin Clark’s detractors after the WNBA All-Star game ratings were out. The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on ABC was watched by 2.19 million viewers, which is a significant drop-off as compared to last year’s All-Star game’s record 3.44 million viewers.
Clark remains the influencing point here. Bayless thinks that since Clark played last year, the viewership was record high. Meanwhile, this year she couldn’t play because of a groin issue, and it seems to have impacted the rating. Though the drop off in 2025, it was still the second-most viewed All-Star Game ever, eclipsing the 2023 audience of 850,000.
On Tuesday, Bayless took to X and wrote:
“WNBA All-Star Game ratings weirdly took extra long to be released. Without Caitlin Clark: 2.19. With Caitlin Clark last year: a record 3.44. PAY THESE WOMEN WHAT THEY’RE OWED BECAUSE OF CAITLIN CLARK!”
WNBA All-Star Game ratings weirdly took extra long to be released. Without Caitlin Clark: 2.19. With Caitlin Clark last year: a record 3.44. PAY THESE WOMEN WHAT THEY’RE OWED BECAUSE OF CAITLIN CLARK!
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 23, 2025
While Bayless was speaking about Clark being the influencing parameter, with this post, he also took a jibe at WNBA. Before the All-Star game tipped off in Indiana last weekend, all the players removed their jackets in unity, and they were wearing a t-shirt that sent a blunt message:
“Pay Us What You Owe Us.”
This comes right at the time after the CBA negotiations between WNBA and WNBA Players Association stalled over negotiations. Women’s basketball stars demand to get paid more.
Caitlin Clark & Co. Receives Support For “Pay Us What You Owe Us” Message
Caitlin Clark also stood in solidarity with the remaining WNBA All-Stars, asking to get paid more at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Thereby, even she believes the WNBA is not paying them enough for their efforts to bring fans to the arenas.
The contentious point is how much of the league’s revenue is going to players’ accounts. In NBA, it’s around 50-51%. However, in WNBA it is around 9.3% only. NBA players earn an average of $4.5 million annually, while the average WNBA salary hovers around $75,000. Even top rookies like Clark earn just $76,535.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy believes WNBA players deserve to earn more. He said those who said they shouldn’t are “morons.”
“I see lots of morons trying to act like WNBA players don’t deserve more money,” Portnoy wrote on X. “They are throwing around this ‘lost 50 million’ number that nobody even knows where it comes from. The finances of the league are a mess, tied in with NBA and purposely murky. The owners don’t want to say how the league is doing because then you gotta pay more going into bargaining agreement.”
I see lots of morons trying to act like WNBA players don’t deserve more money. They are throwing around this “lost 50 million” number that nobody even knows where it comes from. The finances of the league are a mess, tied in with NBA and purposely murkey. The owners don’t…
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 20, 2025
With the increasing popularity of WNBA, the players’ message is clear. Both WNBA and WNBAPA need to strike a deal before Oct. 31 for a new CBA.
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