Submission Date

7-24-2020

Document Type

Paper

Department

Business & Economics

Faculty Mentor

Jennifer VanGilder

Comments

Presented during the 22nd Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2020 at Ursinus College.

A related presentation is available here.

Project Description

The gender wage gap is a very prominent point of discussion in the professional world, but in the sports world, it has taken the spotlight in recent years. One sport that has seen discussion and debate over salary differences is the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association. In 2018, the average salary in the NBA was 6.4 million dollars, while the average salary in the WNBA was 71,635 dollars. A reason why these salaries are so differently is due to the amount of revenue that each league brings in. The NBA brings in roughly 7.4 billion dollars a year, compared to the 60 million that the WNBA brings in. However, of the 60 million that the WNBA brings in, only 20% of it is directed towards player salary while the NBA players see 50% of revenue set aside for salaries (Jope, 2019). The disparities here raise two important questions for this research. First, why does the WNBA bring in so little revenue compared to the NBA. Second why are the WNBA players seeing such a small portion of revenue invested in them? Using data from both leagues answers to these questions will be sought.

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