Dave Portnoy Demands Caitlin Clark, WNBA Players Be Paid Higher Wage, Uses $250 Million Analogy

Dave Portnoy had some choice words for detractors of Caitlin Clark and the WNBA players' pay demands.

Dave Portnoy Demands Caitlin Clark, WNBA Players Be Paid Higher Wage, Uses $250 Million Analogy

Caitlin Clark and All-Stars wore this T-shirt before the game (Image via FirstSportz)

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Being loud and outspoken about sports is a signature of the Barstool Sports playbook. Led by founder Dave Portnoy, the publication has built its whole reputation on kneejerk sports commentary. This has led to a lot of abrasiveness and depleted brand value for how much it caters to shock jocks with its approach. But batting for Caitlin Clark and the WNBA players’ pay demands is one thing that they’re getting right.

The WNBA players put together a huge statement ahead of the All-Star Game warmups at Indianapolis. They came onto the court sporting ‘Pay us what you owe us’ T-shirts for their pregame exercises and drills. The message was loud and clear for WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and other stakeholders. The crowd also joined in with this moment as the commissioner took the stage for the felicitation.

Much of the discourse on social media after the game was centered around this controversial moment. Even though it was an obvious and fair stance for the players to take, a lot of sentiments around their demands on WNBA Twitter have been full of shade – especially from the male sections of society. Many believe that since the league doesn’t turn a profit, its players aren’t entitled to a higher pay.

Dave Portnoy is doing an exemplary job of countering this bias. The Barstool Sports CEO tweeted a statement on Sunday morning, with some of the salient arguments being:

The owners don’t want to say how the league is doing cause then you gotta pay more going into bargaining agreement. The league is exploding. Franchise values are exploding. Ticket sales, merch, tv rights all exploding. The players have an opt out in their CBA. Of course they took it. It’s all about leverage in re-negotiations and for the 1st time in history of league players have power. The players make virtually nothing while the entire league explodes. Of course they deserve more money. Just the values of the team pay for it without all the other stuff.

Dave Portnoy went on to state that he would be happy to invest the gigantic amount of $250 million on a new WNBA franchise if he got the opportunity to set one up in his hometown of Boston:

If somebody told me I could buy a Boston team for 250 million I would do it without blinking.

Dave Portnoy released an unfiltered video response on WNBA pay

The Barstool Sports CEO did not stop at this juncture. He also had a rant with a length of over five minutes in which he detailed how the financial dealings of the WNBA have intentionally been kept vague by the team owners and stakeholders in order to preserve their strong bargaining position ahead of the CBA.

Brittany Sykes with the sign board in the background
Brittany Sykes with the sign board in the background (Image via Open Source/X)

In an era when it has unfortunately become cool to be openly misogynistic, mainly due to the 47th president of the United States of America getting back in office, it is refreshing to see Dave Portnoy be such a huge backer of the WNBA. He is presenting a strong case for male sports fans’ redemption in the eyes of women who follow sports.

His arguments also make economic and financial sense. The WNBA would not be feasible without vehement player participation, and it gives the players all the leverage in this scenario.

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