Bridging the pay gap: Caitlin Clark’s WNBA salary and how gender inequality in sports impacts student-athletes
Recently, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has been dominating students’ social media feeds, but not for points scored, number of assists, or even the exciting Women’s March Madness tournament that happened last month. Instead, the WNBA is trending because when the University of Iowa’s basketball star Caitlin Clark became the first pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, her rookie salary sparked major debate. At $76,535 for her first year, Clark will be paid less than some NBA mascots, such as the Denver Nuggets mascot, who gets paid $625,000 annually.