Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Columbia University’s president will be questioned by Congress todayover on-campus protests, Meta’s oversight board weighs in on the company’s handling of deepfakes, and record interest in women’s basketball isn’t raising pay for players—yet.
– Payday. This year’s college basketball season and its No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark have been defined by some big numbers: 18.7 million TV viewers for the NCAA women’s final. 3,951 career points. As much as $52.3 million contributed to the state of Iowa’s economy.
Now, a smaller number is defining the next chapter of the Iowa star’s career: $76,535, her starting salary in the WNBA. Clark was chosen by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA draft on Monday night with a four-year salary total of $338,056.
For the woman who set scoring and viewership records, reinvigorated college basketball, and was dressed by Prada for the sold-out draft in New York, that’s an astoundingly low number. (The median household income in Indiana, where Clark will be playing, is $67,173, according to the Census Bureau.)
But it’s nothing new.
The last time conversations around professional women’s players’ salaries reached a fever pitch was when Brittney Griner was detained in Russia in 2022. Griner played in Russia because of the WNBA’s low salaries; players often supplement their income overseas in the off-season. The highest-paid veteran players earn around $250,000 a year, according to Bloomberg.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert often reminds salary critics that the league is only 28 years old, compared to the 78-year-old NBA and 104-year-old NFL. (The starting salary for the No. 1 NBA draft pick? $10 million in year one and $55 million for four years.) The WNBA still has only 12 teams, although Engelbert says she’s working towards an expansion to 16 teams by the 2028 season.
Some of this could change soon. The league’s collective bargaining agreement runs through 2027, but has an option for renegotiation at the end of 2024, Bloomberg reports.
Incoming Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark wears Prada at the WNBA draft. Catalina Fragoso/NBAE—Getty Images For now, Clark’s salary shows how long it takes for a surge of interest in women’s sports and women’s basketball in particular to make its way to players directly. Millions of viewers and ad dollars don’t immediately translate to more money in all players’ pockets. Until the league catches up, there will be a disconnect between the stature of these record-breaking players in the national consciousness and their earning potential on the court.
Clark is expected to supplement her on-court income with around $3 million in endorsement deals in her first year with partners like Nike and State Farm, the same as what she earned from name image likeness deals in college. (Not a pay cut from the NCAA to the WNBA, another misconception Engelbert has pushed back against.) Other stars like Angel Reese have also inked lucrative endorsements with brands like Beats by Dre and PepsiCo’s Starry. Not to mention the WNBA’s own brand partnerships ranging from Glossier (which did Clark’s draft-night makeup and shared the product lineup on Instagram) to haircare brand Mielle Organics and new over-the-counter birth control Opill.
Not every player, however, has million-dollar deals to make up for low pay on the court. For all the money women’s basketball players are earning for brands, networks, and, yes, even the league, the top priority should be to make sure they see some of those profits—and soon.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
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- Ivy #3 to the hill. Members of Congress will question Columbia University president Nemat “Minouche” Shafik on Wednesday about the school's response to on-campus protests that some students and lawmakers describe as anti-Semitic. This questioning comes just months after former Harvard president Claudine Gay and former University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill went through a similar process following the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war, after which both presidents resigned. Shafik clarified on Tuesday that calls for the genocide of any group were forbidden on campus and that balancing free speech rights and student safety on campus has been Columbia's focus since the conflict broke out. Wall Street Journal
- Doing something about deepfakes. The Oversight Board at Meta announced that it plans to conduct a review of how it responded to the circulation of sexually explicit deepfake images of two undisclosed female public figures on Facebook and Instagram. The board will evaluate the conditions that caused the images to remain online despite users reporting them and will make recommendations to the company on how to police such content in the future. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is currently spearheading a bill in the House of Representatives that would allow victims of these deepfakes to sue those who created, distributed, or received them.
- Italy scales back. The Italian parliament passed a group of initiatives approved by the cabinet of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday that would allow antiabortion activists to enter facilities where women receive consultations and approval for abortions. Opposition parties in Italy say that the initiatives, which are expected to pass in the country's senate as well, are "shameful" and "a further step backwards." Guardian
- Work well together. Peoplehood, the relationship health startup started by SoulCycle founders Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, unveiled a new program on Tuesday designed to improve work relationships and supplement employees with better "human skills." Peoplehood @Work, the new offering, sets up retreats and meetings between teams, managers, and employees that teach them how to communicate better at work and be more well-rounded leaders. Fortune
- Justice for all. Disability advocates say calls for 69-year-old Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor to step down because of her age and diabetes are ableist and biased. Many of these calls come from "progressive figures" who are wary that Sotomayor, a liberal justice, could die during a conservative presidency and therefore be replaced with a conservative justice. Leaders of disability organizations and initiatives, however, argue that this pressure is “ableism, pure and simple” and that Sotomayor knows her body better than anyone else. The 19th
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Tchernavia Rocker is stepping down as chief people and administrative officer of Under Armour. Nancy Whiteman is stepping down as chief executive officer of Wana Edibles. Instacart appointed former Revlon CFO Victoria Dolan to its board of directors. L’Oréal USA named Silvia Galfo president of the luxe division.
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Coachella 2024: Women save the day as festival suffers an identity crisis Guardian
Mellody Hobson to publish children’s book about money: ‘No greater gift than a financial education’ People
First a Grammy, now the world: Tyla takes over Vanity Fair
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