Two WNBA Players Are Starting A Six Team 3-On-3 League This Winter That Will Pay More Than Any Professional League In Women's Sports History
Alright, you guys know me well enough by now to know that I'm at least more interested in women's basketball than the average bear, due to previous working conditions. But just because I've attended 4 women's basketball games (relax, a Caitlin Clark game at OSU, two Final Four games, and the National Championship) this year does not mean I need to white knight the sport and act like every single decision is good and that anyone who hates on it is bad. Because I'm here to say this: this is stupid.
Now don't get me wrong, History has to start somewhere. And I do understand the problem that is WNBA players having to leave the country to play in the off-season to make more money. I get WHY they're trying to get something going here in the United States. But my first question is this, and I guess I'll start airing my issues with this league in list form:
1. If the in-season league is not popular enough to be paying their players good money.....why would an off-season league be the answer? My guess is that, and holy smokes don't crucify me if I'm wrong WNBA fans, that everyone saw the money that Ice Cube and Dave Portnoy were offering for Caitlin, and they got this grand idea....why don't we start our own 3 on 3 league. Let me tell you why: because they wanted 1 player from your league. The idea of Caitlin Clark playing in The Big 3 was 100% more lucrative to Ice Cube than him making a women's 3 on 3. Which brings me to my next point....
2. The Big 3 fucking sucks. Right? Has anyone ever actually watched The Big 3? And if you have....do you still watch it? If men's basketball is infinitely more popular than women's basketball, then I have really bad news if men's 3 on 3 is more popular than women's 3 on 3....
3. (My biggest point) This league will be run in January, meaning it will be competing with the NBA, Men's College Basketball, Women's College Basketball......and a small market organization called the NFL, who will be having their playoffs at that time. I think that statement right there is enough. The WNBA at least has the ability to be on when literally nothing else is. This league is going to be going up against the big dogs. Which of those 4 are people going to watch women's off-season 3 on 3 over?
4. Who is paying for this? Who is paying the salaries of the highest paid women's sports league in history? And who's playing in this? I'll listen if they get Caitlin, Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu, don't really care about any other names, and then poach Paige Bueckers from college. I still won't watch because there will be other things on, so the question remains, who's paying for this? Do the founders of the league have a stake in this? Or is ESPN going to shove this down our throats and lead off SportsCenter with it?
Okay, that's my complaining for the day. I don't know what the answer is. But I do know that taking a league that struggles to be profitable on it's own, going up against far more popular leagues in the heat of their seasons, and saying that you'll pay your players more money is NOT a good idea.