• Home
  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More
  • Contact

Grimag

  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More

How much money is really in women's basketball?

March 2, 2008

While the European seasons are about to come to an end the preparations for the WNBA are in full swing. There is a new team, the Atlanta Dream, that needs new players. The top stars of the WNBA (Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird, Becky Hammon and Diana Taurasi) all played in – yes you are right – Russia. This is where the money is – even for girls basketball.

The average men’s basketball guy probably doesn’t care about women’s basketball at and doesn’t expect the girls to make a lot of money. Especially when WNBA agents like Bruce Levy says: “There’s not enough money to attract sleazy people”.

Agents – doesn’t that make you listen up? Aren’t these people the most mythical people in the whole basketball business? They are so interesting that even NBA blogger genius Henry Abbott of ESPN started a web site to track these people.

But professional male athletes are all out of our league – who can really just imagine to make 10 million a year? Well, the basketball girls don’t but you would wonder how much they still make.

As you might think, the most money is made in the WNBA since it is the best league in the world, right? The minimum salary is $31,000 and the maximum is $87,000, where the agents make about 5% which is about $2,500. Not that much for an agent who probably also could be a lawyer and make that much in a week.

That is probably the reason why most of the girls also come to Europe when the WNBA is in its off-season. Earning some Euros – well what does “some” mean? Now for the non-millionaires – hold tight to your seat when you hear the figures. The average salary for an American players with NO WNBA experience in the top leagues (Spain, Italy, France, Russia) is about 5,000-6,000 EUR a month.

What about the WNBA girls? Of course being part of a WNBA team doesn’t increase your value for sure but we are talking about 10,000 EUR a month. If you are lucky to be picked up in Russia it will probably only start with 10,000 EUR. To give you a few facts – The EuroCup team of Taranto, Italy carries three WNBA players from the Sacramento Monarchs – Linda Froehlich, Yolanda Griffith and Rebecca Brunson.

I am sure most of the people that read this article don’t know these girls but after I tell you Rebecca Brunson’s salary per month in Taranto you will remember that name: 30,000 EUR a month – tax free, directly into her bank account per wire transfer. Of course – Rebecca is leading the Italian league in points and rebounds.

So if you should stumble upon wnba’s web site and read “European Vacations” as a headline for what is going on with the WNBA players in Europe – think about those 30,000 EUR made during “vacation” and about that “poor” agent who probably makes about 15,000 EUR for a phone call.

Mar 2, 2008ballineurope
Powered by Sidelines
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This post was published on March 2, 2008
Three released at Efes PilsenMonday cigarettes
You Might Also Like
 
Watch out, the girls are coming!
 
From Russia with Love
Comments: 1
  1. Steve
    15 years ago

    makes me wanna get rid of all my body hair, put on a skirt and see if I can be the starting 4 spot for some team in Russia or Italy…5k Euros is quite a big amount!

    ReplyCancel

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

ballineurope
15 years ago 1 Comment More, NBA/NCAA
Recent Posts
Wembanyama’s wild run
13 hours ago
Markkanen the highlight of Europe’s stunning NBA All Star haul
5 days ago
Winning is a habit and Bonn’s players like it
6 days ago
Categories
Recent Posts
Wembanyama’s wild run
Markkanen the highlight of Europe’s stunning NBA All Star haul
Winning is a habit and Bonn’s players like it
Tags
EuroLeagueNBAYouTubeCSKA MoscowFC BarcelonaReal MadridFIBAOlympiacosZalgiris KaunasPanathinaikosACBSpainMaccabi Tel AvivTeam SpainRicky RubioLos Angeles LakersMontepaschi SienaPartizan BelgradeLithuaniaPau GasolTeam LithuaniaGermanyItalyTurkeyIrelandTeam FranceCaja Laboral BaskoniaLietuvos RytasFenerbahce ÜlkerJuan Carlos NavarroGreeceSan Antonio SpursTony ParkerFranceMinnesota TimberwolvesDirk Nowitzkibasketball highlightsTeam RussiaSerbiaTeam USAALBA BerlinEuroBasket 2011EuroCupBrose Baskets BambergDallas Mavericks
Share
0
Facebook
ABOUT
BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”
Most Commented
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
11 years ago
180 Comments
Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009
14 years ago
168 Comments
A week in highlights: Spanish block party, mighty Milos, Utah rap and some dude dunking in L.A.
12 years ago
139 Comments
Archives
Get In Touch

Email: emmetryan@gmail.com

Name: Emmet Ryan

2014 © BallinEurope. Join JCI Dublin