WNBA President: No Bigger Advocate for Equality Than Us
*By Michael Teich*
While some pro teams and athletes are shying away from confronting political and social inequality, the WNBA is stepping forward, says the league's president, Lisa Borders.
The WNBA launched the "Take a Seat, Take a Stand" initiative aimed at empowering women and girls by partnering with organizations like Planned Parenthood and It's On Us. Borders emphasized that "basketball is bigger than basketball," and that the WNBA has built a culture that encourages its players to speak up about their beliefs.
"Our players are speaking up and speaking out," Borders told Cheddar in an interview Thursday. "It’s basically encoded in our DNA."
One issue that has arisen in many the gender pay gap. And the WNBA has been criticized, including by its own players, for how it compensates athletes. Some critics say the league does not give players a fair share of league revenue.
Borders told Cheddar it is not a gender issue for the WNBA, but instead that the maturity of business doesn’t allow the league to pay that much and certainly not as much as the NBA pays male players.
This is an economic issue, she said, explaining that the NBA is able to pay its players a larger share of revenue because it has had a two-generation head start on the WNBA.
"When we have the economics to pay out more, trust and believe that we will."
Growing viewership will be the first step to improving the league's financial standing. The WNBA already lists ESPN and Twitter as broadcasting partners, but Borders said she wants to add "more platforms, more live-streaming" because younger viewers want more options.
Borders expects legalized sports betting will be another opportunity to expand the league's audience.
"We are not a casino, but will benefit indirectly," she said. "People will have to have knowledge. I expect it will bring in new and more informed demographic."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/wnba-president-no-bigger-advocate-for-equality-than-us)
Former NFL QB Lester Ricard Jr. joins Cheddar Bets to discuss playing--and beating--the same team three times in a season ahead of the NFC Championship Game.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Brian Bennett, College Basketball Senior Editor of The Athletic, joins Cheddar Bets to share his methods for forecasting long-term success for college basketball's top programs.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Super Group, the company behind leading global online sports betting and gaming businesses Betway and Spin, has landed on Wall Street. The company went public via SPAC with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp., and now lists on the NYSE under the ticker symbol 'SGHC.' This debut comes as the U.S. sports betting market continues to heat up with more and more states legalizing the practice. Eric Grubman, chairman of Super Group, joined Cheddar to discuss.
Olivia Harlan Dekker and Sean Green provide their insight and top picks after studying the early lines for Super Bowl LIV, while Chris Spagnuolo breaks down betting trends from this NFL season using data and analytics. Sponsored by BetMGM.
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
A year after announcing plans for a name change, Washington, DC's NFL team has settled on Commanders. The update comes after receiving years of criticism for the previous nickname deemed highly offensive by Native American groups and communities.
