Dominating the column inches in the United States in recent months, Caitlin Clark has been lauded by many for putting WNBA further on the map. But amid different prize money battles over different sports for equality, the stark comparison between basketball and tennis has been highlighted by tennis journalist, Ben Rothenberg.
Clark who plays for Indiana Fever has a four year rookie contract on $338,056 overall which is split over four years and increases each time so this season, she accrues $76,535 for her efforts over the course of the season. This then rises with a maximum option sat at $97,582 for the option year. This is in comparison to qualifying for the US Open tennis.
Being a Grand Slam, the prize money pool sits at a larger amount and as a result losing in the first round at the US Open, you will receive around $85,000 or just under. So qualifying is almost the golden ticket compared to other women's sports. This is more than Clark would earn from an entire season up until likely 2026. Almost 300 women earned more tennis prize money than that alone last year.
170 have earned more already just through mid April. Still this will increase further with most if not all tournaments looking to introduce equal prize money as a target set by 2025 for combined tournaments. There is still the disparity in particular between ATP and WTA aside from the Grand Slams and also certain Masters 1000 tournaments. This then stirs debate with the ongoing retort of whether playing best of three versus best of five warrants this.
Rothenberg who raised this point got many replies getting called a silly comparison due to the effort needed to play tennis, how WNBA isn't as entertaining as tennis, endorsements and being a more engaging spectator sport. But it does show the disparity between some sports amid the current women's sports boom. That despite Clark filling up column inches, that some sports certainly do better when it comes to current prize money.
How much of a unicorn is tennis? Clark would make more for losing first round US Open (~$85,000) than she will from an entire season WNBA salary($76,535). About 300 women earned more tennis prize money than that last year; 170 already have this year through just mid-April.
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