MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell closed out her Tuesday show by deciding to pick a fight with math. Reacting to Monday’s WNBA draft, Mitchell called “sexism” on the fact that number one overall pick Caitlin Clark will have a roughly $76,000 rookie salary while her male counterpart makes slightly north of $12 million.
Mitchell reported that “Caitlin Clark's record-breaking streak continues with what could be the most watched WNBA Draft ever. Clark was the number one pick, of course, last night, scoring her place with the Indiana Fever. Clark stands to make millions from endorsements, but fans are outraged over the massive gender pay gap in her salary. Clark will reportedly earn, get this, $76,000 for her rookie season. Compare that to the $12 million, million dollars, last year's number one NBA draft pick made in his rookie year.”
Missing from this monologue was any discussion of revenue. The NBA projected that during its 2021–22 season it would bring in over $10 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, last season, the WNBA’s projected revenue was around $200 million. As of 2018, the league was losing around $10 million a season. Still, Mitchell smeared Americans as sexist for not eliminating the gap overnight, “That gender inequality and the sexism facing women's sports is a big focus on Saturday Night Live.”
That SNL skit featured Clark appearing as a guest with anchor Michael Che:
MICHAEL CHE: The University of Iowa announced that basketball star Caitlin Clark will have her jersey retired and replaced with an apron. Oh… Here to comment is Caitlin Clark…I am a fan, Caitlin, by the way.
CAITLIN CLARK: Really, Michael? Because I heard that little apron joke you did… Thanks to all the great players like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, the great Dawn Staley, and my basketball hero: Maya Moore, these are the women that kicked in the door so I could walk inside. So, I want to thank them tonight for laying the foundation, and Michael, since you're such a big fan, I brought you a souvenir, it’s an apron signed by me.
For years, critics of the pay gap theory Mitchell cites have said that sports is entertainment, so if you want to see the discrepancy between male and female sports diminish, then you need a more entertaining product. They were smeared as sexists by people like Mitchell, but Clark proved them correct as this year saw the NCAA women’s championship game get higher viewership than the men’s for the first time.
Here is a transcript for the April 16 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
4/16/2024
12:54 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Caitlin Clark's record-breaking streak continues with what could be the most watched WNBA Draft ever. Clark was the number one pick, of course, last night, scoring her place with the Indiana Fever. Clark stands to make millions from endorsements, but fans are outraged over the massive gender pay gap in her salary. Clark will reportedly earn, get this, $76,000 for her rookie season. Compare that to the $12 million, million dollars, last year's number one NBA draft pick made in his rookie year. That gender inequality and the sexism facing women's sports is a big focus on Saturday Night Live.
MICHAEL CHE: The University of Iowa announced that basketball star Caitlin Clark will have her jersey retired and replaced with an apron. Oh… Here to comment is Caitlin Clark…I am a fan, Caitlin, by the way.
CAITLIN CLARK: Really, Michael? Because I heard that little apron joke you did… Thanks to all the great players like Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, the great Dawn Staley, and my basketball hero: Maya Moore, these are the women that kicked in the door so I could walk inside. So, I want to thank them tonight for laying the foundation, and Michael, since you're such a big fan, I brought you a souvenir, it’s an apron signed by me.
MITCHELL: Caitlin Clark making her Indiana Fever debut in just a few weeks when the WNBA season tips off. That was one of the great SNLs ever, the whole show.
