WNBA Draft 2024 is an event that is expected by experts and fans, when superstar Caitlin Clark appears in the draft and is selected by Indiana Fever at the No. 1 position.
However, the WNBA Draft does not always have talented names, and not every player can survive in the world’s toughest tournament for female players. Changing the playing environment from college to professional is not easy. If not carefully prepared, even bright talents will be crushed by pressure from experts and fans.
Not only that, 12 teams participating in the WNBA mean that the number of players participating in the tournament will be greatly limited. Every year, many players come, but there will also be players who have to leave for many reasons.
In this article, The Sporting News will analyze why the WNBA has a huge elimination of team personnel each season.
Why does the WNBA have a large number of personnel eliminated each season?
WNBA has a total of 12 participating teams. Each team has 12 official playing spots, excluding contracts for training players and emergency replacements. Therefore, only 144 players will be able to participate in the world’s most prestigious tournament for female players.
However, this number may decrease depending on the team, due to salary budget limitations. In 2024, the WNBA offers a fixed salary fund for each team of 1,463,200 USD, an increase of 3% compared to last season. This is the maximum limit for football teams, except for exemptions when the team has too many injured players and needs to supplement personnel in a short time.
If a team gathers too many stars and receives a higher salary than the average, they will have to accept a reduction in the number of reserve players. In 2023, Las Vegas Aces builds a squad with 3 stars: A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray. For that reason, they often only play with 11 players on the registered list.
Because of the above limitations, the WNBA is also a tournament with an extremely large level of elimination. Looking back at the 2023 WNBA Draft, 6 out of 24 selected players had their contracts cut with the parent team. Of the 36 players selected, only 15 of them will appear in matches on the opening day of the 2023 WNBA season.
Even the elite players of previous WNBA Drafts are no exception. Charlie Collier, Pick 1 of the WNBA Draft 2021, only lasted 2 seasons, before his contract was released in the summer of 2022 and is currently playing in Israel. Emily Engstler, Pick 4 of the 2022 WNBA Draft, was liquidated by the Indiana Fever after 1 season and had to spend a short period playing in France, before returning to work as a reserve player at the Minnesota Lynx.
Any solution for WNBA?
Many players and experts at the WNBA have called for the tournament to increase the salary limit, as well as expand the list of players for each team, providing opportunities for female players to pursue their passion.
Besides, establishing more teams in the WNBA is also an effective solution. WNBA is expected to welcome its 13th team in 2025 in San Francisco. Some cities like Toronto or Portland are also planning to open women’s soccer teams to participate in the WNBA, but it’s all just on paper.
An increase in commercial and television contracts will also help the WNBA expand its payroll in the coming years. Currently, WNBA’s television rights are worth $60 million from Disney, Amazon Prime Video and Ion.
Until the above plans come true, female players will continue to face huge challenges in staying in the WNBA.
