Dave Portnoy blasts 'smaller brains' siding against WNBA players in CBA negotiations

As the temperature has been turned up in talks between the WNBA and the players over a new collective bargaining agreement, voices on all sides are chiming in. Including Barstool Sports head Dave Portnoy.

Portnoy blasted critics of the players, who are seeking a bigger piece of the pie from the WNBA going forward. In a nearly five-minute rant, the Barstool Sports personality questioned the credibility of anyone arguing against the players.

“I don’t know how anybody in the world with a brain, and maybe my brain is just bigger than most, can rationally say the women don’t deserve more money at this point. Caitlin Clark‘s rookie salary is $76,000. … It’s insane. And I know what people are going to say: ‘Well this league has lost money, it’s a charity league, the NBA subsidizes it, blah, blah, blah.’ This could have been true for the last 10 years or so. Fair. Fair argument.

“It’s not true now. The WNBA is exploding, exploding, by every single metric you look at: TV ratings, merch, revenue, ticket sales, you name it.”

WNBA rant for people with smaller brains than me. pic.twitter.com/biDNBX7JWA

— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 20, 2025

Players wore warmup shirts before the WNBA All-Star game this weekend that read “Pay Us What We Deserve.” Not so subtle, and it added considerable pressure on the league.

Current WNBA max salaries reach as high as $249,444 while the minimum is $66,000. That’s something players like Caitlin Clark are trying to change. And they have Portnoy’s full support.

He outlined the major reason he thinks the players deserve a bigger cut. Frankly, it’s just marketing, he said.

“This league is so white hot right now,” Portnoy said. “And I know everyone will say, ‘Well it’s only Caitlin Clark, it’s a one person league.’ Caitlin Clark was 100% the match that lit the fuse or the fire that lit the flame, you know, the straw that stirs the drink. That’s Caitlin. No doubt about it. But Caitlin’s not going anywhere. She’s Year 2 of a 15-year career. She loves the WNBA. She’s on the collective board, the bargaining table, so she’s not going anywhere.

“Plus Angel Reese, love her or hate her, huge star. It’s almost turned like Bird-Magic when they came into the NBA. Paige Bueckers, huge star. JuJu (Watkins) gonna be a huge star. The more these stars play, more up-and-coming stars you’re going to have.”

Portnoy also pointed to soaring valuations in the WNBA as a clear sign that the league is on the upswing. And in a collective bargaining agreement that needs to be taken into account.

“I don’t care about the old heads who talk and just want to get paid for tenure, basically. I don’t give a sh*t about that,” he said. “I’m talking about if you can sell out the Boston Garden, you can sell out these big venues, you have ratings going through the roof… the women’s Final Four beating the men’s Final Four in rankings. There is a ton of money to be made.

“They have some of the most marketable athletes right now in all sports in their sport, and they’re young. This league, that $250 million for a franchise, that’s going to be a billion dollars in 10 years. The franchise fee will be a billion dollars.”

Portnoy also pointed to that changing dynamic as a reason why players need to strike now, while the iron is hot. The negotiating leverage has flipped.

“I don’t care about the past. I don’t care what they’ve done for the past 10 years,” he said. “I’m talking about right now. I’m talking about all the sponsors who want to be part of this league, the TV deals they’re going to be able to sign. And the rookies are getting $75 grand? It’s insane.

“They’re not saying they want to be paid like NBA players, but they deserve more of the revenue. And why would they ever, in a million years, sign any deal that’s remotely similar to the past when they, for the first time in the history of the league, have all the power?”

The Barstool Sports head honcho then took issue with some of the key figures on the side of the WNBA. He pointed out there have been some missed opportunities over the last few years.

Still, the league is enjoying incredible success right now. And that means something.

“Again, is the commissioner dumb? Is the marketing people dumb? Are they dumb for trying to push people like me who runs a huge sports media company, like ‘We don’t want fans like you?'” Portnoy said. “Are all those people idiots? Yes. But despite themselves, they have a product that people are watching.

“It may not be for you, but this isn’t a handout. This isn’t like, ‘Oh we feel bad for women so let’s pay them.’ This is marketing and the ability to make money on this league. And right now it’s endless. If you don’t get that, you’re a moron. And all the people being like, ‘Oh, it’s a handout,’ first of all, side note, David Silver saying the league lost $50 million doesn’t make sense. Nobody knows what the real numbers are. It’s a private company, they don’t release them. It’s tied in with the NBA. And if you’re the owners of the NBA or you’re the league, you want to make it seem like this league is getting smooshed because you’re about to negotiate with them. You don’t want to talk about the upside because you don’t want to share the profit. That’s Owner 101. You want to keep it for yourselves.

“But besides that, what it did for the past 10 years doesn’t matter. We’re in a new age with new superstars, new players, new interests, and look around at how talked about this league is. The money is going to be flowing and the players deserve a part of it.”