Antonio Brown has called the WNBA a “lesbian charity” following his past attacks on Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
With the addition of Clark to the league, the WNBA has broken viewership records, although Brown has repeatedly targeted the former Iowa star.
And the former NFL receiver turned her attention back to the WNBA this week after a Washington Post report that the league and its teams were expected to lose $50 million this year.
“That’s why I find all the talk about the WNBA hilarious.” said in X. Nobody actually sees it. So when you argue about that, you’re not really arguing about a professional sport. It’s more of a charity for lesbians.
Brown has excessively focused on Clark online, to the point that the basketball star has blocked him on X.
Former NFL player Antonio Brown has once again taken aim at the WNBA, calling it a “charity”
Caitlin Clark has greatly helped bring attention to the W in her rookie season with the Fever.
In April, Brown claimed that Clark will undergo plastic surgery when she starts making more money through the WNBA.
He also posted a crude meme referring to Clark’s boyfriend, former Iowa player Connor McCaffery, before following up with a tweet seemingly addressing the outrage that read, “You can’t cancel if you already canceled.”
After that, he said Clark should play in the NBA instead of the women’s equivalent.
Despite additional looks from Clark and other high-profile rookies like Angel Reese and Cameron Brink, the league is evidently still not profitable in its 28th year.
However, the WNBA must renegotiate its television rights next year, and the league is looking to earn much more than the approximately $60 million it currently reportedly earns from television.
However, sixty percent of the league is owned by the NBA, which will negotiate any future deals for both.
Brown responded to a report that the WNBA is expected to lose $50 million this year.
Clark and her boyfriend were attacked by Brown during an earlier round of insults.
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal have reported that the next deal for both leagues will be more than $7 billion (the NBA currently receives $2.7 billion a year in television rights).
Attendance is also up for the W, as it announced this week that May’s attendance of more than 400,000 fans is the largest in 26 years.
On ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS, WNBA games also average 1.32 million viewers, which is nearly triple last season’s average mark of 462,200 viewers.
Of course, a lot of that is due to Clark, who averages 15.6 points per game for the Fever.
Merchandise sales also increased 236 percent from last season, with Clark, Reese and Brink making the top five.