The brands fill in the gaps
Showing the stark pay discrepancy between men’s and women’s basketball, the WNBA pays the winners of its All-Star 3-Point Contest and Skills Competition $2,575 apiece. That’s not even enough to pay the taxes on what NBA players make for their All-Star contests.
So heading into this year, Aflac CMO Gareth Knutson explained that his company, which is all about filling in gaps around medical insurance, stepped in to make a difference and fill another pay gap.
“These women—the union and the players—believe that they weren’t getting as much as they should, and we said we’ll give you a check,” Knutson said. “To me, the simplest ideas, when executed well, have the biggest impact.”
When New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud won this year’s competition, Aflac teamed with the WNBPA to add another $55,000 to the prize. After winning and hugging her teammate and partner, Isabelle Harrison, Cloud let the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis know how much that boost in prize money meant.
“This mama over here told me I better win today for a down payment on a house,” she told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “So baby, you’re going to get that house.”
Another of Cloud’s teammates, Sabrina Ionescu, won the 3-Point Contest and agreed to split the prize with fellow contestant and Washington Mystics rookie Sonia Citron. Instead of $2,725, however, Aflac lumped another $60,000 on top of it and sent each home with more than $31,000.
But the company’s support goes beyond monetary transactions.