Are Women Now Better at Basketball Than Men? Capitalism Says Yes

Satirical Opinion by Jason Salmon, Odd News Show

Being told you play like a girl was always a staple of male trash talk. If that feels offensive, remember that most of the other taunts we heard are not even close to being suitable to print. But in the secondhand ticket market at this year’s March Madness, getting told you Pay like a girl is another way to say things are pretty good. That’s because the average price for a ticket to the NCAA women’s Final Four is now selling for double the price of tickets to the men’s games.

There is a litany of reasons this is the case, but we know that most of us don’t appreciate a nuanced exploration of the variables involved in this phenomenon. We don’t even really like the people who present us with that option – we certainly don’t invite them to parties. Just because they’re better than us doesn’t give them the right to think so. So instead, let’s decide this the same way basketball games are decided on a court, and decisions that most affect our lives are decided in Congress – let’s count something. Whoever has the most wins – a little old-fashioned, untethered-by-context capitalism.  If we can count it, we can understand it. If we can touch it – even better.

When comparing the best women’s player, Caitlin Clark of Iowa, to the best men’s player, whose name and team I do not know, it’s an easy 1-0 victory for the women. Same with followers on social media – I know she has some, and I still do not know who he is. Women win again. And again the average price for the women’s semifinals is $1,131.78, compared with an average ticket price for the men’s semifinals of $993.70. A ticket to the women’s championship game on Sunday was selling for an average of $1,110.63 this week. The average ticket to the men’s title game on Monday was selling for $646.45.

I’ve lived in this country long enough to know that winning games is great, and winning the money game makes you a better person at whatever you do.

Are women’s college basketball players better than the men? My B-average in economics says yes.