Rep. Craig Takes to House Floor to Challenge WNBA Leadership and Call for Pay Raises for Female Athletes

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, following the WNBA All-Stars game this past weekend and ahead of the Minnesota Lynx-New York Liberty game, U.S. Representative Angie Craig took to the House floor to condemn the circumstances around the Lynx-Liberty series that cost the Lynx the 2024 WNBA championship title.

In her speech, Rep. Craig explained that last year, at the beginning of the series, she made a bet with fellow Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) that the Lynx would beat the Liberty. If the Lynx lost, Rep. Craig would don a Liberty jersey and formally congratulate the Liberty on the House floor. 

Today, Rep. Craig did no such thing. Instead, she highlighted the determination and grit that carried the Lynx through the playoffs and into the championship game against the Liberty, remarking, “The Minnesota Lynx clawed their way through the playoffs. They defied the odds. They outworked every team and every narrative.”

Refusing to accept the final call of the game – Alanna Smith’s so-called “foul” against Breanna Stewart – Rep. Craig took the opportunity to call out the WNBA’s clear bias toward the New York Liberty. “And in the final second of a championship game – on the biggest stage – they didn’t get outplayed,” she said. “They got erased.” 

“Let me just say it out loud: the WNBA wanted the Liberty to win,” Rep. Craig continued. “Big-market team. Superstar faces. A tidy storyline for the league office and league Commissioner who literally wore the New York City skyline on her dress that night. And Minnesota? We were the wrong script. Too gritty. Too real. Too inconvenient.” 

In closing, Rep. Craig took the opportunity to advocate for fair pay for female athletes in the WNBA.

“The league talks about fairness. The league talks about lifting women up,” Rep. Craig said. “Pay them what they deserve if you want to lift women up in the WNBA.” 

You can watch Rep. Craig’s full remarks on the House floor here.

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