Sophie Cunningham calls out 'haters' in defense of WNBA rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark

Those in the WNBA who dislike Caitlin Clark or are jealous of her success are not in the league for the right reasons according to Sophie Cunningham, who defended her new teammate

The WNBA continues to grow year-on-year, but attendance figures, TV ratings, and league revenue surged in 2024 thanks to a stacked rookie class including Caitlin Clark.

In 2024, the WNBA generated $200 million and enhanced ratings and exposure helped the league land an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal. Across ESPN platforms, viewership was up 170 percent compared to the previous year, as Clark's stardom followed her into the WNBA.

It wasn't just Clark that was of interest, as Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso and Aaliyah Edwards were also under the spotlight. It's been speculated that some WNBA veterans may envy the new generation of stars during a transitional period in women's sports, but new Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has called out any potential haters.

While the WNBA is a grossing league that was climbing before Clark and Reese entered as major college stars, TV ratings and attendance figures don't lie. ESPN broadcast the most-watched game of the WNBA regular season in 2024, which was when Clark's Fever faced Reese's Chicago Sky on June 23 - averaging 2.3 million viewers.

Clark and Reese may be on rookie contracts and both earn an average of $80,000 per year, but their popularity has led to huge endorsement and sponsorship deals off the court. While this isn't uncommon for WNBA stars, Sportico reported that Clark earned $11 million in 2024 through NIL and her professional brand partnerships.

With each passing year, the WNBA is improving for each rookie class and financial incentives are also set to spike once a new collective bargaining agreement is in place for 2026. For Cunningham, who is set to play with Clark next season, she believes that anyone expressing negativity towards her or other new stars can't be in the WNBA for the right reasons.

In an interview with Mirror U.S. Sports during a watch party for March Madness with Quest Nutrition, Cunningham said: "I think maybe at first people were not understanding why they were getting the attention or the money. But for me, I'm like, 'Heck yeah!' Like, this is what we've always wanted.

"They've had trailblazers before them and I think that they've given them their flowers, and they've paid their respects because they're only here because of them. Again, this is what we've always wanted. We wanted this attention, this platform, and now this rookie class because of the amount of eyes, especially the college game has, and they brought it into the W.

"I just think that if you are kind of being a hater or you're jealous, that you're not in it for the right reason. You're not actually empowering these young athletes and women in sport.

"For me, I think it's been awesome. I think the more the merrier, I think if they're winning, we're all winning. At the end of the day, you're playing basketball for a living. And so you can't be that ungrateful."

WNBA players have been campaigning for more respect, recognition, and pay for years, and Cunningham believes that it's wrong to target individuals when their goals are finally coming to fruition. That being said, Cunningham is pushing for a fairer distribution of wealth as WNBA players are all in agreement over the current salary dispute.

The current CBA was agreed in 2020, meaning that current player salaries don't align with the 500+ percent growth that the WNBA has experienced. "So I'm actually a part of our players' association," Cunningham told Mirror U.S. Sports. "We've been having these conversations for quite some time.

"Yes, the sooner the better that we could opt out and get everyone on board and why it's important. I think everyone's in agreement. I think you're going to see a lot of great changes. There's always a chance of a lockout, but I also think that where we're at in the W right now, they can't afford that.

"Like we are some of the hottest teams in the whole world right now. You have so many eyes on us, our league is just skyrocketing, and now it's time for our league and other companies to up their ante a little bit too, and support and put their money where their mouth is."