‘Absolutely Brilliant’: EJ Haust Praises Clay Travis’ WNBA $10 Million ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Proposal

Kaitlin Housler
Caitlin Clark

EJ Haust, official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, praised OutKick founder Clay Travis’ $10 million challenge to the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, calling the proposal “absolutely brilliant” during Tuesday’s broadcast while arguing it would test claims about the competitiveness of women’s professional basketball.

On Monday, Travis announced on X that he was increasing his standing offer to stage a game between the Las Vegas Aces and a boys’ high school state championship basketball team.

“Important announcement: I am upping my offer, $10 million dollars for a head-to-head basketball game between the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces and a boy’s high school state title team of my choice. If the Aces beat my team, I will give them $10 million,” Travis wrote.

He later added that if the boys won, they would receive the same prize.

“If the boys win, I will give them $10 million to distribute as they see fit to their team members. Game on pay-per-view with all profits donated to Tunnel 2 Towers to provide mortgage free homes to families of deceased soldiers, police & first responders,” Travis wrote.

Travis also described the contest as “the most money ever paid to win a single basketball game,” calling it “a modern day battle of the sexes” and later confirmed he would make the same offer to a WNBA All-Star team.

In another post, Travis said, “High school boys teams across the country are reaching out wanting to play the WNBA champ Las Vegas Aces. But the Aces are silent. Tells you everything. They know they would get smoked. But men should definitely be allowed to play in their league per coaches. Such a joke.”

Discussing the proposal, Haust said Travis’ challenge was both creative and effective.

“That’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. What a thing to do,” Haust said.

She added, “The fact that he is willing to put up, put his money where his mouth is speaks volumes. And I bet you he won’t be the only one after this.”

Before discussing Travis’ proposal, Haust and host Leahy talked about recent controversy involving Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and broader debate surrounding women’s sports.

“For listeners who don’t know kind of all the backstory, if you don’t pay attention to the WNBA, like most of the time I don’t, but I have this week, Sophie Cunningham plays for the Fever, Indiana Fever,” Haust said.

Haust referenced a recent game in which Cunningham was struck in the face by an opposing player.

“It was an assault,” Haust said. “These things have been happening, right? You hear about Caitlin Clark getting assaulted all the time.”

Haust also highlighted Cunningham’s recent remarks opposing biological males competing in women’s sports.

“Sophie Cunningham made a point prior to say that men don’t belong, biological males don’t belong in women’s sports. Of course everybody lost their ever-loving minds over it,” she said.

Haust said Clark should not be expected to serve as the public face of that issue.

“People are angry with Caitlin Clark ’cause she’s not taking a stand. She doesn’t have to take a stand. She doesn’t have to be our spokesperson. She’s just playing basketball,” Haust said. “You can’t force somebody to be your spokesperson. But Sophie Cunningham seems to be willing. She stepped up to do it.”

She also praised both Fever players.

“They’re both really flipping good at basketball,” Haust said. “As far as women’s basketball goes, not exactly my favorite sport, but they are athletes. They are good at what they do, and those two happen to be in the top. When you’re talking about the top players in the WNBA, they deserve to be on the list.”

Haust added that Clark has repeatedly been subjected to excessive physical play.

“It has been a difficult road for Caitlin Clark,” she said. “She got punched in the throat.”

Returning to Travis’ challenge, Haust argued the proposal addressed frequent complaints about WNBA salaries.

“My first thought when he started posting these things on social media was they complain about not getting paid enough all the time,” Haust said. “They are supplemented entirely by the NBA… So $10 million would go a long way to satisfying their thirst for more money and making a point, would it not?”

When Leahy questioned whether a boys’ high school state championship team would necessarily defeat the defending WNBA champions, Haust expressed no hesitation.

“I would,” she said when asked if she’d be confident the boys’ team would win. “Absolutely.”

Watch:

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Caitlin Clark” by John McClellan. CC BY-SA 4.0. 

 

 

 

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