Maybe ISU can get a couple Russian mail order players? If brides are available, players have to be also.The fascinating part of that situation with pay in Russia is the demand creating that salary is certainly not from a natural market or these Russian women’s basketball pro teams would be widely followed. I doubt it’s full blown Saudi/LIV level (probably some of that going on) but at the very least it’s wealthy oligarchs who probably don’t care about turning a profit.
In the US if the demand is real, and the league is profitable for the first time, the players union will get them paid at a higher rate sooner rather than later.