ABSTRACT: Objective: To identify transcript level differences between traumatic and degenerative tears of subacromial bursal tissues in shoulder joint using RNA-seq. Methods: Bursal tissues were collected from female and male patients with traumatic or degenerative tears during arthroscopic surgery (N=32). Differentially expressed transcript between traumatic and degenerative tears were detected by RNA-seq and biological processes were identified computationally. RNA-seq results were selectively validated by real-time qPCR. Results: We identified 334 protein-coding transcripts differentially expressed between traumatic and degenerative tears in females and 167 in males at a fold-change greater than |2| and a P < 0.05. In females, XIRP2, MYL1, MYBPC1, TNNT1, and LMOD2, were the highly expressed in traumatic tears and TPSD1, CDSN, RCVRN, LTBP4, and PTGS1 were prominently repressed in traumatic tears. Transcripts elevated in traumatic tears represented muscle cell differentiation and development, and muscle contraction whereas those elevated in degenerative tears represented cell activation, neutrophil granulation, immune response, and protein transport. In males, AZGP1, CNTFR, COL9A1, ZNF98 and EREG were highly elevated in traumatic tears whereas MYL2, HOXD11, SLC6A7, CADM1, and MMP17 were most highly repressed in traumatic tears. Transcripts elevated in traumatic tears represented metabolic processes, catabolic processes, and transmembrane protein transport while processes related to cell cycle were mainly repressed in traumatic tears. We also identified a number of novel lncRNAs differentially expressed between traumatic and degenerative tears in both females and males. Conclusions: This study increases our molecular understanding of bursal tissues in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy based on the nature of disease that is trauma or degeneration. These finding also provide new insights into sex-based transcript differences that could inform clinical decision making in treating patients with traumatic and degenerative shoulder injuries.