Will WNBA Players Get the Pay They Deserve?
It’s time for a new era of WNBA basketball, where its players are compensated for their talents. As the unrivaled league inaugural season comes to a close and the WNBA season approaches, CBA negotiations are looming. In October 2024, the Women's National Basketball Players Association, also known as the WNBPA, announced its intention to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement at the end of the 2025 season. That gives the WNBPA and the WNBA until Oct. 31, 2025 to come to terms on a new CBA. The WNBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement is a critical document that outlines the terms and conditions of employment for players in the league. The current CBA was agreed upon in 2020 when the landscape of the league's popularity was much different than now. It brought significant advancements, including increased salaries, better travel accommodations, and enhanced maternity benefits. However, since the WNBPA has opted out of this agreement, which was set to expire in 2027, the push for further improvements is coming shortly.
During an interview, Minnesota Lynx star, Napheesa Collier said that the WNBA is communicating with one another about the possibility of a lockout. She also said that the collective is prepared to sit out the 2026 season if their needs aren’t satisfied. On her podcast released March 7th, “Unapologetically Angel,” Chicago Sky star Angel Reese had 2024 Most Improved Player DiJonai Carrington, now a member of the Dallas Wings. The two hinted at the possibility of players holding out until their demands are met. "I got to get in the meetings, because I'm hearing, if y'all don't give us what we want, we sitting out," Reese said. "That's a possibility, for real," Carrington responded. Further showing the amount of urgency there is to improve the league’s compensation to its players.
Women’s basketball has been pushed more to the forefront of the media. This is thanks to stars like Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and many more. While WNBA players have seen some benefits, such as charter flights, their salaries remain low, due to how the revenue is shared. In 2025, the minimum salary for a veteran with three-plus years of service is $78,831, while a regular max contract is $214,466 and a supermax, the most a player can possibly make, is $249,244. In the NBA, players receive about a fifty percent cut of all basketball related income, but in the WNBA the players only get ten percent, per former All-Star Chiney Ogwumike. Further in Collier’s interview with “We Need to Talk Now,” she made it clear that players are not looking to make NBA type of money but instead desire the kind of revenue sharing that the NBA gives.
"We're not asking for the same salaries as the men, we're asking for the same revenue shares," Collier said. "That's where the big difference is. We get such a small percentage of revenue share right now that affects our salary. We're asking for a bigger cut of that, like more equitable to what the men's revenue share is. It wouldn't get us anywhere close to their salaries, we're not asking for the same salaries, we're asking for the same cut of the pie of what is made in our league." A full season will be played until everything is determined for the WNBA. This upcoming season will truly determine how the league will make things right for its players. However, it looks hopeful that the players will be getting their return of investment for the sacrifices they’ve made.
