WNBA Reaches New Collective Bargaining Agreement with Salary Increases

At approximately 2 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, after nearly 18 months of grueling negotiations that at times threatened to delay the league's 30th season, the WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association reached a verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement [1][2]. The deal is, by every meaningful measure, the most transformative economic agreement in the history of women's professional sports—one that will quintuple average salaries, introduce revenue sharing for the first time, and create a path for the league's biggest stars to earn $1.4 million per season.

But behind the landmark numbers lies a more complex story: a league that has never publicly demonstrated consistent profitability, an ownership structure that makes its true finances nearly impossible to audit, and a bet that explosive growth in media revenue and franchise valuations will outpace the hundreds of millions in new player compensation commitments.

The Numbers: From $66,000 to $600,000

The headline figures are staggering when measured against what WNBA players earned under the previous CBA, which was signed in 2020 [3][4].

Salary cap: $7 million in 2026, up from $1.5 million in 2025—a 367% increase. The cap is projected to exceed $10 million by the deal's final year [5].

Supermax salary: $1.4 million, up from $249,244—a 462% increase [4][6].

Average salary: Approximately $600,000, up from roughly $120,000–$125,000—nearly a fivefold increase [3][4].

Minimum salary: Above $300,000, up from $66,079—a 354% increase [3][4].

For specific players, the impact is immediate and dramatic. Caitlin Clark's updated rookie contract will jump to approximately $400,000 in 2026 [7]. Cameron Brink goes from $85,000 to roughly $390,000. Angel Reese jumps from $81,000 to $390,000. Incoming rookie Paige Bueckers will start at approximately $410,000 [7].

Source: ESPN / CBS Sports / Swish Appeal

Data as of Mar 19, 2026CSV

The Supermax: Who Qualifies and How

The new CBA introduces a tiered max salary system similar to the NBA's structure. A standard maximum contract is set at roughly 17.5% of the salary cap, while the supermax—reserved for the league's elite—sits at approximately 20% of the cap [8].

The qualifying criteria for the supermax represent a key innovation: players on the fourth year of their rookie contracts can sign a supermax extension if they won MVP during their rookie deal years. Players who earned first- or second-team All-WNBA selections become eligible for the standard max contract extension [6][9].

Two players are virtually guaranteed to land supermax deals immediately: A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, a three-time MVP and the league's reigning dominant force, and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, a two-time Finals MVP [6][9]. The Aces signaled their intent to offer Wilson the $1.4 million supermax as soon as the deal was announced [4].

Caitlin Clark, despite her outsized cultural impact, does not yet qualify for the supermax—she becomes eligible in 2027, when she enters the fourth year of her rookie contract [7]. The accelerated timeline, however, means that the league's most marketable player could be earning supermax money well before she turns 25.

Revenue Sharing: 20% Is Not 50%

Perhaps the most consequential structural change is the introduction of revenue sharing. Under the previous CBA, players received approximately 9.3% of league revenue. The new deal raises that to an average of 20% of gross team and league revenue across the seven-year term [1][3][10].

That 20% figure was hard-fought. The WNBPA initially sought 40% of revenue, later reduced their ask to 30%, then 26%, before settling at the final number [4]. The league argued that higher percentages would produce unsustainable losses [11].

For context, the contrast with other major professional sports leagues is stark. NBA players receive approximately 50% of basketball-related income. NFL players get roughly 48% of league revenue. MLB players receive approximately 45%. Even MLS, the youngest of the traditional major leagues, shares closer to 25% with its players [3][10].

The WNBA's 20% figure has drawn criticism from those who note it remains far below the standard in men's professional sports. But defenders of the deal argue it represents a realistic starting point for a league still building its revenue base—and that the absolute dollar amounts matter more to players than the percentage [3].

The WNBA vs. the NBA: A Sobering Comparison

The salary gulf between the WNBA and NBA remains vast even after this historic agreement. The WNBA's new $1.4 million supermax is less than what an NBA rookie minimum salary pays—NBA rookies selected late in the first round earned approximately $2.1 million in the 2024–25 season. The NBA's supermax contracts can exceed $60 million annually [10].

But comparing raw dollars obscures important context. The NBA generated approximately $13 billion in revenue in the 2024–25 season. The WNBA's total revenue, while growing rapidly, is estimated to be in the range of $300–$400 million when accounting for the new media deal [5][11]. Per dollar of revenue generated, the WNBA's commitment to player salaries is significant—and it's structured to grow as the business grows.

The Money Pipeline: Where Do These Salaries Come From?

The financial architecture supporting the new CBA rests on several pillars, some solid and some still under construction.

Media rights: The WNBA's 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal, which begins in 2026, is worth approximately $2.2 billion total—roughly $200 million per year. This represents a massive leap from the previous $60 million annual deal [5][11].

Expansion fees: The league has collected nearly $1 billion in expansion fees since late 2023. Portland paid $75 million; the San Francisco Valkyries and Toronto Tempo each paid $50 million; and Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia will each pay $250 million [11]. Critically, the WNBA does not count expansion fees as league revenue in its financial reporting—a significant accounting distinction that inflates reported losses [11].

Sponsorship and ticketing: The 2024 and 2025 seasons saw record-breaking attendance driven by the arrival of Clark, Reese, and other marquee rookies. Sponsorship revenue has grown correspondingly, though exact figures remain private.

NBA support: The NBA's financial relationship with the WNBA remains opaque. NBA owners control 42% of the WNBA, with WNBA owners holding another 42% and outside investors 16% [11]. The intertwined ownership structure means that resources, infrastructure, and administrative costs flow between the leagues in ways that resist simple categorization.

Source: GDELT Project

Data as of Mar 19, 2026CSV

The Profitability Question

The WNBA has operated at reported losses for most of its 28-year existence. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2018 that the league had lost a cumulative $210 million [11]. In 2024, the Washington Post reported an expected $50 million annual loss [11]. During CBA negotiations, the league argued that the union's higher salary proposals would result in losses of "hundreds of millions of dollars" [11].

But the union and independent economists have challenged these figures. Stanford economist Roger Noll has stated that the WNBA's "convoluted ownership structure" makes team income statements "meaningless" [11]. Administrative costs can be allocated flexibly between the NBA and WNBA. Bonus structures available to private companies can shift reported profits. And the nearly $1 billion in expansion fees—pure income—is excluded from revenue calculations.

A telling data point emerged during negotiations: revenue sharing was triggered for the first time in WNBA history in 2025, with $8 million distributed to players [12]. This mechanism only activates when league revenues exceed certain thresholds, suggesting the financial picture may be rosier than ownership has publicly acknowledged.

The new CBA appears designed around a break-even scenario at the 20% revenue share level [4]. If the league's revenue growth continues on its current trajectory—driven by the new media deal, expansion, and rising attendance—the math works. If growth stalls, the league may need to lean on its NBA relationship or renegotiate.

The Overseas Question

For years, the gap between WNBA salaries and overseas pay drove many of the league's best players to compete year-round, playing in Russia, Turkey, China, and other countries during the WNBA offseason [13][14].

Under the previous CBA, a WNBA starter earning $200,000–$250,000 could earn $500,000 to $1.5 million for a four-month stint in Russia's Premier League. Turkish clubs typically offered $350,000–$400,000. Chinese teams paid $50,000–$200,000 per month for short-term commitments [13][14].

The new salary structure narrows but does not close that gap. A player earning the $1.4 million supermax has less financial incentive to spend her offseason abroad, risking injury and fatigue. But a player earning the $300,000 minimum may still find overseas money attractive—particularly in Turkey and China, where salaries remain competitive with the new WNBA floor [13].

The trend of top players skipping overseas play was already accelerating before this CBA. Brittney Griner's harrowing detention in Russia in 2022 made the risks of international play viscerally real [14]. With domestic salaries now approaching or exceeding overseas offers for many players, the era of the WNBA as a "side job" may finally be ending for the league's upper tier—though not for all.

Beyond the Paycheck: Non-Salary Benefits

The CBA's impact extends well beyond base compensation [1][15][16].

Travel: Players will travel by charter flights—a long-sought demand that eliminates the indignity of commercial travel that had become a symbol of the league's underinvestment.

Housing: Teams must provide housing for all players through most of the CBA term. In later years, housing assistance remains mandatory for players earning less than 75% of the maximum salary [4].

Family planning: The deal includes up to $60,000 in reimbursement for adoption, surrogacy, oocyte cryopreservation, or fertility treatment for veteran players. Players receive full salary during maternity leave, an annual $5,000 childcare stipend, and guaranteed two-bedroom apartments for players with children [15][16].

Roster structure: Teams will carry a seventh guaranteed contract (up from six) and two developmental players per team with stipend-plus-per-game payment structures [8].

Core designation: Teams may use the core designation—the WNBA's version of a franchise tag—on players with six or fewer years of service starting in 2027, limited to one player per team, with a maximum of two uses per player career [4].

What Happens Next

The verbal agreement must still be formalized into a term sheet, ratified by the players, and approved by the WNBA's board of governors [1][2]. The deal is seven years in length with an opt-out after the sixth year [1][3].

The 2026 season will proceed on schedule: training camp opens April 19, preseason begins April 25, and the regular season tips off May 8 [1]. The resolution averts what had been a genuine threat of a delayed or shortened season, with some observers speculating about a potential lockout as negotiations dragged into March.

The Bigger Picture

This CBA is not merely a labor agreement—it is a statement about the value of women's professional athletics. When the WNBA was founded in 1996, the question was whether a women's basketball league could survive at all. Three decades later, the question has shifted to whether the business model can support compensation that approaches professional standards.

The answer, for now, is a qualified yes. The new deal makes WNBA careers genuinely viable as a primary income source. It creates generational wealth opportunities for the league's biggest stars. And it establishes a revenue-sharing framework that, if revenues grow as projected, will continue to lift compensation over the deal's seven-year term.

But the 20% revenue share—compared to 50% in the NBA—remains a reminder of how far the gap extends. The league's financial opacity makes it impossible to fully assess whether players are getting a fair share or whether ownership is capturing disproportionate value from a business that is, by most evidence, growing rapidly.

The WNBA has made a historic bet. The next seven years will determine whether the league's revenue growth can match the ambition of its commitments—and whether this CBA becomes a floor for future negotiations or a ceiling that proves hard to surpass.