The WNBA and its players' union reached a verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday morning, ending a labor standoff that had lasted over a year and threatened to delay the league's 30th season. The numbers that came out of the deal are transformational by any reasonable measure compared to what professional women's basketball has previously offered its players.
The salary cap will jump from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million in 2026 — a 364% increase in a single year. The supermax contract rises from $249,000 to $1.4 million. The average salary will be approximately $600,000, up from $120,000. Minimum salaries for experienced players will range from $270,000 to $300,000, up from $66,000. For context: the minimum salary in 2026 will exceed what a supermax player made last year. The seven-year deal also includes revenue sharing averaging nearly 20% of league revenue — the first time WNBA players have had a meaningful claim on the value they generate.
Beyond the 2026 numbers, the CBA creates a pathway to significant season expansion. The agreement allows the schedule to grow from the current 44 games to 50, and eventually 52 games over the life of the deal. That expansion matters both for player compensation — more games, more media exposure, more revenue — and for the long-term viability of the league's $2.2 billion broadcast deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon.
The deal was announced just after 3 a.m. Wednesday, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike both visibly exhausted and celebrating in the same room.
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