Silver promises salary increase in the WNBA, but the debate is the model

Salary Increase for WNBA Players in the New Collective Bargaining Agreement

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that WNBA players will receive a “significant increase” in their salaries as part of the new collective bargaining agreement. Silver suggested that salary growth should be measured in “absolute figures” rather than the proportion of revenue.

I think the proportion is not the right way to look at it because there is much more revenue in the NBA. I think you should look at the absolute figures in terms of what they are earning. They are going to get a big raise in this collective bargaining cycle and they deserve it.

Adam Silver

The WNBPA opted not to renew the current collective bargaining agreement a year ago and has been negotiating a new one since then. The current agreement will expire in less than two weeks, on October 31.

The WNBPA shared a video of Silver’s comments in an Instagram story, with the caption “Don’t want to share?” and tagging Silver.

According to the players, a major point of disagreement in the negotiations has been how salaries should be determined amid the league’s growth. The players are seeking a system similar to that of the NBA, where the percentage of revenue allocated to salaries increases with business. The league’s proposals, on the other hand, have presented a salary cap that increases at a fixed rate over time, as in the current agreement, where the cap increases by 3% annually. Satou Sabally of the Phoenix Mercury commented that a recent proposal from the league makes the players feel that “we are not part of the league’s growth.”

If we were to continue with this agreement, we would decrease, in percentage, our compensation.

Satou Sabally

The league’s salary cap was $1,507,100 in 2025, with a maximum of $249,244 and a minimum of $66,079. The WNBA has experienced record growth in the last two years, with an increase in attendance, viewership, merchandise sales, investment, and franchise valuations, in addition to a new media deal worth $2.2 billion. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert emphasized the importance of “balancing” the increase in players’ salaries with the “long-term viability of the league.”

We are trying to determine where that right balance is. I think we all agree that we are trying to return every dollar we can to the players, but we also want to incentivize the owners’ investment. We want the owners to have a viable business. Obviously, we are considering expansion to 18 teams by the end of the decade. Therefore, it is important that the incoming owners have the opportunity to have a viable economic model for the future.

Cathy Engelbert

If the two parties do not reach an agreement before Halloween, they could agree on an extension to continue negotiating, as they did for the last agreement that was signed in January 2020. A new collective bargaining agreement must be completed before an expansion draft is held for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire teams, and it must also precede a free agency period where most veteran league players are unrestricted free agents.