WNBA: Salaries on the rise, but at what cost? Key debate in the CBA

Salary Increase for WNBA Players: An Analysis of the Negotiations

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed that WNBA players will receive a “significant increase” in their salaries as part of the new collective bargaining agreement. However, Silver emphasized the importance of considering the “absolute numbers” as a measure of salary growth, 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 numbers 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 current collective bargaining agreement will expire on October 31st. The WNBPA opted not to renew the current agreement a year ago and has been negotiating a new one since then. The WNBPA shared a clip of Silver’s comments on an Instagram story, with the phrase “I think proportion is not the right way to look at it” repeated in a loop, along with the text “Don’t they want to share?” and a tag to Silver. One of the main obstacles in the negotiations, according to the players, lies in the different perspectives on how salaries should be determined amid the league’s notable growth.

The players are seeking a system similar to that of the NBA, where the percentage of revenue allocated to salaries increases with the growth of the business. In the NBA, the salary cap is determined by basketball-related income (BRI), with approximately half of that amount going to the players, as established in their collective bargaining agreement.

On the other hand, the league’s proposals 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 stated during the WNBA Finals 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 collective bargaining agreement, we would decrease, in percentage terms, our compensation.

Satou Sabally

The league’s salary cap in 2025 was $1,507,100, 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 $2.2 billion media deal on the way. When asked during the Finals about the points of disagreement between the players and the owners in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert highlighted the importance of “balancing” the increase in player salaries with the “long-term viability of the league”.

That’s what we’re trying to determine, where that right balance is. I think we all agree that we’re 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. So it’s important that incoming owners have the opportunity for a viable economic model for the future.

Cathy Engelbert

If the two parties do not reach an agreement before Halloween, they could agree to an extension that allows them to continue negotiating, as they did for the last collective bargaining agreement that was finally 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.