WNBA Salaries: Silver promises increase, but the debate is about the percentage

Salary Increase in the WNBA: Perspectives and Challenges

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that WNBA players will receive a “significant salary increase” in the new collective bargaining agreement. Silver emphasized that the evaluation of growth should be based on “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, with the current agreement expiring on October 31.

The WNBPA shared a snippet of Silver’s comments in an Instagram story, with the phrase “I don’t think proportion is the right way to look at it” repeated in a loop and the caption: “Don’t they want to share?”, tagging Silver.

A crucial point in the negotiations, according to the players, lies in the different perspectives on how salaries should be determined at a time of notable growth for the league. The players are seeking a system similar to that of the NBA, where the percentage of revenue allocated to salaries increases with the business. In the NBA, the salary cap is determined by basketball-related income (BRI), with players receiving approximately half of that figure, as established in their collective bargaining agreement. In contrast, the league’s proposals have presented a salary cap that increases at a fixed rate over time, as in the current collective bargaining 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 agreement, we would decrease, in percentage terms, 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. When asked during the Finals about the points of disagreement between the players and the owners in the collective bargaining 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 possible to the players, but we also want to incentivize the owners’ investment. We want the owners to have a viable business. Obviously, we’re considering expansion to 18 teams by the end of the decade. So it’s important that those incoming owners have the opportunity for a viable economic model for the future.

Cathy Engelbert

If the two sides 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 agreement that was finally signed in January 2020. A new collective bargaining agreement must be reached 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.