What the WNBA and WNBPA’s new CBA means for the future of the sport

After more than 500 days of uncertainty following the WNBA players’ opt-out of the 2020 CBA, the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) reached a verbal agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.

The much-anticipated breakthrough capped an intense stretch of in-person negotiations in midtown Manhattan, which spanned over eight days and 100 hours.

After moments of impasse and frustration in recent months, the marathon talks ended on a celebratory note, with hugs and a champagne toast in a conference room inside The Langham Hotel before 3 a.m.

“This deal is going to be transformational,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart said moments after the celebration. “And you’ll see all the details, hopefully soon, but it’s going to build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects. And just excited that we can tell our fans that we’re going to be back.”

Transformational has become a common buzzword, not just from Stewart and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, but one that commissioner Cathy Engelbert has used as well.

But what exactly does this mean? With the agreement still being formalized and pending approval by the player body and WNBA board of governors, does it truly deliver on that promise?

Let’s begin with revenue sharing and salary. One of the top goals that the WNBPA had going into these negotiations was that players wanted to be earning money alongside the growth of the league. Players wanted to benefit in a more meaningful way from massive jumps in league and team revenue that have come as a result of elevated play, uber-famous young talent trickling into the league that benefited from NIL money and sponsorships, and over $200 million in media rights money that will begin trickling in this season.

When the WNBA hit an inflection point in 2024 as a result of superstars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese entering the league and some of the most competitive basketball the league has seen (i.e. the five game 2024 WNBA Finals between the Lynx and the Liberty), players were frustrated that their earnings didn’t reflect those massive jumps in revenue.

Previously, players would earn a fixed salary under a salary cap in addition to merit bonuses for awards won and marketing money. Players could only earn more via revenue sharing if the league hit certain revenue targets. ESPN reported in February that the league hit those targets and as a result the 13 teams that played in 2025 will receive a total of $8 million from the league to distribute among its players.

Under the terms of the new CBA agreement, players will be in a revenue share model each year without needing to hit a trigger threshold, reportedly earning an average of 20 percent of league revenue across the length of the deal. According to Front Office Sports, the agreement spans seven years with an opt-out after the sixth year.

While it isn’t clear what type of revenue sharing system both the WNBA and WNBPA agreed upon –– a major part of the disagreements throughout the negotiations were based on philosophical differences between gross and net revenue sharing models –– WNBA players earning more than a base salary and merit bonuses every year from the league is a major development.

The new deal will also introduce a higher tier of player salaries than the league has ever offered. These higher salaries will impact all levels, ranging from superstars to role players and those on their rookie scale contracts.

• Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the highest earners will have a super max salary up to $1.4 million (A whopping 461 percent increase from the previous super-max deal). After 30 years, the WNBA will finally have it’s first million-dollar players.
• New average salary for WNBA player: $600,000 (400 percent increase from $120,000 figure in 2025)
• Minimum salary for a full-year contract: $300,000 (354 percent increase from $66,079 figure in 2025)

The salary cap for each team will reportedly begin at $7 million in year one of the deal and rise to $10 million by the end of the agreement. To put this into context, the 2025 salary cap was $1.5 million and so the salary cap will increase year-over-year from 2025 to 2026 by around over 366 percent.

Besides revenue sharing and salary, another detail that will be beyond impactful for players and teams in the WNBA will be the implementation of the two developmental players on rosters in addition to 12 players on each roster. WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson confirmed reports about that becoming a reality early Wednesday morning.

“This leadership team stood in the shoes of one through 12 plus two and took their experiences all into account,” Jackson said.

That was a direct reference to the developmental players which will not only allow teams to develop talent while contending, but also will be able to be activated when players on the 12-person roster deal with injury. While this doesn’t necessarily mean the death of hardship contracts, it is reasonable to expect that they will be used less often during the 2026 season.

WNBA teams also will have the option to have replacement players in-house. This allows for more continuity, as in theory they could learn a team’s system in the beginning of training camp instead of coming off the street and be expected to play with limited time to learn a team’s playbook.

When it comes to other elements of the deal that are expected to be lauded as transformational, Ogwumike referenced in a statement other items including standardized amenities, facilities and staffing across all teams, and expanded resources for family planning.

“It redefines what it means to be a professional in this league,” said Ogwumike.

To put all of this into further context, it’s worth understanding what the players earned in the league’s first year and how far they have come. Former Liberty forward Sue Wicks addressed the topic during a recent conversation with Greydy Diaz on The Footprint Series.

“My first contract was $35,000,” said Wicks, who played in the league from 1997 to 2002 and was best known as the first active WNBA player to come out. “I was a high draft pick for the Liberty that year. I think I had players on my team honestly maybe [making] $15,000 for the season.”

According to Wicks, her generation was one that didn’t really push for what they were worth.

“My generation was like ‘Oh my gosh we’re so happy to be here, thank you.’”

Over twenty years later, the modern day WNBA player isn’t just happy to be in the league anymore. The modern day WNBA player and its union pushed the league to ensure that players are going to make livable wages without the need to play overseas in sometimes war-torn countries like Russia.

Alysha Clark, a vice president of the WNBPA and a three-time WNBA champion, has played in the league for over 13 seasons. She began her WNBA career getting waived her first two years despite being drafted 17th overall and fifth in the second round. She’s been a journeywoman who stuck in the league and will go down in league history as one of the better role players.

Clark got emotional on Wednesday morning both in the room where the deal happened but then also in front of reporters. Happy tears flowed down her face.

Clark thought about how players like her are going to be able to live a vastly different life than she did, which also included countless seasons overseas in countries like Israel, Poland, France and Turkey.

“What we just accomplished is going to change the lives of so many players,” Clark said. “And speaking from experience…players like me are going to be the ones that I think feel it the most, and that’s what I think we’re all super proud of, because that’s what we set out from the beginning, was making sure every player felt the change in the CBA, and that’s exactly what has happened.”

Ogwumike, who wore a white long sleeve t-shirt that read “Girls Who Play Sports Become Women Who Lead” on that final day of in-person negotiations, reflected upon what excites her most about this new deal. While the salary numbers and revenue share are major accomplishments, she’s most proud of how the contents of the new CBA will change overarching perceptions about the WNBA. No longer will college players have inferior player experiences when they become WNBA pros.

“I’m really excited about players coming into this league for the first time, and not having a sense of lack,” she said. “I really am excited about that, and knowing that it will just continue to grow, because that’s what we’ve negotiated for ourselves, who are in this league, and for those who are going to follow us.”