It's Official: New WNBA CBA Ratified After Players Vote Yes
It’s Official: New WNBA CBA Cemented After Players Unanimously Vote Yes
As March is Women’s History Month, the women of the WNBA picked a great time to add to it. By agreeing to the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement last week, they increased salaries across the board more than any sports league has ever done – men’s or women’s.
On Monday (March 23) the agreement, which took over 17 months and multiple days of in-person marathon negotiating sessions, was ratified by 90% of the league’s 112 players. Now it goes to the WNBA’s Board of Governors, which represents the owners, to be officially signed off on by both parties.
“Too often, women have been told to be grateful for the opportunity,” the WNBPA said in a statement. “This union sees it differently. It is about knowing our worth and having the courage to demand more, not just for ourselves, but for those coming next.
“This transformational CBA delivers consequential economic progress and expanded benefits that support players on and off the court. It builds a stronger foundation for today’s players, the next generation, and those who helped build the WNBA. It affirms the strength of our union and the power of our collective voice.”
The seven-year deal with an opt-out after six means expansion should proceed peacefully, with four new teams slated to join the league in the next four years. It means rookies and future superstars will come into the league with the highest player salaries in the league’s 30-year history and that current superstars like the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty will command million-dollar salaries like their peers do in other sports.
Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces was the highest-paid player in the league in 2025, making $252,450. The new CBA should immediately enrich Collier and Stewart, who were not even in the top 25 most highly compensated players. Though a Nike deal and numerous endorsements have already made Wilson a multimillionaire, the four-time league MVP, who was the nineteenth-highest paid player in the WNBA, will be among its highest-paid players with the new $1.4 million supermax contracts up for grabs.
Clark, Reese and Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers also have lucrative shoe deals and other endorsements stemming from their college years, so their millions came outside their W salaries. They each came into the league when the rookie minimum was a paltry $64,000. Now, with the adjusted CBA, their base salaries will jump to high six figures. As the #1 pick in 2024, Clark’s salary will go from $78,066 to $527,155.
The rookie minimum is now $270,000, and the new average salary is $600,000, up from a maximum of $120,000 in 2025. Each team’s salary cap is now $7 million, up from $1.4 milion last year.
While Wilson’s likely new salary is dwarfed by boyfriend Bam Adebayo’s – he made $37 million this season – the WNBA Players’ Association, led by executive director Terri Jackson and WNBAPA president Nneka Ogwumike, got most of what they wanted.
Aside from a massive salary increase, the critical gains in the collective bargaining agreement are a 20% gross revenue share for the players, a major sticking point in negotiations. (NBA players arrived at an approximately 50/50 revenue share in their 2011 CBA, which occurred in the league’s 65th year).
Players also receive housing for the first three years of the deal, and if a player gets pregnant, she must agree to any trade. All league and postseason awards are now compensated, with $60K awarded to the league MVP, up from $15,450. Other stipulations include mental health benefits, chartered flights leaguewide, team roster expansion, expanded life insurance, extended staff, and enhanced practice and treatment facilities.
“We would not have been able to get to this deal without the leverage the fans put behind our game, Ogmuwike told First Take. “That really gave us the support to land the deal that we were desiring.”
See social media’s reaction to the CBA below.
It’s Official: New WNBA CBA Cemented After Players Unanimously Vote Yes was originally published on cassiuslife.com
