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WNBA and Players Union Reach Historic New CBA Agreement

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new wnba cba

After over 100 hours of marathon negotiations, the WNBA and the players’ union (WNBPA) have reached a verbal agreement on a transformational new WNBA CBA. Fueled by booming league viewership, the announcement confirms the 2026 season will start on time and deliver the largest pay increase in league history.

The Financial Leap

For the first time, the league has established a formal revenue-sharing model which alters the entire financial foundation of the WNBA. Player compensation is now tied directly to a nearly 20% average revenue share. To understand the magnitude of this new WNBA CBA, here is how the financial structure compares to last season:

Salary Cap: Jumps to $7 million per team (up from $1.5 million in 2025).

Average Salary: Jumps to around $600,000 (a massive increase from last season’s average of $107,000).

Maximum Salaries: The new supermax starts at $1.4 million (dwarfing the 2025 supermax of $249,244).

Minimum & Rookie Base: The new minimum salary surpasses $300,000. For context, the 2025 rookie minimum was $66,079, with top-tier rookies earning between $76,000 and $78,000.

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Transformative Benefits

League leaders, including WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike, called the deal transformative.

Ogwumike highlighted how the new agreement fundamentally shifts the player experience::

For the first time, player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars, and raising the professional standard across facilities, staffing, and support. It strengthens housing and retirement, and expands resources for family planning and parental leave. It redefines what it means to be a professional in this league.

WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike

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Ratification & The Sprint to Open the 2026 Season

The term sheet will now go to the players and the WNBA Board of Governors for a vote to ratify the new agreement, a process expected to take several weeks.

Because extended negotiations successfully avoided a delay, the core 2026 of the WNBA calendar remains intact. However, the league is now staring down a jam-packed offseason in order to open the 2026 season on time. The WNBA must quickly execute a two-team expansion draft for Toronto and Portland and navigate a massive free agency period for more than 100 players before training camps open in mid-April.

Notably, this compressed timeline means free agency and the draft will overlap, creating a whirlwind for front offices. Here is how the upcoming month is expected to play out:

March 31: CBA Formally Signed

April 1-6: Expansion Draft (Toronto & Portland)

April 7-18: Free Agency Period

April 13: WNBA Draft

April 19: Training Camp Opens

April 25: Preseason Games Begin

May 8: Regular Season Tips Off

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What Would New WNBA Salaries Look Like in 2026?

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What could a top WNBA player earn in 2026 and beyond? Six figures? A million dollars? Or a truly revolutionary multi-million dollar salary?

 

The answer is being decided right now in negotiations for the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which expires on October 31st. The final number depends entirely on which financial blueprint the league and its players can agree on.

 

To understand what new WNBA salaries could look like, we don’t have to guess. We just have to look at the proven, billion-dollar model used by their NBA counterparts and apply it to the WNBA’s new financial reality.

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The Blueprint for Million-Dollar Salaries: The NBA Model

 

The NBA’s salaries are not arbitrary; they are the direct result of a negotiated partnership that turns league revenue into player paychecks.

 

Here’s how the NBA’s revenue directly translates into its salary cap, using real, projected numbers for the 2025-26 season:

 

Step 1: Determine the Player’s Total Share. The NBA’s total revenue is over $11 billion, a large portion of which is counted as Basketball Related Income (BRI). The CBA mandates that players receive 50% of this BRI. For the 2025-26 season, this created a total salary pool for all players of approximately $4.638 billion.

 

Step 2: Divide the Pool by the Number of Teams. That $4.638 billion pot is then divided evenly among the 30 teams in the league.

 

The Math: $4.638 Billion / 30 teams = $154.6 Million.

 

This final number—$154.6 million—becomes the official team salary cap. That cap, in turn, dictates the maximum salary a single player can earn (which is set as a percentage of the cap) and all other player contracts.

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Projecting the Future: Two Paths for WNBA Salaries

 

The WNBA’s current economic model results in players receiving a share of league revenue that is approximately 10%. Using the WNBA’s new, conservatively projected annual revenue of $400 million, we can see what salaries would look like when that revenue is split across the 15 teams set for the 2026 season.

 

Path A: The Current WNBA Model (~10% Share)

 

If the league maintains its current structure, the new revenue would create a total player salary pool of $40 million (10% of $400M).

 

  • The Math: $40,000,000 / 15 teams = $2,666,666
  • New Team Salary Cap: Approximately $2.67 million
  • What a Max Salary Would Look Like: In the $500,000 – $600,000 range.
  • What a Top Rookie Would Earn: Around $150,000.

 

Path B: The NBA Partnership Model (~40-50% Share)

 

If the WNBA adopts the NBA’s partnership blueprint, a 40% share of revenue would create a total player salary pool of $160 million.

 

  • The Math: $160,000,000 / 15 teams = $10,666,666
  • New Team Salary Cap: Approximately $10.67 million
  • What a Max Salary Would Look Like: $1.5 – $2+ million per year.
  • What a Top Rookie Would Earn: A starting salary in the $250,000 – $300,000+ range.

The Billion-Dollar Question: Why Wouldn’t the WNBA Adopt This Model?


Seeing the numbers, the natural question is: why would the league even consider Path A?

 

The holdup is historical. The 10% model is a relic from the WNBA’s “investment phase,” when owners subsidized the league and absorbed losses. Now that the league is a high-growth business, owners are positioned to see a major return on that long-term investment, and sharing 40-50% of the revenue would cut into that return significantly.

 

The players’ union, however, is arguing that the investment has matured. The players are the partners driving today’s record-breaking revenue and deserve to be compensated as such. They are not asking for a handout, but for the same proven, revenue-sharing partnership that allowed the NBA to grow into a financial juggernaut from its own unprofitable past.

 

So, what will new WNBA salaries look like? They could be a respectable step forward. Or they could be revolutionary, creating a new class of multi-millionaire athletes with salaries finally befitting a league that has long proclaimed itself the home of the best players in the world.

Is a $1.5M+ salary worth a potential lockout?

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Los Angeles Sparks Announce Plans for New $150 Million Practice Facility

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A rendering of the planned 55,000-square-foot practice facility for the Los Angeles Sparks in El Segundo, designed by Gensler. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Sparks.
sparks new practice facility
Circular locker room for the Sparks facility. Credit: Los Angeles Sparks / Gensler
sparks new practice facility
Player sanctuary for the Sparks facility. Credit: Los Angeles Sparks / Gensler

The Los Angeles Sparks’ new practice facility is a $150 million, 55,000-square-foot project, headquartered in El Segundo, with an estimated opening in 2027. The project represents a significant long-term investment from the team’s ownership and is reportedly the largest of its kind for a professional women’s sports team.

 

The timing of the announcement is noteworthy, as it precedes a crucial period for the WNBA. The league and the players’ association are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) ahead of the October 31st deadline, and the outcome is expected to reshape the league’s financial landscape. This has set the stage for a highly competitive free agency period this coming offseason, with many prominent players positioned to sign new deals under the anticipated new agreement.

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This commitment to infrastructure comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the WNBA. Fueled by record-breaking viewership and successful expansion into new markets like the Bay Area and soon, Portland, the league is seeing a surge in investment across the board. The Sparks’ move to build their own facility is part of a growing, league-wide trend. The Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm, and Phoenix Mercury already have their own dedicated facilities. They are being followed by a wave of other franchises, with the Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, New-York Liberty, and the 2026 expansion team Portland Fire having all announced plans for their own dedicated training centers.

 

The Sparks’ planned facility is designed to be a comprehensive center for player development and wellness. According to the team, it will be the WNBA’s first indoor-outdoor player facility and will include a host of modern amenities aimed at performance and recovery.

 

Key features are set to include:

  • Two WNBA regulation basketball courts
  • An outdoor spa pool for recovery and rehabilitation
  • Dedicated nap and wellness rooms for yoga and meditation
  • Hydrotherapy suites
  • A state-of-the-art weight room with extensive natural light
  • A circular locker room designed to promote team chemistry
  • Retractable doors to offer an open-air environment with views of the Pacific Ocean

 

In a league where dedicated, high-quality facilities are becoming a key factor for athletes, these developments are crucial. As teams prepare to recruit talent in what is sure to be one of the most active free agency markets in recent memory, the promise of a top-tier professional environment could provide a competitive advantage.

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A Record $325M Sale is on the Table. So Why is the WNBA Pumping the Brakes?

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connecticut sun sale

A record-setting $325 million offer is on the table to sell the Connecticut Sun to a Boston Celtics-backed ownership group. The deal includes a plan to move the team to Boston, providing a massive stage for growth. For a league focused on expansion, this should be a slam dunk.

 

Yet, the WNBA is pumping the brakes. A competing $325 million offer from a group led by Marc Lasry—one designed to keep the team in Hartford, Connecticut—has also stalled.

 

This hesitation seems counterintuitive. While the Sun has been a model of stability, its home in Uncasville, has well-known drawbacks. It lacks a dedicated practice facility, presents travel challenges, and has struggled to attract top-tier free agents. Moving the franchise to Boston under the wing of an NBA partner would seem to solve these problems. So, is the league’s reluctance a strategic misstep?

 

Hardly. The league’s resistance is not a sign of indecision but may be the clearest signal yet of its newfound strength. We are no longer watching a league in survival mode; we are watching a league in power mode.

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The key is understanding that a relocation and an expansion are two vastly different things. The historical moves of teams like the Orlando Miracle (to Connecticut) or the San Antonio Stars (to Las Vegas) were acts of necessity—saving or revitalizing struggling franchises. But the Sun isn’t struggling. It was the first WNBA franchise to turn a profit and boasts one of the most loyal fanbases in the league.

 

Forcing such a team to move would be a self-inflicted wound. But the argument goes beyond sentiment; it’s a shrewd business calculation.

 

When a team relocates, the $325 million sale price is a private transaction. The league and its other owners see none of it. They gain the Boston market, but they lose the Connecticut market. It’s a zero-sum game. When a team expands, as the Golden State Valkyries just did, the new owners pay an expansion fee—reportedly $50 million—directly to the league, which is then shared among the owners. The league grows, every owner profits, and a new market is gained without abandoning an old one. It is a win-win-win.

This financial reality is why a third factor has now become the central point of the negotiations: a separate relocation fee. With another potential ownership group reportedly in the mix—led by Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who would move the team to Houston—the WNBA is in a position to charge a multi-million dollar fee to whichever group it approves. This fee, paid directly to the league, effectively turns a relocation into a profitable event, similar to an expansion.

 

This is the core of the WNBA’s dilemma, which has evolved beyond a simple choice between Uncasville and Boston. It’s now a complex negotiation where the league holds the power to approve the owner and market that provides the best combination of stability, growth potential, and direct financial benefit to the WNBA itself.

 

The league’s hesitation is not counterproductive to expansion; it is the very definition of protecting its expansion strategy. It’s a signal to all future investors that the league, not individual buyers, controls its own destiny. While frustrating for some in the short term, this strategic discipline is precisely what will ensure the WNBA’s growth is not just rapid, but sustainable for the future.

 

 

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