The WNBPA has opted out of the WNBA collective bargaining agreement. Now What?

What do players stand to gain in a new labor battle with the WNBA? We break it down and what could be gained.

Less than 20 hours after the WNBA Champion was crowned, the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association voted to exercise their opt-out in the league’s collective bargaining agreement. What comes next is a labor battle that will set the stage for the next phase of the league’s growth. So what does all that mean? Here’s a little explainer and some speculation about what we may end up seeing…

How we got here….

The current CBA runs until 2027 but included an opt-out clause, which allows the players union to go back to the negotiating table with WNBA/NBA ownership. Between now and Oct. 31, 2025, the aforementioned agreement will remain in place. If the two sides don’t come to an agreement, there is a possibility of a work stoppage.

The 2020 CBA was originally considered to be a landmark win for the players, though it didn’t come without concessions. Top players were able to earn cash compensation in excess of $500,000 while average cash compensation averaged nearly $130,000, a first in WNBA history. The rookie pay scale increased significantly, ranging from around $66,000 to $78,000 and topping out at $100,000 in the final year of a first pro contract. By

Some other wins included motherhood and family planning elements, including full salary while on maternity leave, two-bedroom apartments for players with children, family planning benefits of up to a $60,000 reimbursement for things like surrogacy, fertility treatment or adoption. Travel components, from premium economy status for all players and individual hotel room accommodations were also hard fought by the union and won for their membership.

But at the time, it was argued among some that the players left ‘meat on the bone’, especially as it pertained to charter flights and base level compensation. As the league continued to grow post-Pandemic, it became clear that the pay scale was still not commensurate to the increasing TV ratings and growth metrics that the league relies on. With the entrance of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and the rest of the 2024 rookie class, all of those metrics skyrocketed. Through a combination of new fans and steady growth, the WNBA enjoyed its’ best television regular season ever on ESPN and is likely to have clocked the most watched postseason in league history. This opens the door for players to exercise the opt-out and begin their negotiations for what they feel is owed.

What happens now…

Expect a nasty labor battle here. It isn’t just WNBA owners and executive leadership the Players Association is going to bat against. It’s also the NBA Board of Governors, who own roughly 50% of the league. Other owners include Nike, who bought an equity stake in the league in 2024 as well as Dell Technologies and others that contributed to a $75 million capital raise for the WNBA. As we’ve already seen, via the New York Post, the argument will be that the league is losing money in spite of the new attention around it. Throughout the next year, it won’t be surprising to hear the old refrain — that the NBA subsidizes and has subsidized the WNBA — as evidence for why players should settle for less.

But the WNBPA’s posture this year has been more combative (in a good way) with the league and its’ affiliates. They have gone out of their way to address specific media members who they feel have contributed to a difficult environment for their players and are asking for significant upgrades within this negotiation. Among their outlined priorities, per the WNBPA…

New Economic Model: Transforming the current system, which imposes arbitrary and restrictive caps on the value and benefits players receive, by introducing an equity based model that grows and evolves in step with the league’s business success.

Player Salaries: Establishing clear distinctions between salary and bonuses, ensuring players receive wages that properly reflect their value and contributions to the league’s growing business.

Minimum Professional Standards: Implementing consistent minimum standards that align with other leading professional sports leagues, maintaining professional and safe environments across the league, including practice and game facilities, as well as travel accommodations.

Retirement Benefits: Expanding retirement benefits to provide greater financial security and health benefits to the Players for their life after basketball.

Pregnancy and Family Planning Benefits: Fair and accessible family planning support for all players, including retirement benefits that provide long-term security for their families.

It’s important to note that these are the top line items. The Players Association, in a perfect world, would get all of these. But as it is with many negotiations, this is their starting point.

What might constitute a win for players?

So what will be a labor win for the players? In the past the WNBPA has valued longer term benefits and elements beyond straight up compensation even if it means giving a little back in terms of salary. If there were ever a negotiation to make a push for that, even if you have to give up some of the back end benefits, it would be this one.

The way I read each of the outlined priorities is that the PA wants for their members…

• A better revenue share and some type of equity stake within the league itself. Theoretically, it means that as the league grows, the players also benefit financially in a way owners do.

• The distinctions between salaries and bonuses feels very Las Vegas Aces-coded, especially after their $100,000 player bonuses courtesy of the city’s tourism board are being investigated for cap circumvention. But it also applies to the New York Liberty, who were investigated for similar action after unilaterally chartering flights for road games.

• The rest of that section is simple: ‘Pay ‘em’.

• Professional standards is probably a wide umbrella of items. I’d imagine the PA is going to ask for enhanced security for teams on the road as well as more strict enforcement of problematic behavior in WNBA arenas.

• There is also the interesting nugget of ‘practice and game facilities’ which has always been a sticking point with certain franchises. The L.A. Sparks, for instance, train at a junior college. The Connecticut Sun were practicing for playoff games in what was essentially a YMCA while the Chicago Sky just this year agreed to the creation of a new practice facility. I’m not sure if the PA can actually have it written into their CBA that franchises upgrade or build facilities but it’s a great starting place in a negotiation.

• Retirement benefits as well as pregnancy/family planning benefits are always big ones and have a good chance of being the first ones to go in a negotiation given how much they were able to get in 2020. I’d imagine the growth here will be modest relative to some of the other line items in their priorities list.

For reference, the league just signed a broadcast agreement that would see the WNBA take home $200 million in rights fees from the likes of Amazon, NBC and ABC/ESPN. Charter flights have already been negotiated and approved outside of the CBA, a monumental win for the players to get that line item taken off before they even get to the table.

What would be a win, first and foremost, is a raise in revenue share for players. Currently, the players receive around 9 to 10% of total revenue generated by the league. Contrast that to the NBA (49%), the NFL (48%) and the NHL (50%) and you see why the top line priority is changing the economic model. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the WNBA follow Major League Soccer’s model, which saw its’ players receive a 12.5% revenue share from 2023-2024 and 25% from 2025-2027. But within that, there is a catch. The shares are for additional TV revenue above a certain number. So it’s more about an expanded share of the extra money than for the whole pot. If the WNBA is smart, they’ll make sure to increase their revenue share without it being tied to found money.

In a perfect world (and these numbers are based on feel more than actual business sense, mind you), you manage to get the minimum rookie scale above $100,000 right out of the gate. That would allow for rookies to be able to better manage the cost of living in hyper-expensive cities like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco. Ideally, seeing that scale begin at $100,000 and settle in at $150,000 in this round would be a huge win for the players and showing young players that a financially future is viable without needing substantial endorsement deals to augment your salary.

As for top end players? A ‘supermax’ contract begins at $241,984 before we get to incentives and bonuses. I’d like to see the PA bump that number closer to $400,000 or more. Ultimately a superstar’s contract, when all is factored in, should hover somewhere between $800,000 - $1,000,000 after this CBA is agreed upon. The general team salary cap for a 15 player roster is $1,463,200 per team. But with the new TV deal bringing in exponentially more revenue, that number should increase somewhere between $3,500,000 and $5,000,000.

Ultimately, the WNBPA has great leverage. Sure, there could be a lockout. But Unrivaled has shown that there is a general television appetite for women’s basketball away from the WNBA. There are also plenty of professional leagues paying top dollar for women’s basketball player and an exploding scene of 3x3 leagues where money can be made. If the cards are played right, it could be the landmark deal that fans have wanted for a decade or more. But make no mistake, it’s going to get ugly in the public arena. The players, for their part, appear to have the stomach for it. We’ll see over the course of the next year if they know to bring a gun to a knife fight.