Dallas Wings could choose Azzi Fudd in WNBA Draft
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Sports Seriously
The WNBA and WNBPA continue to spar over revenue sharing as the two sides negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, SBJ reported on Thursday, Dec. 4.
The Athletic reported Dec. 3 that the WNBA’s latest offer includes players getting 15% of league and team revenue. SBJ reported that the player’s association countered with 30%. The gap demonstrates the two sides are still a ways from figuring out a compromise.
WNBA players got 9.3% of the revenue under the old CBA and opted out of that agreement last October. A bump of a little over 5% in revenue share is not what the union had hoped for or will accept, SBJ reported.
The WNBA declined comment Thursday but sources familiar with their thinking said comparing the the 50-50 split of revenue in men’s leagues, like the NBA, is not a good comparison. The NBA and WNBA have similar infrastructure of arenas, coaches, trainers and other support staff with very different revenues. The NBA’s projected revenue for the 2025-2026 season is $14.3 billion, according to Sportico. The New York Times reported WNBA revenues for 2025 at $300 million.
The WNBA’s latest proposal, reported earlier this week, would also raise the salary cap to $5 million a season per team, with increasing the cap over the length of the CBA tied to revenue growth. The minimum player salary would rise to $225,000, the average salary to $500,000 and max $1 million. Under the current CBA, the salary cap is $1.5 million a season per team. The minimum player salary is around $66,000, with the maximum salary worth just north of $249,000.
The same source familiar with the WNBA’s thinking said players have had two items at the top of their list through negotiations: increased salary and revenue sharing tied to growth. The WNBA believes they have made significant concessions in both areas.
The two sides agreed to keep the current CBA intact while they hammer out the new deal. They extended the deadline to Jan. 9.