Do W.N.B.A. Players Deserve to Make More Than $8 Million?

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Do W.N.B.A. Players Deserve to Make More Than $8 Million?The W.N.B.A. recently distributed $8 million to its players, but Napheesa Collier argues that an 8 percent revenue share isn’t a fair slice of the pie. The Minnesota Lynx star and Unrivaled co-founder also pushes back on the narrative that her new league is a competitor to the W.N.B.A.

“The W.N.B.A. has actually hit their revenue target, which triggers financial distribution revenue share to the W.N.B.A. players to the tune of $16 million, $8 million of which is going to go to the players.” “$8 million is a lot of money, but it’s like 8 percent of everything that they made. So we feel like we should have a fair slice of the benefits of that. And 8 percent is not a fair slice of that.” “There’s a narrative out there of the W.N.B.A., Unrivaled — competitors.” “I disagree, I think we really help each other. And one of the pain points was that when we aren’t in the W.N.B.A. season, we go dark. By having Unrivaled, you still have all these star players who are on national television. So it keeps those names relevant and it’s growing our brands. That’s a huge thing, is growing the brands of the players. And as Unrivaled grows and the players here brand grows and they go to the W.N.B.A., and they grow more there.” “Did the W ever have an opportunity to be involved with Unrivaled?” “They did. Yeah, we did offer equity when we first — before we launched, yeah.” “And they turned it down?” “They did.” “What does Unrivaled do to set itself apart and set itself as a potential standard or a comparison for the W?” “Everything we’re fighting for is salary, benefits, equity in the league. We have all these things without needing to be asked at Unrivaled. We want for nothing here. And not only do we meet the minimum standards that we’re begging for in the W.N.B.A., we exceed them. Players see here what professional life should look like. And so it’s really hard when you’ve been given that to accept less when you know what it could be like.” “Many pro sports leagues operate as monopolies. What’s the value in creating something fresh like Unrivaled to challenge that and change that?” “It allows us to have leverage where we don’t have to just accept anything that you give us because if you don’t give us what we’re owed, we have other places that we can go.”

The W.N.B.A. recently distributed $8 million to its players, but Napheesa Collier argues that an 8 percent revenue share isn’t a fair slice of the pie. The Minnesota Lynx star and Unrivaled co-founder also pushes back on the narrative that her new league is a competitor to the W.N.B.A.

March 12, 2026