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This week, the WNBA<\/a> and their players association, the WNBAPA, announced that they\u2019ve reached a verbal agreement for a new collective-bargaining agreement, increasing the pay for players and avoiding a delay in the start of their 30th season, which tips off May 8.<\/p>\n Under the new CBA agreement, players will get paid more \u2014 a lot more \u2014 and not a moment too soon. Based on a graphic posted by the women\u2019s pro-sports collective together<\/a>, the salary cap will go up from $1.3 million to $7 million, and the average salary will jump from $120,000 to around $600,000. Most notable is the minimum salary, which used to stand at $66,000 and will now be $300,000.<\/p>\n Players have been advocating for a deal that compensates them fairly for the past year following a major surge in the league\u2019s popularity. In 2025, the league generated enough revenue<\/a> to trigger revenue sharing with its players for the first time; TV ratings jumped 23 percent<\/a> and ticket sales went up by 26 percent, and the league announced the addition of three new teams<\/a>. Between 2024 and 2025, the league\u2019s value reportedly grew 180 percent<\/a> while the salary minimum in the league only went up by $2,000. The players are still paid far less than their male counterparts \u2014 last year, the WNBA\u2019s number-one draft pick Paige Buecker\u2019s rookie contract was<\/a> around $78,000 per year; the NBA\u2019s first drafted player, Victor Wembanyama, signed<\/a> $12 million per year.<\/p>\n The WNBAPA has been negotiating this deal for 17 months and took their fight for better wages public last summer, when players wore shirts that said \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us\u201d\u00a0at the WNBA All-Star game<\/a>.\u00a0WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert\u2019s postgame remarks were interrupted by\u00a0the crowd chanting \u201cPay them! Pay them! Pay them!\u201d A few months later, during the October playoffs, Minnesota Lynx player and WNBAPA vice-president Napheesa Collier called out leadership during a press conference<\/a>, saying that she\u2019d asked\u00a0Engelbert how \u201cshe planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers, who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years.\u201d Engelbert\u2019s response, Collier claimed, was that Clark \u201cshould be grateful she made $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn\u2019t make anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, it sounds like Clark and her fellow players will now be making a little bit more on the court, too. \u201cFor 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 standard across facilities, staffing, and support,\u201d WNBAPA president Nneka Ogwumike said in a statement<\/a> following news of the agreement. \u201cWe\u2019re just really grateful to be able to come to a deal we\u2019re proud of ourselves. And quite frankly, we always told you all we were going to stand on business, and that\u2019s what this looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n While a formal agreement is still pending ratification, this is a huge step forward for the WNBA. Everyone watches women\u2019s sports \u2014\u00a0 it\u2019s about time they get paid for it.<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n The latest in style, self, culture, and power in your inbox.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n