Market conditions are ideal for the WNBA \u2014 national viewership is up 23 percent, attendance has increased 26 percent, and merchandise sales have risen 40 percent, according to the league.But there are real transformative issues that the players, who in recent years pushed for charter travel and better facilities, want addressed. They emphasized that donning T-shirts reading Pay Us What You Owe Us at Saturday\u2019s All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
The max salary for 2025 is approximately $249,000. Players can make substantially more than that via league and team marketing deals, the Commissioner\u2019s Cup, playoff bonuses, and individual award bonuses \u2014 a total of up to $750,000. <\/p>\n
But in anticipation of a new CBA, some highly-touted players who could\u2019ve gone in the first round of the WNBA Draft such as Olivia Miles elected to return to school. <\/p>\n
Why? The iconic Clark is in the second year of a four-year rookie deal with a total base salary of $338,056 \u2014 $84,514 per season. When Sabrina Ionescu won the 3-point contest<\/a> Friday, she gifted $30,000 of her prize money to rookie Sonia Citron.<\/p>\n The counter from the WNBA would be that it\u2019s not fair to compare its salaries, in Year 29, to longer established men\u2019s professional sports leagues that rake in billions. Plus, the 2020 CBA was heralded as a significant step forward as salaries more than tripled.<\/p>\n The WNBA also has extended beyond this CBA to introduce full charter travel at a cost of about $25 million per year and increased postseason bonuses significantly.<\/p>\n One issue that boasts the support of the coaches is expanding rosters. The maximum roster size is 12 players, but teams can carry 11. When injuries strike, this can send clubs scrambling. It also means that first-round picks and talented international players get cut in roster crunches.<\/p>\n Fever coach and former Sun coach Stephanie White said it\u2019s time for the WNBA to grow rosters. <\/p>\n \u201cI think plural, extra spots. Shoot, back in the old days, I think we had 15. We had 15 and two on IR,\u201d said White, a former WNBA player. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about having players every day in practice. It\u2019s about when injuries happen and you need somebody else that is going to be in the rotation that you have players that have been in practice every day that have continued to get experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about building quality depth in our league, so that when we have expansion drafts we have players that are ready. It\u2019s about continuing to grow young players who might not be ready as soon as they come out of college. \u2026 I think it\u2019s time for us to grow in that area. I really do. \u2026 I think it\u2019s important.\u201d <\/p>\n That\u2019s an investment in the WNBA product that will pay dividends. <\/p>\n The WNBA is not yet a consistently profitable league. Still, the players see the league has a new $2.2 billion media rights deal kicking in next season. They see it will welcome in two expansion teams next season (Toronto and Portland) to bring the W up to 15 teams, with three more expansion teams<\/a> in Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia on deck. Each of those three clubs paid a $250 million expansion franchise fee. <\/p>\n They want their share of that (revenue) pie. <\/p>\n \u201cThe business is booming \u2014 media rights, ratings, revenue, team valuations, expansion fees, attendance, and ticket sales \u2014 are all up in historic fashion. But short-changing the working women who make this business possible stalls growth,\u201d said the WNBPA in a statement following Thursday\u2019s negotiations. <\/p>\n Yet, many a business has faltered by presuming precipitous growth would continue unabated. The W doesn\u2019t want to be the pro sports version of Icarus, soaring too close to the sun on the wings and winds of popularity and then crashing as it overextends. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want to have a fair deal for all, but it has to be within the confines of a sustainable economic model that goes on for 10 years,\u201d WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told the Associated Press. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a few years of great growth, but we need to continue to make sure that we can fund the things that the players are asking for, that we want for them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Engelbert remains optimistic that the sides will reach a deal. She agrees with the union that this new CBA should be \u201ctransformational.\u201d The degree of transformation, gradual or dynamic, is the issue. <\/p>\n The next steps are crucial for the WNBA. There\u2019s inherent conflict and a balancing act between forging ahead with brio to raise the bar for women\u2019s basketball, and enshrining and ensuring the palpable progress made thus far this decade. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s incredible. It\u2019s what we always imagined it to be,\u201d said White.<\/p>\n Three letters, CBA, can\u2019t stop the WNBA from pushing forward. <\/p>\n Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @cgasper<\/a> and on Instagram @cgaspersports<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"“There’s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GGHRTEYX2S4F2TUSHG4U5ELVHA.jpg\")
\u201cThere\u2019s an appetite for women\u2019s basketball everywhere, especially big cities like this,\u201d said Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull before her team faced the Connecticut Sun at TD Garden on Tuesday.Heather Diehl\/For The Boston Globe<\/p>\n