The WNBA just reached a landmark new collective bargaining agreement, upping salaries across the board and ensuring the league’s 30th anniversary tips off as scheduled in May. With the negotiations in the rearview mirror, the team at RotoWire.com broke down what the new CBA means for the league’s top 20 players in projected 2026 earnings, from a $1.4M supermax down to rookie scale.<\/p>\n
Note: Given that a formal CBA term sheet has not yet been published as of Wednesday afternoon, confirmed figures (cap, supermax, average, minimum) are from ESPN. All player-level projections and the Veteran Max tier figure are RotoWire.com estimates. \u00a0<\/p>\n
WNBA New Era Earnings | RotoWire <\/p>\n
Historic CBA Agreement \u2014 March 18, 2026<\/p>\n
The WNBA
Pay Revolution<\/p>\n
After 17 months of negotiations, the WNBA and WNBPA reached a verbal agreement on a landmark new CBA \u2014 the first to tie player salaries directly to league revenue. These are the confirmed 2026 salary figures. They grow from here.<\/p>\n
\u2605 2026 salary figures per ESPN \/ Shams Charania. Salaries are tied to revenue and will grow annually. CBA pending formal ratification. Player projections are estimates based on reported tier structure.<\/p>\n
$1.5M<\/p>\n
$7M<\/p>\n
2026 Team Cap<\/p>\n
+367%<\/p>\n
$249K<\/p>\n
$1.4M<\/p>\n
2026 Supermax<\/p>\n
+462%<\/p>\n
$120K<\/p>\n
~$600K<\/p>\n
2026 Avg. Salary<\/p>\n
+400%<\/p>\n
$66K<\/p>\n
$300K+<\/p>\n
2026 Minimum<\/p>\n
+354%<\/p>\n
Filter: All Supermax Veteran Max Veteran Rookies <\/p>\n
# Player \u2195 Tier \u2193 2025 Salary \u2195 2026 Projected \u2195 Increase \u2195 <\/p>\n
Those looking for up-to-the-minute fantasy WNBA news can check out RotoWire’s\u00a0WNBA Injury Report<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0WNBA Lineups<\/a>. RotoWire also features\u00a0Top WNBA Picks and Player Props<\/a>\u00a0on a daily basis to help find the best betting lines for each night’s slate.<\/p>\n What New WNBA CBA Means For League’s Top Stars\u00a0<\/p>\n At the top end of the WNBA’s new and improved pay scale, you’ll find four-time MVP and three-time WNBA champion A’Ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, who is one of two players (along with Breanna Stewart<\/a> of the New York Liberty) that’s virtually guaranteed to land one of the new ‘supermax’ pay days, which are projected to be $1.4 million per season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Such an increase would mean that Wilson’s 2026 pay would be 3.5-times what it was last season, when she earned $400,000 while wrapping up that fourth MVP award, guiding Las Vegas to a title over the Phoenix Mercury while averaging 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stewart, on the other hand, will see an even bigger boost in pay, going from earning $208,000 in 2025 to the new $1.4 million top end figure, which would represent 20% of the Liberty’s total salary cap amount, given the new $7 million teamwide total that each team can spend on its roster each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, that $7 million cap is leaps and bounds better than the $1.5 million that teams had to spend in the last CBA, while the supermax sum of $1.4 million is equally improved than the $249,000 that teams could hand out to their best players.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In total, the $1.4 million ‘supermax’ amount represents a 462% increase from the previous CBA’s allotment of $249,000, illustrating the historic gains that WNBA players are receiving from league brass after months of difficult negotiations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Who Else Could See Big Pay Increases Under New WNBA CBA?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While the ‘supermax’ tier is getting a lot of the publicity out of the CBA revelations, the other big ticket item is the new tier of players, dubbed “Veteran Max” who will earn roughly $1.22 million per season, which could mean generational pay improvements for some of the WNBA’s best players.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among those that could qualify for the new tier include Napheesa Collier<\/a> of the Minnesota Lynx, who previously earned $184,000, as well as players like Sabrina Ionescu<\/a> of the Liberty, Arike Ogunbowale<\/a> of the Dallas Wings and Wilson’s longtime teammates in Vegas, Jewell Loyd<\/a> and Jackie Young<\/a> (amongst others).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In total, 10 players surveyed for this story qualify for the new ‘Veteran Max’ tier, with RotoWire.com estimating that those contracts will eat up roughly 17.5%\u00a0of a team’s given cap allotment each year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Of those 12, only Collier and Ionescu are projected to get the full $1.22 million allotment, with Ogunbowale and Loyd getting $1.1 million and Young and Jonquel Jones<\/a> of the Liberty getting an even $1 million in 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After that, players like Kelsey Plum<\/a> of the Los Angeles Sparks and Alyssa Thomas<\/a> of the Mercury ($950,000), as well as Thomas’ teammates Kahleah Copper<\/a> and Satou Sabally<\/a> are expected to earn $900,000 in 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Earning seven figures would represent a monumental improvement for the 12, as Young previously earned the most of the bunch, at $252,000, while Loyd ($246,000), Copper ($245,000) and Ogunbowale\u00a0($242,000) were the next closest, salary wise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n What About Younger WNBA Stars?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While veterans like Wilson, Stewart and Collier may get the lion’s share of the ink about the WNBA’s newest CBA, the up-and-coming players that have helped push the league into the nation’s hearts and minds will also see big pay increases.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Take, for instance, Iowa star and current Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark<\/a>, who earned $85,000 per year under the terms of her rookie contract under the old CBA. Now, thanks to the improved terms for players,\u00a0Clark and her respective crop of talent under the league’s ‘rookie’ salary tier will earn between $300,000 (the new league minimum) and $1.1 million in 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For Clark,\u00a0we’re projecting the former No.1 pick to take home $429,000 in salary during the new league year, which is five times more than the $85,000 she previously earned, speaking to the immediate impact that she’s had when she’s been healthy for Indiana.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While Clark’s bump in pay is noteworthy, the increase for her teammate (and fellow former top pick) Aliyah Boston<\/a> is even more eye-popping, going from $78,000 in 2025 to a projected $1.1 million in 2026, with her new salary being 13.5-times what she previously earned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Much of Boston’s bump comes from her being max-eligible as a fourth year All-WNBA player, which is projected to pay out around $1.05 million under the terms of the new league CBA.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Other up-and-coming ‘rookie’ tier players due for big pay bumps include Cameron Brink<\/a> of the Sparks (who is expected to go from $85,000 in 2025 to $390,000 in 2026), while Angel Reese<\/a> of the Chicago Sky is projected to go from $81,000 in salary to $390,000 this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n