Why The WNBA’s CBA Fight Is Really About Keeping Its Stars Home

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - JULY 19: Brittney Sykes #15 of the Washington Mystics holds a "Pay the Players" sign following the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 19, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)Getty ImagesOn the surface, it feels like the WNBA has finally arrived. But beneath the growth, excitement, and increasing visibility sits a familiar problem that women’s professional athletes have faced for decades. The league’s top players are still not provided with a wage that reflects their value. Ultimately, this issue is now front and center as the WNBA and its players continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). At its core, this fight should be framed in terms of retention, not greed or entitlement. It is about whether the best women basketball players in the world can afford to stay in the United States to build the WNBA brand, or, given how few years these athletes have to make money off of their playing ability, whether they will need to continue to chase financial security during the offseason overseas. If the league wants sustained growth, star power, and long-term fandom, a fair CBA is not optional.History of WNBA CBA A collective bargaining agreement, often referred to as a CBA, is a legally binding contract between a professional sports league and its players’ union. It sets the rules for how the league operates from a labor perspective. This includes salaries, revenue sharing, benefits, health care, working conditions, travel, off-season obligations, and player protections. In simple terms, the CBA determines how the money is divided and how players are treated. It defines what players are worth in the eyes of the league. When a CBA favors ownership too heavily, players feel the impact directly in their paychecks, their health, and their career longevity. When a CBA evolves alongside league growth, it can stabilize the sport and help it thrive. For women’s leagues in particular, the CBA often becomes the primary tool players have to demand equity in a system that historically undervalues their labor.Cynthia Cooper #14, Guard for the Houston Comets dribbles the basketball down court and drives for the basket as #55 Vickie Johnson of the New York Liberty attempts to block during Game 3 of the WNBA Championship Finals basketball game on 30th August 1997 at the Summit Arena in Houston, Texas, United States.

The Houston Comets won the game and championship 65 - 51 . (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Allsport/Getty Images)Getty ImagesMORE FOR YOUThe WNBA was founded in 1996 and began play in 1997. For much of its early history, the league operated under a structure where players had limited leverage and limited bargaining power. Salaries were low, seasons were short, and players were expected to supplement their income by playing overseas during the off-season.Over time, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association began pushing back. Each new CBA reflected incremental progress rather than sweeping change. While salary caps slowly increased, benefits modestly expanded, and travel conditions improved, these changes did not occur at the same pace as the men’s game. The 2020 CBA marked a turning point as it introducing higher maximum salaries, better maternity benefits, and improved quality of life standards. Still, even that agreement was built on cautious assumptions about league growth.

Growth Without Pay is Unsustainable The WNBA’s visibility and growth potential is no longer theoretical. This growth has shown up in attendance, media coverage, sponsorships, and broadcast reach. According to sports economist David Berri, league revenue in 2025 was at least $300 million, with projections of $500 million next year following the new media deal. That kind of growth fundamentally changes what is possible in a CBA.UNCASVILLE, CT - JULY 28: The Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) logo is seen on a backpack before a WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun on July 28, 2025, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesBerri has examined how professional athletes create value and how leagues choose to distribute it. His analysis of the WNBA shows that the league now has the revenue to support salaries that reflect player impact. The question that remains is whether ownership is willing to share it.The latest offer from the WNBA players is for them to get 30% of league revenue. Under a structure where players receive 30 percent of league revenue, Berri estimates a total player pool of $150 million. Spread across 15 teams, that would produce a salary cap of $10 million per team. In that scenario, top players could earn millions annually rather than hovering around $200,000. The league, however, countered with just 15 percent of league revenue. According to Berri, even a 30 percent revenue share outcome would still fall well short of parity with the NBA. A 50 percent revenue split would push the cap even higher, creating a system that more closely resembles how men’s professional basketball compensates its stars. The current negotiations make clear that players understand this gap and are no longer willing to accept it quietly.The Overseas Necessity For decades, WNBA players have spent their off-seasons playing in Europe or Asia for financial survival. Overseas contracts often pay several times more than WNBA salaries. That reality creates a dangerous cycle. Players risk injury year-round and they have much less time for rest or recovery, all while missing out on potential opportunities to market the league domestically. While leagues such as Unrivaled have been geared towards keeping athletes in the US during the off-season, given the limited amount of playing years these athletes have, they must earn as much as they can in short window of time. This short window means overseas contracts remain a more secure and sustainable approach for many WNBA players. Susie Cirilli, an employment attorney who specializes in sport litigation, frames this reality pretty bluntly, “these athletes need to think of themselves. They need to put food on their table. They have a short shelf, or lifetime of being a professional athlete. They need to make as much money as possible and take care of their bodies because without them there's no product.” When stars are unavailable, exhausted, or injured, fans lose continuity and when top talent is forced to build their brand recognition overseas, the WNBA loses momentum at home.Negotiations Still Trigger Backlash One of the most striking patterns in women’s sports labor disputes is public perception. When women athletes ask for better pay, they are often framed as ungrateful or unrealistic. Cirilli notes that “everyone's kind of surprised when you see women getting together and asking for or demanding what's theirs.” That surprise says more about cultural expectations than financial realities. Women athletes are still expected to be appreciative rather than assertive and are expected to grow the game without demanding compensation that reflects that growth.Cirilli explains that women’s sports are held to a different standard. “Women's sports is a different beast than men's sports…women are held to a higher standard [to prove their value] and they're supposed to be grateful for what they’ve already been given.” That expectation becomes a barrier when negotiations require firmness and leverage.That being said, and despite the stigma that perpetuates stereotypes about women negotiating their worth, what makes the current CBA negotiations different this time around is the timing. The league’s growth is visible and measurable. Everyone from fans to sponsors to broadcasters can see it. As a result, WNBA players are now able to point to quantifiable growth and are no longer arguing in terms of their growth potential.Cirilli places this moment in a broader social context noting that, “this is a snapshot of where we are, of women coming to the table, negotiating, demanding what they are owed.” Importantly, the WNBA players are not an outlier in these negotiation trends. These practices are one component of a longer line of women athletes who have pushed boundaries before they were welcomed to do so. According to Cirilli, today’s players are not starting from scratch. They are building on decades of advocacy and visibility. “[Women and women athletes] stand on the shoulders of those before us. What the WNBA players are doing, they're standing on the shoulders of the US women’s soccer national team who stood on the shoulders of the 99ers. And so the good news is these fights are getting closer and closer together in time, temporal proximity. But the ripple effects of seeing women [athletes] on social media, on television, you know, games on at bars and then seeing them fighting [for better pay], and fighting for what they’re owed, I think it's great.”WHITESTOWN, IN - OCTOBER 15: An Official Wilson WNBA basketball sits with a net, lock and chain to represent a potential lockout between the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) on October 15, 2025 in Whitestown, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe Cost of Getting it WrongIf the WNBA fails to meet this moment, the consequences will be significant. Players will continue to prioritize overseas leagues, younger athletes may question whether the WNBA can support long-term careers, and fans may struggle to maintain emotional investment when rosters constantly change.For fans, the CBA may seem abstract, but it directly affects what they experience with the WNBA product. Better salaries mean players can stay in the league longer and lowers the risk of offseason injuries. Higher salaries would also mean stronger rivalries, more recognizable stars, and higher quality play. Cirilli argues that fans should not fear this moment, “the fans should celebrate this, because you look at these players on the court, for everything they're doing off the court. They're resilient, they're gutsy, they're good.” As Berri’s revenue projections show, the money is there. What remains unresolved is how it will be shared with the players that generate the revenue and create the value for the league. The outcome of these negotiations will signal whether growth is meant to benefit everyone involved or remain concentrated at the top. The league has an opportunity to align its business model with the current growth and momentum. What happens next will shape the WNBA for decades to come.