As negotiations continue between the WNBA and the WNBPA on a new CBA, Sports Business Journal reported the players association plans to reject the league’s latest offer.
According to the report, it is partially due to ‘vague pay-scale projections.’ The WNBPA reportedly has concerns about the league’s ‘math.’ The WNBA has proposed an average salary of $500,000. But with a proposed salary cap of $5 million a team and 12 players, the numbers do not add up. The salary cap would reportedly increase over the length of the CBA and be directly tied to the league’s revenue growth each year. Specific revenue-sharing details haven’t been disclosed.
USA TODAY Sports reached out to the WNBA for comment.
The league’s latest offer to the players’ association includes a max base salary of $1 million guaranteed, with the opportunity to make more than $1.2 million in conjunction with projected revenue sharing. The WNBA’s offer raises the minimum player salary to more than $225,000 and the average salary to $500,000, up from $220,000 and $460,000, respectively, in the WNBA’s previous proposal on Nov. 18.
The league also reportedly proposed increasing the length of the season, which could include an earlier start date. If the date is moved up, it could interfere with the end of the women’s college basketball season, the WNBA draft and other leagues like Unrivaled and Project B. The 2025 WNBA season started on May 16 with training camp opening on April 28. (The current CBA technically allows the start of training camp as early as April 1 but no more than 30 days before the season starts.)
The two sides to extend the bargaining window through Jan. 9.
