When the final buzzer sounded in the 2025 season and the Las Vegas Aces had prevailed over the Phoenix Mercury to win last season’s WNBA championship, we knew that the letters C, B and A would dominate the discourse around the W for the ensuing several months.
We knew that these collective bargaining talks with the league would be extremely tense especially considering they were taking place during an extremely critical point in the WNBA’s history.
But, ultimately, the players did what had to be done. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league had to understand that this generation of players is not simply happy that there is a WNBA. This generation of players understands that the W doing right by those players is the most sustainable way to ensure the long-term health of the league.
And that is what appears to have been done as both league and players have indeed agreed in principle to a new collective bargaining agreement. We will know much more about this deal once it is ratified at the conclusion of the month.
A few details have already leaked out. According to Shams Charania at ESPN, the salary cap will be $7 million – a massive jump from $1.5 million. In addition, the players are expected to receive roughly 20 percent of league revenues. In fact, the most recent ESPN report courtesy of Alexa Phillipou suggests that said salary cap could be as much as $10 million.
Revenue share, obviously, was the big sticking issue for the players. Remember, the WNBPA were originally seeking a 30 percent revenue share then came down to under 30 percent in later proposals it sent to the WNBA.
Collective bargaining disputes usually end in compromise. When the W side began lamenting (either truthfully or not) that players receiving 30 percent of gross revenues would result in $700 million in losses, it was unlikely the owners would go for it. The WNBPA may not have got the 30 percent it was looking for but the massive jump in the salary cap is a massive victory for the players.
In addition, the supermax contract of $1.4 million is about to be a thing. And, according to one report, at least one team is already poised to take advantage of it. That team? The Aces. Mark Davis appears ready to talk supermax turkey with A’ja Wilson.
Wilson is more than deserving of all the money she can get. After all, she not only built a franchise – she built the professional sports fabric of an entire state. South Carolina’s very own has been integral in ensuring the Silver State’s professional sports teams are set to a gold standard.
It may have taken several marathon negotiating sessions in order for players and league to kiss and make up, but not only will we have a new CBA, but we also will have a 2026 season – the 30th in the W’s history.
These negotiations were not about if there was or was not a season. These negotiations were about recognizing how integral the players themselves have been to the overall growth of the league.
The players are the reason as to why more zeroes are flowing into the WNBA’s direction than ever before. The players are the reason as to why NBC and Amazon will be WNBA broadcast and streaming partners starting this year. The players are the reason why the valuations of the franchises have skyrocketed by leaps and bounds.
And the players knew this the whole time they were negotiating with the W. Terri Jackson and Nneka Ogwumike understood that no fan who has attended a game in person, watched a game on television or a streaming device or listened to a game on the radio has said that they want to see or hear about a Ted Leonsis or a Clara Wu Tsai.
Prospective owners have more interest than ever in joining the WNBA’s ranks because of the growth that has been spearheaded by the players. The incumbent owners ideally would have wanted to pocket as much money as they could for themselves. The W’s players simply wanted their fair share.
All indications are that the players got their fair share. And as of Wednesday, March 18, because the players stood strong and understood that there would be no WNBA without them, the players got what they had to get from these CBA talks.
In fact, we will witness the benefits of the new collective bargaining pact for the players almost immediately. Look at the number of players that are set to be free agents. Over 100 players will be on the free agent market when April arrives. Included in that list are a plethora of marquee names.
We wrote about Wilson a bit earlier, but that list also includes Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kahleah Copper, Skylar Diggins, Chelsea Gray, Alyssa Thomas, Kelsey Plum and Brittney Griner among others. The word “supermax” is especially expected to be thrown around heavily in regards to those names at the top of the food chain.
The business of the WNBA is about to be extremely busy in April and May in the lead-up to the season – which means we will be extremely busy here at Beyond The W throughout April. Throughout April and the early portion of May, there will be free agency, the league draft, expansion drafts for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire plus training camps.
The WNBA will be operating at a breakneck pace once April arrives. March Madness has nothing on the roller coaster ride that will be the W starting next month. Eat your heart out, Great Adventure.
There will be a few individuals who will ask a fair question as to how the WNBA will pull off this lightning fast timeline. Then we need to remember that this is the same WNBA that pulled off the 2020 season in the bubble amidst the pandemic.
It may not be the most ideal of timelines, but it was what had to be done to ensure the players finally get what has been owed to them for several years.
The WNBPA understood the direction the business of the WNBA was going in – and stood on business to ensure they got what they deserved. After all, anyone can see the exponential growth the W has experienced over the last few years and saw that yesterday’s price is not today’s price.
The 30th anniversary of the WNBA is all set to be a very busy and banner year for the W. The lesson from these CBA talks is whether a league is in year one or year 30, betting on women will always earn one the W.
