The WNBA and its players are set to begin negotiating a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) on October 21, 2025. Reports indicate that both sides are very far apart on a few key issues, with one of them being increasing players' salaries to a record-breaking seven figures.
In an anonymous players' poll, 70.3% of 37 respondents claimed that receiving increased pay is the top priority in the next CBA, according to Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic. 25 out of the 30 poll participants seemingly want WNBA players to be paid seven-figures, which would be quadruple the amount of the highest paid contracts in the league right now.
“Because salaries were highlighted in the answers, we also asked players what they thought they should earn with a WNBA maximum salary. The majority of players (25 total out of 30 answers) said ‘as high as possible,' $1 million or ‘at least' $1 million. Two players said $1.5 million, and there was one vote apiece for $750,000 and $500,000. Another simply answered, ‘something fair.'
“The maximum salary in the WNBA in the 2025 season is $249,244, so the majority of respondents want to at least quadruple that. The current CBA doubled maximum salaries from the previous agreement, but the players have a much stronger negotiating position this time around, and many players hope that can be leveraged into seven-figure salaries for the first time in league history.”
This all stems with the fact that the WNBA plans to expand to five more teams by 2030. Additionally, the league is seeing more TV views and ticket sales than ever before in the last three seasons. A new wave is happening, as players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers are taking the league by storm.
Only time will tell how it plays out, as the CBA negotiations won't begin until late October after the WNBA Finals. But based on the anonymous poll, it appears players are going to push heavily to be paid seven-figure salaries.
