Ten days before the current CBA is scheduled to expire, sources told ESPN on Thursday that the Women’s National Basketball Players Association does not see the WNBA‘s most recent proposal as anything that advances negotiations.
In addition to a base salary, the league’s proposal, which was first reported by The Associated Press and verified by ESPN earlier this week, includes a revenue sharing component that would enable players to receive a minimum salary of more than $220,000, an average salary of more than $460,000, and a maximum salary of more than $1.1 million.
The league’s supermax wage in 2025 was $249,244, while the minimum salary was $66,079.
However, sources told ESPN that the players’ union does not think the league’s plan contains a structure where player salaries and the salary cap adequately increase with the business, a demand the players have made since opting out of the current CBA in October 2024.
Instead of a set compensation system, the players prefer one that is more directly dependent on revenue, like the NBA, where basketball-related income (BRI) determines the salary cap.
In an earlier statement, the league stated that it had suggested “significant guaranteed salary cap increases and substantial uncapped revenue sharing that enables player salaries to grow as the league’s business grows.”
