WNBA’s New CBA Agreement: Three Key Points to Know, Including Pay Increases

The WNBA players’ union and the league have reportedly reached a tentative verbal agreement on a new CBA ahead of the 2026 season. | Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

History is in the making after the WNBA and its players union reached a verbal agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.

The news marks a hopeful bookend to a months-long, drawn-out labor battle between the league and the WNBPA after the previous CBA formally expired in October 2025. Players opted out early of that agreement in order to negotiate a new, fairer deal in the wake of the league’s recent dramatic growth, and it looks like their efforts have finally paid off.

For the first time in WNBA history, player salaries will be directly tied to league revenue, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said in a statement. Breanna Stewart added that the landmark agreement will be “transformational” for the players, who are expected to receive increased benefits related to parental leave, housing, facilities, retirement and more.

It’s worth noting that the new CBA has not been finalized yet. The two sides have merely come to a verbal agreement, which still needs to be formalized into a term sheet and approved by the players and the WNBA board of governors.

Moving forward with some cautious optimism, here are three key points to know about the terms of the new deal so far, via ESPN’s Shams Charania:

Details of a landmark WNBA collective bargaining agreement, per ESPN sources:

- New salary cap starting at $7 million, up from $1.5 million
- Average revenue share of nearly 20% across deal
- Supermax starting at $1.4M
- Average salary in range of $600K, minimum above $300K

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 18, 2026

1. Salary cap starts at $7 million

The league’s new salary cap will start at $7 million, up from $1.5 million in the previous CBA, per Charania.

This appears to be a compromise based on what what we knew about past proposals: the players union’s last known Year 1 salary cap proposal came in at roughly $9.5 million, while the league’s last known proposal came in at $6.2 million, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.

2. Revenue sharing! Players will receive on average 20% of revenue across the deal

This was one of the biggest sticking points during CBA negotiations. WNBA players are set to receive on average 20% of the league’s revenue, according to Charania. This is likely total revenue, as opposed to net revenue (revenue after deducting expenses).

For reference, players were previously receiving just 9.3% of league revenue, per Market Watch. That was far less than what athletes in other professional sports league were taking home (in the NBA, for example, revenue is split evenly between players and owners).

For months, the WNBA and its players union were at a standoff in part due to each side using different revenue-sharing models. In previous proposals, the players union suggested players should receive 40% of total revenue—they later lowered their proposal to 26% in a Feb. 27 meeting. By contrast, the league was proposing that players receive roughly 15.5% of total revenue over the lifetime of the CBA, according to The Athletic.

While the previous CBA from 2020 also featured a revenue-sharing system that let players take home a piece of the pie, it required revenue to exceed a certain annual target, after which 50% of the excess was shared with the players. This annual target increased 20% each year and was cumulative, making it difficult to hit especially during the pandemic-impacted seasons.

In a watershed moment last season, the WNBA reportedly generated enough revenue in 2025 to trigger revenue sharing with its players for the first time in history. The 13 teams received a total of $8 million from the league to share among players.

3. League will have higher average salaries, with a supermax starting at $1.4 million

The WNBA’s average salary will be in the range of $600,000 with a minimum above $300,000, according to Charania. That’s a huge increase compared to last season’s league minimum of $66,000.

The supermax contract will start at $1.4 million—four times the super max in the previous CBA—marking the first time ever the league will have million-dollar players.

If all runs smoothly the rest of the way, the 2026 WNBA season will, indeed, go on as scheduled. A finalized CBA agreement would allow the league to check off its other offseason to-do items, including an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, free agency (more than 80% of players are free agents this offseason) and April’s traditional draft. WNBA training camp will open April 19, followed by preseason starting April 25 and the official start of the 2026 regular season on May 8.

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