On the heels of Equal Pay Day, The 75 Million Project is joining fans around the world in celebrating the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) union’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA was ratified after 17 months of negotiations, and just over one month before the 2026 season kicks off. It is a landmark win in women’s sports, and a major step forward from decades of pay inequality for players in the league. Historically, WNBA athletes received a 9.3% share of their league’s revenue, compared to the nearly 50% share NBA players receive in theirs. Here’s what you should know:
Prior to this CBA, WNBA salaries weren’t cutting it – literally.
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese said her rookie salary of $73,439 didn’t cover her rent. In 2025, the minimum player salary was $66,079, with the average player earning $120,000. The league’s “supermax” – or the most a player could make – was capped at $249,244. One of the greatest WNBA players of this generation, A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, made a base salary of $200,000 last year, while top NBA players like Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors made over $55 million.
Ain’t no reason Angel Reese should be making a megachurch youth pastor salary for an entire WNBA season. We gotta do better.
— Melech. (@MelechThomas) April 17, 2024
Now, every player is getting a bigger share of revenue, and a substantial pay raise.
The new CBA establishes “the first comprehensive revenue-sharing model in women’s professional sports history.” WNBA athletes now stand to earn a 20% share of the league’s revenue – driving pay increases across the board. In 2026, the minimum player salary will increase by nearly $204,000, starting at $270,000. The average annual salary will be $583,000, and the supermax per player will be $1.4 million. Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson is set to become the league’s first $1 million+ player.
In addition to a long overdue pay raise, WNBA athletes will receive greater benefits, with new provisions that offer more support to working mothers and those looking to expand or start a family.
Under the new CBA, teams now have to get a pregnant player’s consent before trading them. Additionally, players with over two years of service – and their spouses and partners – will have access to family planning benefits for costs related to adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing, and fertility treatments. Previously, these benefits were reserved for players with eight years in the league. The contract also offers additional housing, retirement, mental health, and health care benefits.
One notable addition to the new WNBA CBA: teams now need consent before trading a pregnant player.
— Khristina (@Khristina) March 20, 2026
The change follows the 2023 situation, in which Dearica Hamby was traded from the Aces to the Sparks, bringing added attention to pregnancy protections.
The new CBA demonstrates that unions have the power to create meaningful change.
More than 90% of players participated in the vote to ratify the new contract, with nearly unanimous approval. Terri Carmichael Jackson, Executive Director of the Women’s National Basketball Player Association (WNBPA), said, “I think this can be summed up in two words: player empowerment. Players coming to the table and standing on business and being reminded of the collective voice and of what it means to be in a union and the power of this union.” They also had some help from Claudia Goldin, the first woman to win a solo Nobel in economics, who rarely accepts advising requests.
The CBA is a tremendous feat, but there is still more work to do.
Despite the progress WNBA athletes have been able to make, a pay gap between WNBA and NBA players persists. NBA players receive a 50% share of their league’s revenue, more than double the 20% share WNBA players will receive from their own league under the new CBA. The gender pay gap is not unique to professional basketball players, and is an unfortunate reminder of the unfair pay differences we see across industries. Analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families finds that across all workers in 2024, women earned just 76 cents for every dollar paid to men – a pay gap that is even wider for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women (83 cents), Black women (63 cents), Latinas (54 cents), and Native American women (53 cents). The WNBA union’s historic win deserves to be celebrated, but the work of fully recognizing these athletes’ talent and contributions is not yet finished.
