The WNBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement proposal to players includes a max salary exceeding $1 million, a source with direct knowledge of negotiations confirmed to Front Office Sports.
The Associated Press was first to report the league’s latest proposal.
The proposal—presented this week—includes a salary range starting at more than $220,000 for the league minimum and going up to over $1.1 million for the max. The new league average would be more than $460,000.
These salaries are in the first year and would grow over the course of the CBA.
The new proposal comes after negotiations between the league and the WNBPA reached a contentious point, with both sides exchanging public barbs last month before agreeing to a 30-day extension. The CBA was set to expire on October 31, but the extension pushed that date to Nov. 30.
While increased salaries and an improved revenue sharing model have been the two main sticking points in negotiations, the players presented a list of priorities when they opted out of the CBA last year. Among those were improved benefits, the formalization of charter travel, establishing baseline standards of operation for every franchise, a softer salary cap, and roster expansion.
Meetings are ongoing, a source told Front Office Sports.
The league can’t set dates and rules for an expansion draft for its two newest expansion teams, the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, until a CBA is ratified.
The last round of labor negotiations in 2019 were extended by 60 days before a new CBA was formalized in the new year, just before free agency was set to begin.
The latest proposal follows news that startup league Project B is offering star players multimillion-dollar salaries. The new league, which will run from November to April, will not be in direct competition with the WNBA, but multiple sources suggested that players could opt to skip the WNBA season if negotiations didn’t go well. Jewell Loyd, Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas, and Nneka Ogwumike have all signed on to be part of Project B’s inaugural season.
