With the WNBA All-Star Game less than a month away, the league’s players have prepared a statement to ensure there is a spotlight on the CBA negotiations.
Indiana Fever players Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson chose to read prepared statements during their respective media availabilities ahead of a Sunday afternoon game against the Las Vegas Aces.
“On behalf of my teammates and every member of our union, I want to be very clear that we remain committed to negotiating the next CBA with the league and the teams in good faith and privately. But we do want to set the record straight … This is a defining moment in the WNBA. As the league grows, it’s time for the CBA that reflects our true value. We are fighting for a fair share of business that we built,” Cunningham said, in part, in a video shared by Willie Ramirez.
Colson, who made her return to Las Vegas after four total years over two stints, went slightly off script but made a similar point as Cunningham. “We believe that it is imperative that our CBA reflects the growth that we’ve experienced in the league and that players should be seeing part of those earnings,” Colson told Callie Fin of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
A source told Front Office Sports that the statements were made after player leadership met and identified that the union wanted to create significant headway in negotiations ahead of the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on July 19 in Indianapolis.
“They want to see significant progress by [All-Star], and they want not just a fair deal but a transformational deal negotiated on time,” the source said.
In response to the statements from the Fever players, a WNBA spokesperson told FOS: “The WNBA continues to meet regularly with the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and engage in constructive dialogue as part of our ongoing collective bargaining discussions.”
Revenue Up, Salaries Next?
The minimum salary for WNBA players this season is $66,079 per Spotrac, while the highest-paid players take home about $250,000 annually. That number could rise exponentially as the WNBA agreed to a record 11-year, $2.2 billion media-rights deal—about $200 million per year, more than triple its previous deal. The agreement was looped into the broader $77 billion media deal by the NBA with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Amazon.
However, the exact boost in salaries will depend on the next CBA. Last October, the union opted out of the league’s current CBA, and the clock is ticking on whether the sides can agree before next season.
“I’m very optimistic that we’ll get something done and it’ll be transformational,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in April.
Union Locked Out
Earlier this month, the WNBA announced an extension of its media deal with Scripps Sports to broadcast games on Ion. While the financial details were not revealed, ESPN reported last year that additional media deals could push the WNBA’s final number to $3 billion.
Front Office Sports reported that the WNBPA was not included in the negotiations between the WNBA and Scripps Sports despite previously receiving support from commissioner Cathy Engelbert about the union’s presence in media negotiations.
“We want to be a part of [negotiations] as much as we can and just be brought in and brought up to speed,” Breanna Stewart, WNBPA vice president, told FOS last week after the New York Liberty’s loss to the Fever. “Even if we’re just there as a fly on the wall, we want to know the negotiations happening behind closed doors.”
