This morning, the world of women’s basketball was all aflutter with news that the WNBA and its players’ union had come to a tentative collective bargaining agreement after 17 months of negotiations and the occasional bit of sledging in the media by both sides.
What we know is that there are going to be some enormous jumps in salary. The minimum salary for a WNBA player will be around $300,000. The maximum a player can be played will be around $1.4 million, which is up from a quarter of a million last year.
Most significantly, the salary cap is scheduled to rise to somewhere around $7 million. Mind you, that’s still a fraction of a single NBA salary, but it is a lot more than it used to be, when WNBA players had to go to Europe to supplement their salaries.
What does this tell you? It tells me that the WNBA’s revenue has increased dramatically over the last few years, through sponsorships and merchandise sales.
Certainly, the rise of star players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kelsey Plum, and Sabrina Ionescu have led to this bonanza within the sport.
Thing is, what is going to happen with talent spread across a league which will be 18 teams by 2030? Can the league sustain itself in markets like Detroit, Portland, and Cleveland, which saw their teams fold or move? What will happen to teams who lag behind in attendance or playing quality?
Ultimately, a lot of answers may be found in an upcoming free agency period which will, I think, transform franchises from coast to coast. With more than 100 free agents to sign, all teams — not just the new Toronto Temp and Portland Fire franchises — are subject to numerous changes in the next month before Opening Day.
If you’re a WNBA fan, you might want to pay attention to the news the next few weeks. Your team may undergo a complete overhaul before it’s all over.