If the latest CBA proposal from the WNBA is approved, WNBA newcomers like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers are likely to reap enromous benefits from the deal, the Associated Press reported Monday. The most recent proposal would allow for players who are still on rookie contracts the opportunity to reach the league's maximum salary faster than some of their veteran counterparts.
The latest offer gives players who are on rookie contracts and who make first or second team all-WNBA the chance to sign a maximum contract in their fourth year of play. That would give Aliyah Boston the opportunity to sign a maximum contract this year, while Clark could do so in 2027, and Bueckers could follow suit in 2028.
The proposed first year salary cap is $5.7 million, which is a big increase of 280% from the 2025 season and the January 2020 CBA. By the end of the deal, the team salary cap would be $8.6 million, and maximum salaries in the WNBA would increase by $1 million. The current maximum salary is $249,000, and that number would ultimately jump up to $1.3 million.
The WNBA sent its most recent proposal Sunday night
The WNBA declined to make any changes to its previous revenue sharing models in the latest proposal. The league has offered to give the players more than 70% of net revenue, and that number would increase over the lifetime of the agreement. The union has most recently proposed being given 26% of gross revenue (revenue before expenses) over the course of a new CBA, a number the league has so far classed as unrealistic.
The new proposal marks the first time the league has added a model for revenue sharing to its proposals, Kelsey Plum told reporters Monday. "I’ve always been someone that’s focused on the gain, not the gap," she said. "And to be honest, I think if you look at where we’ve come from, shoot, since I came into the league until now, and now that we’re in a revenue share, it’s a tremendous win."
Plum insisted the players will also continue to negotiate with the league, and that the latest proposal from the WNBA is still part of the overall process of reaching a new agreement both parties are satisfied with. Breanna Stewart, who is also in Miami preparing for Unrivaled's semifinals, also spoke to reporters.
“I don’t think a strike is good for anyone, because as the league loses money, or if we have a delay, we also lose money," Stewart, who is one of the union's vice presidents, told reporters. "That’s not just me as a player. That’s me thinking as, like an overall business person. Nobody wants to lose money, so how can we try to prevent that in all ways possible?”
This year the league will give players $8 million as part of a prior revenue sharing model agreed upon in the 2020 CBA.