One Billion Dollars Later
Here's where we are: The WNBA just signed the biggest media rights deal in its 29-year history — $2.2 billion over 11 years, split between Disney, Amazon, and NBC, kicking in this season [1]. Then it turned around and added an 11-year deal with USA Network on top of that. Morning Consult ranked the WNBA the fastest-growing brand in 2024. Fast Company called it one of the world's most innovative companies of 2025. Attendance records. Merchandise records. Social media records. The whole deal. And the supermax salary last season was $249,244. Let that sink in for a second.
Tomorrow — March 10 — is the WNBA's self-imposed deadline to reach a new collective bargaining agreement before the 2026 season starts getting carved up. The league told the WNBPA this week: get something done by Tuesday or the schedule gets impacted. Training camp is supposed to open April 19. The college draft is April 13. The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo still don't have rosters because the expansion draft can't happen until a CBA is in place. Over 80% of the league's players are free agents right now, just... waiting [2]. This is the most important labor moment in WNBA history. And they're going into the deadline still stuck on the same core issue they've been stuck on since October 2024.
The Math Problem Nobody Can Agree On
On the surface, both sides look like they're talking money. Dig a little deeper and they're not even speaking the same language. The players want 30% of gross revenue — that's all the money the league and its teams bring in before any expenses get taken out. The league is offering 70%+ of net revenue — which sounds like more, until you realize "net" means after the league gets to subtract whatever it classifies as operating expenses. Facilities, charter flights, five-star hotels, medical staff, arena costs. All that comes out first [1]. The WNBPA ran the numbers and says 70% of net works out to roughly 15% of gross. The league says that math is wrong and those expense investments benefit the players directly. This is not a rounding error. This is a fundamental disagreement about how the whole system should be structured — and it's why they've been 16 months into this with basically nothing to show for it.

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