The WNBA and the league’s players’ union have reached a verbal agreement on a record-breaking labour deal, officials said Thursday, heading off the prospect of a strike.
ESPN reported the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) had hammered out a new collective bargaining agreement that would see huge increases in the salary cap, average wages and minimum wages.
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The deal follows months of wrangling between the league and the WNBPA which prompted the union to vote overwhelmingly in favour of a strike if necessary.
Players had sought a greater share of league revenues and improved benefits, arguing the new deal needed to reflect the dramatic rise in popularity of the WNBA which has followed the emergence of a new generation of stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
ESPN reported that under the new deal the league’s salary cap would skyrocket from $1.5 million (A$2.13m) in 2025 to $7 million (A$9.93m).
The supermax limit — the maximum an elite player can be paid under salary rules — will increase to $1.4 million, compared to $249,244 in 2025.
Average salaries under the deal would increase to $600,000, compared to $120,000 in 2025. Minimum salaries will be more than $300,000, compared to $66,000 last year, ESPN reported.
While the deal still needs to be formally ratified by the union and the WNBA’s board of governors, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the agreement “underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth” of women’s basketball.
“We have aligned on key elements of a new collective bargaining agreement,” Engelbert said in a statement.
“We still need to finalise a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward for players and the league,” she added.
WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson said the deal represented a watershed moment for “player empowerment.” “I think this can be summed up in two words: player empowerment,” Jackson said. “Players coming to the table and standing on business and being reminded of the collective voice and of what it means to be in a union and the power of this union. They never forgot it, and they have taken it, like they always do, to the next level.”
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The deal means the 30th season of the WNBA will open on schedule on May 8. The agreement draws a line under an increasingly acrimonious dispute between the WNBA and the WNBPA that had rumbled on for several months.
WNBA commissioner Engelbert had come under fire last year from senior players over her stewardship of the sport, with Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, accusing her of “negligent” governance.
Collier said Engelbert had been privately dismissive of criticism by Indiana Fever star Clark and other new stars of the league, saying they should be “on their knees” in gratitude for the commercial opportunities they had received.
Engelbert denied making those comments but acknowledged that “if the players don’t feel appreciated and valued… then we have to do better.”