It was great to see Kayla Thornton pulling down rebounds and letting the three-pointers fly. The stats say she made 3, but one sweet three-pointer that I saw her make was a four. That was a silly gimmick but I didn't mind it. Anyway, KT shined and I'm happy for her.
They earn 9% of the league’s revenue. There was this MN reporter who tweeted this online (@adukeMN):
I know this will be a firestorm topic
WNBA players currently receive just 9.3% of the leagues revenue(this includes ticket sales, merch, TV deals) for reference their male counterparts in the NBA is 50.0%.
This resulted in their salary cap being set at just 1.507 million for this year(less than half of Joe Ingles 3.634M)
In theory if they received even 40% of the leagues revenue that salary cap would be at 6.481 M.
That increase would mean roster expansion could occur, players could theoretically still make 3x their current salary and owners would still bring in 60% of the revenue.
Now to put that into perspective, that still means an entire WNBA roster would be paid less than Rob Dillingham will make in 2025-26(6.576M)
——————————
Now yes, the WNBA did lose 40 million dollars in 2024, but this is in large part due to the TV deal they are currently signed to, which in 2026 goes from roughly 45 Million annually to 200 Million annually.
This will result in essence result in the league making money over night from losing 40 to a net gain of 115M just on the TV deal alone. Even if the game and tickets sales were to stop growing, and merch stopped selling, it would still be in the green.
The current CBA would amount to players going from 1.507M in salary cap to just 4.0 M… a substantial raise however it would cost the league just 2.5 M out of that 115M TV deal profits.
If the players got 40%, that’s just 17.204M as a salary cap… a 11x raise over their current salaries, and still in the grand scheme of things less than 1 Jaden McDaniels(24.393M)
———————
The league is built on players whether you’re a CC, Aja, or Phee fan they deserve to get a bigger slice of the pie for the work they all have put in, and as the revenue grows, they should as well.
The WNBA players are not asking to be paid dollar for dollar what the NBA players make, from what I understand they just want a fair share of the revenue.
If the players get fair compensation, they can go on strike for however long it takes. It should be simple: the WNBA is making money from the the skills, talents and charisma of WNBA players; ergo, they should be paid. So taking into account the CBA, the complications behind the scenes and over accounting books should be the problems between the owners and the WNBA office, but first and foremost, take care of the players. FFS, why are women still treated this way?
Naturally I am all for a big raise and a 40+% share of basketball related income and agree with the gist of the tweets.
However, I have seen different accountings for what the current % of BRI is. Small differences would change those calculations significantly.
Throw in that the league is owned in a weird split of 42% NBA + 42% WNBA owners + 16% random investors which could make a very complicated decision making process.
How tf is this even legal? Doesn’t it mean there has to be 3 CBAs, one with each entity. This is the bs I was referring to earlier. No way they’d try this with a men’s league.
It sounds weird but most corporations have multiple owners. The corp has some decision making structure so (voting) ownership can exert their power.
In the case of WNBA, I believe the fact that it spun off the NBA caused this odd split. There was an independent women’s pro league but the NBA crushed them once they pioneered the market.
From my understanding, when the league was started the NBA were majority owners and unilaterally decided they would skim 42% of the revenue every year while a group of investors received 16%. This was not part of the CBA.
That leaves roughly 42% to be divided up between the teams and players. But the last CBA had something like the revenue has to meet a certain goal decided before the year before that amount above it gets distributed to the players. Which is where we see the 9.3% of the revenue the players received in 2024.
The profit is also determined based on the 42% pool for teams/players. The 58% just disappears. It's no wonder they annually report a loss. The loss also seems fudged because there was a period where the player's salaries doubled but the loss remained the same.
1. There will never be objective agreement on the numbers.
1a. Because there’s no legal mechanism to force the disclosure of accounting because this is a negotiation between private organizations. In theory there are labor union protections but the NLRB has been ineffectual even before the recent ultra-business government.
1b. Thus no one will ever fully trust the league’s numbers.
2. There won’t be agreement as to what counts, for instance, as basketball-related, or how pots of saved money *should* be spent
3. It will come down to negotiating power, which will come down to who can best threaten/execute a lockout or strike.
On #1, 1a and 1b: why can't the CBA negotiate for accounting transparency? It seems to me that the WNBA players' salaries have been contingent on revenues, so why not propose and negotiate for provisions related to accounting transparency during collective bargaining, as part of the terms and conditions of employment? Without transparency, how can negotiating for fair compensation be possible?
Yes, I believe transparency will be one of the things bargained for. I am not a CBA expert, but I believe the NBA has to provide BRI statements audited by an independent firm, and for now WNBA does not.
Finally. I hope this is the beginning of fair payment for WNBA players. Unrivaled increased the salaries of many WNBA players and now there is a college Unrivaled of 3 x 3 players. The list of those players is awesome.
I've emailed the NBA office in the past to include WNBA players in the NBA 3pt shootout on All-Star Saturday. Like -- have 6 NBA players, and 2 WNBA players. It would make it more fun and interesting. I believe Sabrina Ionescu, Rachel Banham or Caitlin Clark can give NBA players a run for their money in a 3pt shootout. Hopefully it'll happen one of these days.
Sab to the Bay confirmed.
https://imgur.com/a/vemHQh4
Sadly she put NYC, her current team, above the Bay!
But as second place, and she, a Bay Area native, it means we have a chance to change her mind. ✌🏽Let's go, Valkyries!✌🏽 Time to work on it!
It was great to see Kayla Thornton pulling down rebounds and letting the three-pointers fly. The stats say she made 3, but one sweet three-pointer that I saw her make was a four. That was a silly gimmick but I didn't mind it. Anyway, KT shined and I'm happy for her.
Pay the players!
deets23_
•
1h ago
emoji:bos-1: Celtics
They earn 9% of the league’s revenue. There was this MN reporter who tweeted this online (@adukeMN):
I know this will be a firestorm topic
WNBA players currently receive just 9.3% of the leagues revenue(this includes ticket sales, merch, TV deals) for reference their male counterparts in the NBA is 50.0%.
This resulted in their salary cap being set at just 1.507 million for this year(less than half of Joe Ingles 3.634M)
In theory if they received even 40% of the leagues revenue that salary cap would be at 6.481 M.
That increase would mean roster expansion could occur, players could theoretically still make 3x their current salary and owners would still bring in 60% of the revenue.
Now to put that into perspective, that still means an entire WNBA roster would be paid less than Rob Dillingham will make in 2025-26(6.576M)
——————————
Now yes, the WNBA did lose 40 million dollars in 2024, but this is in large part due to the TV deal they are currently signed to, which in 2026 goes from roughly 45 Million annually to 200 Million annually.
This will result in essence result in the league making money over night from losing 40 to a net gain of 115M just on the TV deal alone. Even if the game and tickets sales were to stop growing, and merch stopped selling, it would still be in the green.
The current CBA would amount to players going from 1.507M in salary cap to just 4.0 M… a substantial raise however it would cost the league just 2.5 M out of that 115M TV deal profits.
If the players got 40%, that’s just 17.204M as a salary cap… a 11x raise over their current salaries, and still in the grand scheme of things less than 1 Jaden McDaniels(24.393M)
———————
The league is built on players whether you’re a CC, Aja, or Phee fan they deserve to get a bigger slice of the pie for the work they all have put in, and as the revenue grows, they should as well.
The WNBA players are not asking to be paid dollar for dollar what the NBA players make, from what I understand they just want a fair share of the revenue.
Now let’s enjoy some hoops.
If the players get fair compensation, they can go on strike for however long it takes. It should be simple: the WNBA is making money from the the skills, talents and charisma of WNBA players; ergo, they should be paid. So taking into account the CBA, the complications behind the scenes and over accounting books should be the problems between the owners and the WNBA office, but first and foremost, take care of the players. FFS, why are women still treated this way?
Naturally I am all for a big raise and a 40+% share of basketball related income and agree with the gist of the tweets.
However, I have seen different accountings for what the current % of BRI is. Small differences would change those calculations significantly.
Throw in that the league is owned in a weird split of 42% NBA + 42% WNBA owners + 16% random investors which could make a very complicated decision making process.
fwiw I've seen this ~10% number cited in the Athletic/NYT as well
How tf is this even legal? Doesn’t it mean there has to be 3 CBAs, one with each entity. This is the bs I was referring to earlier. No way they’d try this with a men’s league.
It sounds weird but most corporations have multiple owners. The corp has some decision making structure so (voting) ownership can exert their power.
In the case of WNBA, I believe the fact that it spun off the NBA caused this odd split. There was an independent women’s pro league but the NBA crushed them once they pioneered the market.
From my understanding, when the league was started the NBA were majority owners and unilaterally decided they would skim 42% of the revenue every year while a group of investors received 16%. This was not part of the CBA.
That leaves roughly 42% to be divided up between the teams and players. But the last CBA had something like the revenue has to meet a certain goal decided before the year before that amount above it gets distributed to the players. Which is where we see the 9.3% of the revenue the players received in 2024.
The profit is also determined based on the 42% pool for teams/players. The 58% just disappears. It's no wonder they annually report a loss. The loss also seems fudged because there was a period where the player's salaries doubled but the loss remained the same.
Yes. How do you force the league to open the books under these circumstances?
But on another note....there shouldn't be a single WNBA player that can't afford to buy a house. That's just bare minimum compensation.
Good question about the books. My guess is:
1. There will never be objective agreement on the numbers.
1a. Because there’s no legal mechanism to force the disclosure of accounting because this is a negotiation between private organizations. In theory there are labor union protections but the NLRB has been ineffectual even before the recent ultra-business government.
1b. Thus no one will ever fully trust the league’s numbers.
2. There won’t be agreement as to what counts, for instance, as basketball-related, or how pots of saved money *should* be spent
3. It will come down to negotiating power, which will come down to who can best threaten/execute a lockout or strike.
On #1, 1a and 1b: why can't the CBA negotiate for accounting transparency? It seems to me that the WNBA players' salaries have been contingent on revenues, so why not propose and negotiate for provisions related to accounting transparency during collective bargaining, as part of the terms and conditions of employment? Without transparency, how can negotiating for fair compensation be possible?
Yes, I believe transparency will be one of the things bargained for. I am not a CBA expert, but I believe the NBA has to provide BRI statements audited by an independent firm, and for now WNBA does not.
ASG was a vibe. Congratulations to team for the win! 😉
tuned out before the end of the first quarter
had hoped maybe the women would be more competitive, but the defense out there was barely even perfunctory
maybe we'll check back in for the fourth…
But there were 4-pt threes!
"Pay us what you owe us."
https://youtube.com/shorts/nuwpIBouhxs?si=OblSCk5fLc65CuQs
You owe them, WNBA. Pay up!
Before anyone else gets hold of those revenues, the players need to get paid. Without them, there'd be NO WNBA.
10% of basketball related revenue is obscene
Oh, it’s even worse. The convoluted ownership structure of the league is a big f u to their players.
Finally. I hope this is the beginning of fair payment for WNBA players. Unrivaled increased the salaries of many WNBA players and now there is a college Unrivaled of 3 x 3 players. The list of those players is awesome.
The more we fans support them, the better the chances of a fair outcome.
I guess it's time to start paying attention to CBA talks...
Unfortunately, it is trending towards a strike or lockout… :(
Yeah. 😭
Natasha Cloud and her partner talking about being able to buy a house with her winnings from the skills competition. Just...wow. ❤️
Finally. I hope this is the beginning of fair payment for WNBA players.
Congrats to Sabrina for winning the 3 point contest. CC ducking her again! (I'm teasing, don't sick RGIII on me).
I updated the article with details of the special rules applied to the All-Star Game:
- 20 second shot clock
- 4 point shots
- no free throws for most of game
- live substitutions
I've emailed the NBA office in the past to include WNBA players in the NBA 3pt shootout on All-Star Saturday. Like -- have 6 NBA players, and 2 WNBA players. It would make it more fun and interesting. I believe Sabrina Ionescu, Rachel Banham or Caitlin Clark can give NBA players a run for their money in a 3pt shootout. Hopefully it'll happen one of these days.
Is there a different 3-pt line position on WNBA court?
Yes, NBA is 23 feet 9 inches. WNBA / FIBA / NCAA / NAIA, the arc is 6.75 m (22 ft 1.75 in).
Also, the WNBA/FIBA-women/NCAA-women ball is 1 inch shorter in circumference.
For the Steph-Sabrina shootout, each used the ball from their league but both shot from the NBA 3-pt line
Thank you. That’s > 1.5 ft difference. Sabrina was right there last year.
They did have the Steph v Sabrina shootout before and I believe they wanted to have Steph/Klay v Sabrina/Caitlin last year before people backed out
Interesting idea. I was wondering if most WNBA players practice from the NBA three-point line, the way Sabrina does.
That was nice, but it was a special Steph vs Sabrina shootout, though. Separate from the normal 3pt shootout.
I'd love to see some WNBA players actually compete in the regular NBA 3pt shootout with the guys.
I would love to see that!