WNBA players will likely no longer feel the need to participate in other leagues during the offseason. After eight days and over 100 hours of negotiations, there was a verbal agreement on a new CBA. The deal comes just under two months before the WNBA’s 30th season. Here are the details for this monumental deal.
ESPN’s NBA insider, Shams Charania, broke the news of the new CBA during Wednesday’s edition of Get Up. It was a situation where he left the table mid-conversation, so everyone knew something major was on the horizon. Charania returned to announce the deal, which includes a salary cap increase to $7 million, super max deals starting at $1.4 million, and minimum salaries of over $300,000 per year. Players will also now receive 20 percent of the revenue share.
These numbers are a far cry from last year, when the cap was $1.5 million, with a minimum salary of just over $66,000, and a revenue share of 9.3 percent.
None of this is possible if fans are not watching the games, and in 2024, that happened at a record-breaking rate. Total viewership was up by 155 percent from 2023 to 2024 (via ESPN Press Room). The year 2024 was, of course, when Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese entered the fold and took the league by storm. The battles that Clark and Reese had during their time at Iowa and LSU, respectively, carried over to the WNBA in tremendous fashion.
The five highest-viewed regular-season games of 2024 all included Clark’s Indiana Fever squad. Out of those five games, the top two were the contests between Reese and the Chicago Sky. Clark is the biggest needle mover for sure, but Reese definitely gives it an extra boost.
The increased WNBA viewership continued in 2025, although not at the historic rate from Clark and Reese’s rookie campaigns. Last year saw only a five percent increase, but this is also with the Fever’s star guard playing in just 13 games.
JuJu Watkins will be eligible for the WNBA draft in 2027, and she has the potential to take this even further. Watkins burst on the scene in 2023, averaging over 27 points, seven rebounds, and two steals as a freshman at USC. Unfortunately, Watkins tore her ACL during last year’s NCAA tournament, putting a screeching halt to what could be one of the best college careers ever seen.
Watkins is extremely marketable and has appeared in advertisements for State Farm, Gatorade, Ritz, Degree, and Nike. The Lady Trojan is exciting to watch on the court and has the personality and charisma to elevate the WNBA even more once she arrives. The league wants to become a more global brand, and Watkins, with her amazing game and signature bun hairstyle, could help lead that charge.
This agreement was a major victory for WNBA players, as they will now receive salaries more befitting of a professional athlete. While Clark is probably the biggest reason for the ratings boost, with Reese behind her, those before and after them also deserve praise. Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson and 2025 ROY Paige Bueckers should receive their flowers, also. Both ladies are excellent on the court, marketable, and had top-five selling jerseys last year.
There were, of course, some haters when this news broke, as is often the case with the WNBA. There were comments such as “who cares”, “nobody watches”, and “the league is going to go bankrupt soon”. Many do not understand how much time it can take for a league to start making a profit. In fact, the NBA, which began in 1946, did not become profitable until the 1980s, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson became absolute stars. Michael Jordan would soon follow, and he essentially took the NBA to the moon.
Clark and Reese may be the beginning of the WNBA’s Bird and Magic effect. Not necessarily by how they play, but the draw and impact on viewership. Both pairs faced off in the college championship game and were made rivals before going pro. Now, Clark and Reese will need to be opponents in some meaningful playoff basketball games.
Watkins could be that final piece once she enters the league in perhaps 2027. Could she be the one to have the Jordan impact on the WNBA and truly take it global? Only time will tell.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
