WNBA’s new CBA sets blueprint as emerging women’s leagues chart their own path

Q: What are the key changes in the WNBA's new collective bargaining agreement?

The new CBA raises the salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million, introduces charter flights, first-class travel, and expands mental health support for players.

Q: How does the WNBA's CBA impact other women's sports leagues?

The WNBA's CBA serves as a blueprint for emerging leagues like the WPBL and PWHL, encouraging them to advocate for better player compensation and conditions.

Q: What milestones have WNBA players achieved with the new CBA?

For the first time, WNBA stars like A'ja Wilson are earning over $1 million, reflecting the league's growing popularity and revenue potential.

Q: What future trends are expected for women's sports leagues?

Experts predict that as investment in women's sports increases, leagues like the PWHL and WER will see growth in attendance and revenue, similar to the WNBA's trajectory.

Mo'ne Davis was preparing for a Women's Professional Baseball League scrimmage when the WNBA and its players agreed to a landmark collective bargaining agreement last month. Davis, who rose to stardom as a little league pitching sensation, followed developments as WNBA players negotiated historic salaries. As she enters the inaugural season of the WPBL, Davis sees those record gains as a signal to the next generation of women's leagues about what is possible. “Wanting to be a WNBA player growing up and seeing it not be as huge as it is now,” Davis said, “and just seeing the growth — it’s amazing. I’m excited for what’s to come.” As the WNBA begins its season under the new CBA, emerging women's sports leagues like baseball and hockey are looking at that progress as a promising roadmap for growth. At the same time, leaders of those startup leagues recognize the WNBA's growth was shaped by decades of player advocacy, work stoppage threats and athletes playing elsewhere to supplement their incomes. “The WNBA is definitely an example of a league that had to grind and keep showing its worth over and over,” said Justine Siegal, co-founder of the WPBL, which debuts in August. “The recognition is overdue and well-deserved. For us as a new women’s pro league, we don’t see it as the beginning. We see it is we’re part of a momentum that fans want to see.”

Newer women's leagues try to capitalize on current boom

The WNBA's new seven-year CBA will raise the league's salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million in the first year of the deal. It will also improve player experience with codified charter flights, first-class travel accommodations and expanded mental health support. Perhaps most notably, the deal marks a new era of player compensation, with stars like four-time MVP A'ja Wilson making more than $1 million for the first time in WNBA history. Those milestones are, in part, the result of surging popularity in women's basketball, with stars like becoming household names and driving up viewership. After securing a landmark media rights deal in 2024, players recognized a pivotal opportunity to demand a bigger share of that growing revenue. “We can kind of show (other leagues) what worked and obviously the strength in numbers,” said star . “Realizing the value of your league and your teams." Newer leagues are still far from the financial scale of leagues like the WNBA or National Women's Soccer League, which is in its 14th year and has benefitted from years of equal pay efforts. published by the accounting firm Deloitte said soccer and basketball are expected to be the top revenue-generating women’s sports in 2026, with each accounting for 35% of overall revenues. Still newer leagues are watching closely as they try and capitalize on the current boom those established organizations helped create. “There is a lot for us to take away from both the player solidarity that led to the deal and the substance of the deal itself,” said, Malaika Underwood, executive director of the Professional Women's Hockey League Players Association, in an email. “In many ways, this new CBA has raised important benchmarks for what women athletes should expect across professional sports.”