Never before has a WNBA season held so much promise. And maybe as much peril.
As the W kicks off its 29th season Friday night, there is more interest and investment in the league than ever before. Big-name sponsors are clamoring for pieces of both the league and individual teams, and games are having to be moved to bigger arenas to meet demand. The league is expanding for the first time since 2008 with the Golden State Valkyries, and Paige Bueckers gives the W another transcendent young player alongside Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Advertisement
No one can argue this is a blip or a bubble. There’s been marked growth for multiple seasons now, and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue.
So long as there’s labor peace.
The one cloud hanging over this feel-good moment is the ongoing negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires at the end of the season, and the players have made it clear they won’t play next year unless they get significantly more money.
“No one wants a lockout. But I think we have to stand firm in what we think we deserve in this new CBA,” Napheesa Collier, a vice president of the Players Association, said during a March appearance on ESPN’s First Take. “The atmosphere of women’s sports is changing and we think we need to get paid accordingly.
Advertisement
“We don’t want (labor strife) to happen,” she added, “but we’re willing to do what it takes to get what we think we deserve.”
To be clear, the W players absolutely deserve more than they’re getting.
After Clark was drafted last year, much of America was appalled to learn she’d be making less than $77,000 her rookie season. Which was an improvement over what players like Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson made when they were rookies!
The players aren’t asking for LeBron or Steph money. Heck, they’re not even asking for Cooper Flagg money. What they want is a larger percentage of the league’s revenues, similar to what male players get.
Advertisement
Currently, W players get less than 10% of the league’s revenues. That compares — badly — to the roughly 50% that players in the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball and NHL get.
“We want to have a fair deal for all, but it has to be within the confines of a sustainable economic model that goes on for 10 years,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said before last month’s draft.
“We’ve had a few years of great growth — hyper growth, I would call it — but we need to continue to make sure that we can fund the things the players are asking for. That we want for them, too,” she added. “We all want the players to make more money.”
And for anyone who is going to squawk about the WNBA “losing” money, just … don’t.
Advertisement
A report by Deloitte in March predicted women’s basketball, largely driven by the WNBA, will generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year. That would be an increase of almost $300 million and would vault basketball past soccer as the largest revenue-generating women’s sport.
“We’re starting to see that return cycle … that shows that it is a good business decision to invest in women’s sports. I think that’s been a really important and kind of crucial inflection point for this investment,” said Jennifer Haskel, a co-author of the report as knowledge and insights lead in the Deloitte Sports Business Group.
In other words, people have realized there’s money to be made in the W and are responding accordingly.
Since the end of last season, the W has announced partnerships with Coach, Ally and Booking.com while Liberty Mutual and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty (New York Liberty), Ring (Las Vegas Aces), COVERGIRL (Chicago Sky) and the credit union BECU (Seattle Storm) signed on with individual teams.
Advertisement
Franchise values are rising, as are the get-in costs. Portland paid a $125 million expansion fee last fall, more than double the $50 million Golden State had paid just a year earlier.
And in what will be the most significant influx of cash, the WNBA will begin a media rights deal worth $2.2 billion over 11 years next season.
“The sport is just exploding,” Collier said on First Take. “So I think we’re in a really great position where we have all the leverage as players right now. We have the most leverage we’ve ever had as WNBA players. We have to use it to our advantage. The time for change is right now and so we have to take advantage of it.”
Even if that means a work stoppage.
Advertisement
A lockout or strike wouldn’t end the WNBA’s growth pattern. The NFL and NBA have had repeated work stoppages throughout their histories and are doing just fine. But it could slow the rocket-fueled increases of the last few seasons sooner than anticipated, which wouldn’t be good for anybody.
“I do believe, ultimately, both sides will understand the importance of getting a deal done,” Ryan Ruocco, who along with Rebecca Lobo is ESPN’s lead broadcast team, said earlier this week.
“Both sides are too smart and too aware of where this league is at right now to let this momentum be stopped.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA begins 2025 season with revenue soaring, CBA negotiations looming
