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NEW YORK — The projected salary cap under the pending WNBA collective bargaining agreement is set to exceed $10 million by the end of the agreement, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The 2026 cap will reach $7 million, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania earlier Wednesday, up from $1.5 million in 2025. In the prior agreement, the cap started at $1.3 million in 2020 and grew by 3% each year.
The new agreement will be a seven-year deal with an opt-out after Year 6, a source said, confirming a report by Front Office Sports.
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Sources told Charania the 2026 supermax starts at $1.4 million in 2026. (It was $249,244 in 2025.) The average salary will be around $600,000 ($120,000 in 2025), with the minimum salary surpassing $300,000 ($66,079 in 2025).
The average revenue share would be nearly 20% across the length of the deal, though it remains unclear exactly what that revenue share system — a main flashpoint in negotiations between the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association — ultimately looks like.
The agreement also is expected to enhance various player benefits, codify charter travel and establish other professional standards.
“We’re just really grateful to be able to come to a deal,” WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said. “We’re proud of ourselves. And quite frankly, we always told you all we were going to stand on business, and that’s what this looks like.”
Additional details of the agreement are expected to be announced once a term sheet is completed in the coming days. The deal then must be ratified by the WNBA board of governors and the WNBPA player body.
