The WNBA reached its revenue-sharing target for the first time during the 2025 season, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Athletic. ESPN was the first to report.
The specific revenue target is not enumerated in the CBA, only the mechanism required to trigger revenue sharing. The league generated enough revenue so that $16 million was shareable with the players. Of that amount, $8 million is redirected towards league marketing agreements, a program in which players promote the WNBA and its partners during the offseason. According to the collective bargaining agreement, a player can earn a maximum of $250,000 per offseason via the LMA. The other half ($8 million) will be given to the 13 teams to share among players.
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The union has discretion on how the money is distributed. The WNBPA received the annual League Revenue Report on Feb. 9 and has 30 days to decide on a payout structure, according to the terms of the 2020 CBA.
The 2020 CBA introduced a revenue-sharing system that allowed players to share in overage beyond a certain target. That target increased by 20 percent each season and was cumulative over the life of the deal. As a result, even though the WNBA experienced a massive surge in revenue during the 2024 season, it could not clear the cumulative total because of the pandemic-affected seasons in 2020 and 2021, when the league’s revenue was significantly lower.
The league salary cap was $1,507,100 per team in 2025. Beyond salary, players could earn additional compensation for winning the Commissioner’s Cup ($500,000 per team), All-Star bonuses, end-of-season awards and winning playoff series.
This CBA expired on Jan. 9 after two extensions, and its revenue-sharing formula will no longer be in effect in the new one. Although the players and the league remain at odds over how to share the WNBA’s revenue, both sides have proposed a system that directly ties revenue to the salary cap rather than involving separate payouts.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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