The WNBA’s low base salaries are no secret.
A quick Google search would alert anyone interested to the fact that the face of the league — three-time MVP A’ja Wilson — is paid an annual base salary of $200,000. On the opposite end of the league’s pay scale is Sky star Angel Reese, who made $73,439 during her record-breaking rookie season.
Next year Reese’s paycheck from the WNBA will increase to $74,909.
This week, Reese highlighted the WNBA’s meager salaries during an Instagram live video when she shared her income from the league doesn’t pay her bills.
“I’m living beyond my means,” Reese joked when sharing that her WNBA salary isn’t enough to cover her rent, which she said is $8,000 monthly.
The purpose of Reese’s social media exchange may have been to engage lightheartedly with her followers.
“Hating pays too,” Reese said.
However, Reese’s transparency about her WNBA salary exposes the reality of what players in the league need to do to supplement that income.
According to Wilson’s agent, Jade-Li English, the two-time WNBA champion’s base salary is her lowest contract by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wilson has partnerships with global brands like Nike, Gatorade and AT&T to name just a few.
While Wilson and Reese’s annual income might not be standard for all players in the WNBA, it is standard for most to supplement their income. The majority of players have historically done so by playing overseas.
Six-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi even went as far as sitting out the 2015 season at the request of her former club team UMMC Ekaterinburg. The team paid her more than her WNBA salary — which at the time was just under the league max of $107,000 — to take the summer off. The Sky will have at least five players competing overseas this offseason, including rookie Kamilla Cardoso.
Over the last 10 years, a lot has changed in the WNBA; however, player’s salaries have remained surprisingly low. In 2020, the WNBA and players union ratified a new CBA — which runs through the 2027 season — that increased the annual base salary for the league’s highest-paid players from $117,500 to $215,000.
This year, the WNBA’s max veteran base salary was valued at $208,219. The supermax was $241,984.
The WNBPA and the league have until Nov. 1 to opt out of the current CBA, forcing it to expire at the end of the 2025 season. All signs indicate the players will opt out, considering their push for higher salaries and the newly minted historic media-rights deal secured by the WNBA. The league announced the 11-year deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC in July. It’s valued at $200 million a year.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed potential upcoming negotiations ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
“This is going to be an opportunity to listen to one another and take the league to the next level for generations to come,” Engelbert said. “I look forward to building the future of the league and sitting down with the players whether they opt out, not opt out.
“I suspect that given the transformation of the league that we’ve been working so hard on, building this long-term economic model, we’ve already returned to the players through charter, through increasing playoff bonuses a couple of years ago by over 50%. We’ll continue to do that, and when we get to the bargaining table, we’ll continue to talk about the issues that are most important to the players.”