South Carolina coach Dawn Staley called the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement "incredibly historic," praising the landmark deal that will more than quintuple average player salaries.
Dawn Staley didn't need many words to sum up the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement. Two of them did the job.
"What's happening is incredibly historic," Staley said Thursday, with South Carolina deep in NCAA Tournament preparations.
Players and the league's Board of Governors still need to ratify the tentative seven-year deal, announced March 20. Total projected player salaries and benefits top $1 billion over that run.
Start with the numbers. The average salary jumps from around $120,000 in 2025 to $583,000 next season. The cap was $1.5 million in 2025. Next season it's $7.0 million, tied to revenue going forward. Top earners will pocket $1.4 million in 2026, a number expected to pass $2.4 million before the deal expires. Even the league minimum checks in at $270,000 to $300,000, depending on service time.
Staley, who made six WNBA All-Star teams during her playing career, put the moment in perspective for the players currently under her watch who are headed to the pros.
"People have fought. When you enter into the league, you're going to make 100 times, 75 times more than someone that was 30 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago," she said.
Money isn't the whole story. Women's professional sports has never had anything like it — a revenue-sharing structure with no ceiling on what players can earn as the league grows. Charter flights are now written into the deal for all teams. Facility standards go up, rosters get bigger, and players who are pregnant or family planning get better protections.
Staley couldn't resist a jab at senior guard Raven Johnson, who came back for one more year and will head to the draft just as the new money kicks in. Staley has called Johnson one of the hardest players she'll have to say goodbye to.
"Good thing you came back, Raven. Because really, it's lucrative," Staley said.
She had credit for both sides.
"The players' association and all the officers in the players' association have really just bared down and fought for their worth, and the worth of current players as well as the future," Staley said. "And the fact that the WNBA negotiated such a historical deal means that they understand it too. They understand that they have to be on this side of history to move our game forward."
The new CBA also expands the regular-season schedule, with up to 50 games in 2027 and 2028, and up to 52 games from 2029 through 2032. The deal was reached in time to preserve the full 2026 season, avoiding any work stoppage heading into what figures to be one of the most anticipated years in league history.