NBA commissioner Adam Silver says he expects WNBA players to see major salary increases as part of the league’s upcoming collective bargaining negotiations — though he didn't say if he agreed with the players' push to have a comparable revenue share deal as their male counterparts.
In an interview on NBC’s TODAY with Craig Melvin, Silver was asked about the WNBA’s growing call for higher pay and a larger share of league revenue. With the players’ current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) set to expire on October 31, the WNBA Players Association is expected to seek a major financial overhaul.
“Yes,” Silver said when asked if players should be getting a larger share of the league’s income. “I think ‘share’ isn’t the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA. I think you should look at it in absolute numbers in terms of what they’re making and they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it.”
The WNBA, which is 42% owned by the NBA, has seen significant growth in recent years, with TV ratings, ticket sales, and sponsorship revenue all on the rise. But players have argued that their pay hasn’t kept pace with the league’s success.
Currently, WNBA players receive just 9.3% of league-generated income, according to MarketWatch, compared to NBA players’ 49–51% revenue share.
Stars such as Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks have been among the most vocal about closing that gap. During July’s WNBA All-Star Game, players wore black shirts reading “Pay Us What You Owe Us” to put a spotlight on the issue.
“A lot of times, the misinformation comes in where we’re asking to be paid what the men are being paid. That’s not true,” Plum said earlier this year on the All the Smoke podcast. “We’re asking just the same percentage of revenue or a similar percentage of revenue. And right now, that’s not the case.”
Collier echoed those concerns, telling the Associated Press that players “get a very tiny percentage of all the money that’s made through the WNBA,” adding, “We want a fair and reasonable percentage of that.”