What to know about landmark WNBA salary agreement set to make sports history
After months of WNBA labor negotiations, WNBA Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike announced this week that the players' union had struck a transformational verbal agreement with the league, in which star athletes would reportedly be set to earn more than $1 million for the first time in league history.
"This journey has been well worth it," Ogwumike told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts on Thursday of the ups and downs it took to get a new collective bargaining agreement. "It's a deal that's changing lives in real time and also for generations to come."
According to the WNBPA, the agreement would drive up the average salary by 364%, the maximum salary up 460% and the minimum salary 309%.
Ogwumike, a 10-time WNBA All-Star, told ABC News that to her understanding, this would become the single largest salary jump in all of sports history.
With that, she said they're able to report "a seven-figure max salary."
"There's not a lot of details that I can share, because we're still trying to finalize the term sheet," Ogwumike said, adding that in the meantime, they've been able to "preempt the players about what it is that they're going to be voting [on] and ratifying."
"That includes increases in, obviously, salary, minimum average and max. It includes retirement benefits, specifically something that reflects our appreciation for those who came before us and in our legends," Ogwumike said. "We wouldn't be here without people like you, without so many of the players that have created this league that we're in today."
Housing was another important term that Ogwumike said was "passionately voiced" during negotiations to provide certain benefits and "support for us to be able to perform at a high level."
"We are declaring our value, we're fighting for what we deserve and what we're owed," Ogwumike said.
She added that the agreement considers both existing and future players "and the amount of money that they can save to build for the future that they really desire for themselves," especially incoming players who are "still navigating that very tight transition from the college space tot the pro space."
The 30th WNBA season tips off May 8, 2026.
