WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said thenew collective bargaining agreementthe players' union and the WNBA agreed to in principle on Wednesday "redefines what it means to be a professional in this league."
"We always told you we were going to stand on business, and that's what this looks like," Ogwumike wrote onsocial media, adding: "For the first time, player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars."
The deal is expected to increase player salaries nearly fourfold from last season,according to ESPN, with the new salary cap expected to be $7 million. The average player salary is expected to be in range of $600,000 for the 2026 season, which is set to tip off on May 8.
Big-name players and incoming college stars who will greatly benefit from the deal, highlight USA TODAY's list of winners, while expansion teams round out of our list of losers due to the league's expedited timeline.
1. A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson had one of the best seasons in WNBA history and earned the top spot on our list. Wilson led the Aces to their third title in four years after sweeping nearly every major award in the calendar year. She earned her second WNBA scoring title, third Defensive Player of the Year award, an unprecedented fourth MVP and her second Finals MVP, becoming the first player in WNBA or NBA history to accomplish it all in a single season. Becky Hammon said it best: Wilson is "Everest. There is no one else around." Wilson isn't ready to be in the GOAT conversation just yet. "I still got a little bit more winning to do before you put me in that conversation. When you're compared to greats, when you're compared to legends, that means you're doing something right and I'm so grateful," she said after sweeping the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 WNBA Finals." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
2. Mikaela Shiffrin, Olympic alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin is in a league of her own. The two-time Olympic gold medalist owns the most World Cup wins of any alpine skier and is the only skier, male or female, to surpass the 100-victory milestone after reaching triple-digit World Cup victories in February. She's been on a tear ever since. Shiffrin has won five consecutive slalom races, including her win at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, in March and four wins to start the 2025-26 season. She's up to 105 World Cup wins, extending her own record, and is in great form ahead of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, where she's a heavy favorite to medal." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
3. Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings Bueckers' prolific resume at UConn included everything but a national championship. That changed in April, when Bueckers led the Huskies to the program's 12th title. The win kicked off a whirlwind year for Bueckers. She was drafted No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings and was a bright spot in the franchise's otherwise dismal 10-34 season. She was named the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year and earned an All-WNBA second-team nod, the only rookie selected to an All-WNBA Team. Bueckers told USA TODAY Sports she recently had the opportunity to catch her breath and process her achievements and what's ahead: "On my birthday (on Oc. 20), I reflected on the year 23 itself and how much of a journey it was. I stayed the most present and it ended up being one of the most fun, joyful, just peaceful years of my life. Just embracing everything that kind of came my way."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
4. Aryna Sabalenka, tennis Sabalenka spent the entire year at the top of the WTA rankings. Although the year got off to a rough start with back-to-back losses to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff in the Australian Open final and French Open final, respectively, Sabalenka rebounded to win the U.S. Open and clinch the fourth major title of her career. She finished the year with the most finals appearances (nine), most titles (four), most match wins (63) and set a single-season prize money record by taking home $15,008,519. She was named the WTA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, the seventh player in WTA history to repeat and third in the past 25 years." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
5. Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx Collier joined Elena Delle Donne in the exclusive 50-40-90 club, finishing the regular season with a 53.1% field goal percentage, 40.3% 3-point percentage and 90.6% free throw percentage. She led the Minnesota Lynx to the league-best 34-10 record, but Collier's accolades stretched far beyond the court. She's a vocal leader in the players' push for higher compensation in ongoing CBA negotiations with the WNBA and used her exit interview to publicly criticize league commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Collier also co-founded Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 basketball league that's drawn praise for prioritizing player amenities and paying competitive salaries. Unrivaled has provided an alternate avenue to earn money outside of the WNBA, which will be paramount as players are prepared to strike if CBA negotiations with the league remain at a standstill." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
6. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, track All Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone does is win. The four-time Olympic gold medalist won two gold medals at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. McLaughlin-Levrone won gold in the 400m flat with a time of 47.78 seconds, which broke the 42-year-old North American record with the second-fastest time by a woman in the distance. With the win, McLaughlin-Levrone became the first athlete to win world titles in both the 400m flat and 400m hurdles, an event for which she owns the world record (50.37 seconds). The 26-year-old has been so dominant she hasn't lost in a 400m or 400m hurdles race in two years. "I knew there were a lot of people doubting me with making the switch from 400m hurdles to the flat 400m, but ultimately, I had faith in my training," McLaughlin-Levrone said after winning World Athletics WomenÕs World Athlete of the Year. "For me, 2025 was a year of stepping outside of the comfort zone and pushing the bounds of what was mentally and physically possible. I want to continue pushing boundaries in 2026."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
7. Catarina Macario, USWNT Catarina Macario has been on fire. Macario led the U.S. women's national soccer team with eight goals this season, including a brace in Team USA's 3-0 win over Italy in late November. Macario is the first U.S. player to score in three straight games since Mallory Swanson scored six in a row from November 2022 to February 2023. Macario now has 16 total goals and five assists in 29 national team appearances. Macario's brilliance extended past the USWNT. The Chelsea FC midfielder is up to two assists in nine league matches so far and scored two goals in Chelsea's 6-0 UEFA WomenÕs Champions League win over St. Polten last month." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
8. Hilary Knight, hockey Hilary Knight is synonymous with Team USA hockey. She led the Americans to the top of the podium at the 2025 Women's World Championships to claim her 10th gold medal, the most of any hockey player. She also holds world championship records for the most goals, assists and points. Knight led Team USA to the first sweep of Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series with five goals and two assists across four games. Knight also had a PWHL-leading 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 30 games for the Boston Fleet. She's set to appear in her fifth Olympics next year, which will mark the most for a U.S. hockey player, male or female." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
9. NiJaree Canady, softball Texas Tech may have lost to Texas in the 2025 Women's College World Series, but pitcher NiJaree Canaday emerged as the face of college softball. The reigning national player of the year transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech and earned a seven-figure payday from the school's collective, marking the largest NIL deal for a college softball player. It was well deserved. Canady finished the season with a 1.11 ERA (second-best in the nation) and a team-high 11 home runs. She led Texas Tech to a school-record 54 wins, a Big 12 regular-season and tournament title and the program's first WCWS appearances. Even Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes came to see what all the hype was about and attended Game 2 of the WCWs." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
10. Kyndal Stowers, Texas A&M volleyball Just last year, Kyndal Stowers was medically retired after suffering four concussions in a matter of months. She didn't know if she would ever play volleyball again. By December 2025, Stowers was named the most outstanding player in the 2025 NCAA women's volleyball tournament after leading Texas A&M to their first national championship in program history with a sweep of SEC rival Kentucky. Stowers finished with 10 kills on .304 hitting, plus six digs, two service aces and one block. The Aggies shocked the world by defeating No. 1 overall seed Nebraska in five-sets, before sweeping No. 1 Pitt and No. 1 Kentucky in the Final Four." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ranking the top 10 women athletes of 2025
1. A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas AcesLas Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson had one of the best seasons in WNBA history and earned the top spot on our list. Wilson led the Aces to their third title in four years after sweeping nearly every major award in the calendar year. She earned her second WNBA scoring title, third Defensive Player of the Year award, an unprecedented fourth MVP and her second Finals MVP, becoming the first player in WNBA or NBA history to accomplish it all in a single season. Becky Hammon said it best: Wilson is "Everest. There is no one else around." Wilson isn't ready to be in the GOAT conversation just yet. "I still got a little bit more winning to do before you put me in that conversation. When you're compared to greats, when you're compared to legends, that means you're doing something right and I'm so grateful," she said after sweeping the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 WNBA Finals.
Winners
WNBA fans
As the league skyrockets in popularity with record viewership, attendance and merchandise sales, it was in everyone's best interests to strike a deal to capitalize on the growing momentum in women's sports. But as the CBA negotiations between the league and players' union stretched across 17 months, one question emerged: Will there be a 2026 season? That uncertainty grew as players voted in December to authorize the WNBPA's executive committee to "call a strike when necessary." But we finally have an answer. We will have a 2026 WNBA season and fans can officially rejoice.
Big-name players
Almost everyone who is anyone is a free agent and they are about to have piles of cash being thrown at them.
Once free agency is open, the race will be on to snap up the likes of three-time MVP A'ja Wilson,who reportedly is staying in Las Vegas, and three-time WNBA champion Breanna Stewart, along with Napheesa Collier, Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu, Jackie Young … you get the picture. While the top teams will likely be able to keep their top free agents with the salary cap jumping to $7 million, that's not going to stop other teams from doing their best ATM impressions.
And because free agency is being compressed, these deals will have to get done quickly. That means stars and the next tier of players are going to be seeing a lot of dollar signs soon.
Incoming college stars
Olivia Miles was projected to be a top pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, but she ultimately decided to enter the transfer portal due to the"volatility"of the league amid upcoming CBA negotiations. Her decision panned out. Not only is Miles projected to be the No. 2 overall pick of the 2026 WNBA Draft following a sensational season at TCU, Miles and fellow incoming rookies, including UConn's Azzi Fudd, UCLA's Lauren Betts, South Carolina's Ta'Niya Latson and LSU's Flau'jae Johnson, will benefit greatly from the new CBA.
The minimum salary is expected to be above $300,000 this season, up from $66,079. In comparison, WNBA rookie scale contracts paid out Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers $78,066 and $78,831, respectively, last season.
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WNBA players' 'Pay Us What You Owe Us' shirts
At the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, some of the league's biggest stars, including names like Caitlin Clark and A'ja Wilson wore black pregame T-shirts that read, "Pay Us What You Owe Us."
Eight months later, it appears the striking visual of players collectively wearing the shirts could be viewed as one of the more pivotal moments of these CBA negotiations. The players communicated with one voice: give us better pay and benefits.
"That's something we wanted to make well known. In the bubble we always knew how to make a stand with some T-shirts, so we did that today," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said in July at the All-Star Game. "We look forward to negotiating our fair share and our value."
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Ogwumike is referring to WNBA players wearing "Black Lives Matter" and "Vote Warnock" T-shirts in the WNBA bubble during the 2020 season. Ahead of a game in August 2020, the league came out in support of Rev. Raphael Warnock for U.S. Senate in Georgia. Warnock went on to defeat incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler, who co-owned the Atlanta Dream before selling her stake in the team in February 2021 following controversial comments on the Black Lives Matter movement. Warnock credited the players support and activism with boosting his 2020 Senate runoff victory.
ESPN
That sign of relief you heard coming from the East Coast was ESPN executives in Bristol, Connecticut.
In addition to having the bulk of the WNBA's regular-season games, ESPN went all in on women's sports for its summer programming. It kicked "Sunday Night Baseball" to the curb and replaced it with"Women's Sports Sundays,"planning to show 12 NWSL and WNBA games across nine weekends.
Though the start date hasn't been announced, you can bet ESPN execs were eyeing the negotiations nervously. With the new CBA done in time to preserve the start of the season, ESPN can go back to its regularly scheduled programming.
Losers
Expansion teams
The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire are set to join the league in 2026 as the 14th and 15th WNBA franchises, but the expansion teams will have less than two months to assemble their rosters before the season tips off on May 8. That's less than ideal for the two new teams that were essentially left in the dark as the rules and format of the expansion draft were negotiated in the new CBA.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebertnoted in October during negotiations that the expansion draft would be similar to the Golden State Valkyries' expansion draft held on Dec. 6, 2024, but the timeline will be much tighter. The league must squeeze in a two-team expansion draft, free agency that will feature over 100 players and the 2026 WNBA Draft before opening night.
The timeline was much more spaced out for the Valkyries. Golden State'sexpansion draftrules were released on Sept. 30, 2024 and teams were required to provide the league with a roster list of all their players by Nov 25, 2024, including six protected players that wouldn't be available for selection. Golden State then got to pick one player from each team, nearly two months before team-building continued through free agency in late January.
According to dates provided toESPN, the entire expansion draft process will be condensed to five days from April 1-6, which would include teams protecting their players, a coin flip between Portland and Toronto and the expansion draft. Free agency would begin the next day on April 7 and last until April 18. The WNBA Draft will be held on April 13 and WNBA training camp is scheduled to begin on April 19.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert
WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said the new CBA deal agreed to on Wednesday "marks a transformative step forward for players and the league," but she has a lot of work to do to regain players' trust following a tense 17 months of negotiations. Things reached a boiling point in September whenMinnesota LynxforwardNapheesa Collieropenly criticized Engelbert's "tone-deaf and dismissive" leadership in a press conference.
Collier recalled a specific conversation she had with Engelbert in February 2025 about compensating young stars. "Her response was, 'Caitlin (Clark) should be grateful to make $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn't make anything. ... In that same conversation she told me players should be, 'On their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.'" Engelbert said she was "disheartened" by Collier's characterization of their conversation anddenied making a comment about Clark, saying there's "a lot of inaccuracy about what I said or what I didn't say."
"I think that the commissioner's reputation is damaged in a real way... when (Napheesa) Collier said what she said, and other players backed her up," American University's N. Jeremi Duru, professor of law, director of sport and society initiative, told USA TODAY Sports. "I think that (Engelbert's) reputation is going to remain a challenge for her going forward."
Role players
They're still going to get paid. It's just going to take a while.
Teams are likely to focus on the stars and their own free agents first. When those folks are taken care of, teams will turn their attention to the next tier of players. Only when all of those deals are done will teams fill out their rosters with role players.
This is what the kids call a first-world problem. Under the new CBA, the minimum salary is jumping to above $300,000, from less than $80,000, while the average will be around $600,000.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Who won WNBA CBA deal? Why star players, fans come out on top