Strike Season: Pay Us What You Owe Us

The WNBA CBA season is here (that’s not really a season but for the next few months it will be). 

And if you’re the players, there should be no peace! They should want answers, leverage, and checks with commas.

Now the WNBA proposed an offer for 800K for super max contracts, now that’s cool, but the numbeers sohuld be a lot more. How about a range upwards of 1-4 million per year?

Even the vet’s minimum at 78K a year being offered is laughable.

With the WNBA finishing a banner year, where the Aces ran through Phoenix like a joyride, the players have to do their best to make sure they go full throttle for what they believe they are owed. Owners count money. Players count miles. Fans count receipts. I count the only move that actually moves anything: a strike.

Not in five years. Not after another “task force.” Now. You strike now for the next generation and for your own bag. You set a number, you set a line, and you stand on it.

The Case: Stand Together, Squeeze Hard, Don’t Blink

The league never saw this kind of visibility or growth until now.

Everyone admits that. Adam Silver even said the quiet part out loud:

“We’ve got to sit down with the players and negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.”

Silver also admitted the relationship got messy.

Players already told the truth louder as Napheesa Collier said,

“We have the worst leadership in the world.”

Fans wore the message back to the floor. Players warmed up in “PAY US WHAT YOU OWE US” shirts. That energy matters. That pressure works.

You want the simplest argument for a strike?

I mean just look at the revenue split on the table. Under the current setup, players sit at 9.3% of league revenue. That number insults the moment.

The NBA standard lives in a different neighborhood: 49–51% of basketball-related income. The NFL and NHL sit near 50% too. The W stands at 9.3% and the league wants applause.

I want a calculator and a picket line because that’s honestly just bulls**t.

Less than 10%? That number needs to reach at least 35-50 percent or something in that range.

Satou Sabally already told you how teams overseas treat talent:

“It is very personal because the WNBA wants to forbid us to make a lot of more money than we’re ever going to make here what it seems like in other leagues… we make more money in China, Russia and Turkey than here.”

That quote hits like a body check. Players drag themselves through summers for love and legacy while other leagues slide bigger checks across the table. That gap fuels the strike math.

Receipts, Media Money &

Leverage

Versant just inked an 11-year media deal with the WNBA.

The deal starts in 2026, includes at least 50 games per year, select playoff and Finals windows, Wednesday doubleheaders, and dedicated pre- and postgame shows on USA Network. The league already stacked a separate media package last July with Disney, Amazon, NBCUniversal at around $200M per year, plus a new deal with Ion. Versant said more production details will drop soon.

Translation: the truck pulls up with more cameras and more cash.

Owners love “long-term certainty.” Players need “long-term percentage.” A strike says: we don’t trade this moment for a one-time raise that locks us into yesterday’s share. We tie pay to growth. We index the salary system to revenue. We lock revenue share that climbs, not crawls.

Players finally hold domestic options. Unrivaled runs January to March. Season two tips January 5, 2026. The league expanded from six to eight teams, grew roster spots from 36 to 54, and plans broadcasts on TNT, TruTV, and Max. Year one hit a $220K median salary, pulled $30M in revenue, and announced a $340M valuation. That’s not a side hustle; that’s leverage.

The numbers are going to go through the roof for Unrivaled as the stars line up such as exciting dynamos including Paige Bueckers, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, Kelsey Mitchell. And yes, if Caitlin Clark ever jumps in—the numbers will once again spike.

You also know the nuclear option: A’ja Wilson in Unrivaled turns TV trucks into parade floats.

Do stars owe anyone a winter grind? No. Rest matters. Family matters. But the option exists. Options change negotiations. Options juice a strike.

Even Charles Barkley, who warned players not to “overplay your hand,” also said the quiet part: if the WNBA goes on strike and the players jump to Unrivaled, players can “start their own league with their own equity, and make three times what they’re making right now.”

That’s leverage in plain English.

History Speaks: 2011 Showed the Path

The 2011 NBA lockout dragged 161 days. Hell it was fun watching LeBron, KD, Chris Paul and a bunch of other NBA players do their barnstorming basketball tour. Including the games at FIU (Shoutout to my Golden Panthers)

But it also nuked the preseason, cut the season to 66 games, and ended with a new CBA that tied player pay to league revenue in a 49–51.2% band. Owners pushed hard. Players pushed harder. Everyone bled.

The outcome still reset the split and the system.

That fight built today’s NBA money. Top dogs now eat $50–70M per year, and minimum guys clear $1.1M+ with raises by experience. Meanwhile the NFL/MLB/NHL minimums cluster near $750K, and that floor still counts as a living. The NBA built the biggest tide by locking to revenue growth.

The W needs the same architecture, not tip jars.

Strike threats force clocks to tick.

Extensions buy owners time. Deadlines focus minds.

If the W side accepts a bigger cap but the same percentage logic, players take a nicer bus to the same address.

I don’t ride that route.

The Moment After Aces–Mercury: Use The Sweep As Stagecraft

The Aces just finished a third title in four years over Phoenix.

That finish line hands players the microphone. Expansion sits on deck: Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire plan to join in 2026, with more teams on the way to 18 by 2030.

Expansion drafts, free agency fireworks, new practice palaces—all of that needs a CBA. That calendar hands players leverage.

Owners want the machine humming for the 30th anniversary. Players want the machine to pay the drivers.

If the sides miss the Oct. 31 deadline, the league can extend terms and keep talking.

If the talks stall anyway, players can strike and play elsewhere in the winter. Athletes Unlimited exists. Unrivaled exists. Overseas checks exist.

The WNBPA can line up escrow and bridge cash for rank-and-file players and then walk into the room with real unity.

The Ask: Write It In Ink, Not Vibes

Here’s the core ask that actually honors the moment:

Peg the salary cap and maxes to revenue with annual growth triggers.

Raise revenue share from 9.3% to a glide path that targets 50%.

Protect off-season flexibility; don’t weaponize “prioritization” against domestic options like Unrivaled (honestly, the W should pay them to disassemble leagues such as Unrivaled) 

Expand rosters and benefits as revenue climbs, not as a one-off PR stunt.

Access to facilities that are quality and reflect the growth of the sport in the modern era.

Build transparency: audited league and team revenue reports to the union every year.

You want growth? Cut players into growth. You want loyalty? Stop taxing players for ambition.

You want a thriving league in 2030? Pay the people who make the thing watchable.

The WNBA can play the “we’re growing” card.

Great. Growth pays bills. Growth also raises wages.

You can’t sell out arenas, break viewership records, cash multi-network rights deals, headline Wednesday nights on USA, and then keep the people on the floor at 9.3%.

I don’t clap for that. I strike for that.

Don’t Wait For Permission

Owners respond to leverage.

Media responds to noise.

Fans respond to honesty.

A strike says: we own our time, our labor, and our future.

You don’t beg for a fair share in a rocket ship.

You take the wheel and you set the split.

Pay us what you owe us.