With the current proposal of a max salary increase of $1.2 million. There is still much doubt about what the WNBA actually earns in total revenue. While anything over 1 million sounds like a lot of money, not every player will receive this salary.
A 1.2 million dollar cap does not account for that reality that star players like Angel Reese, Napheesa Collier, Caitlin Clark, Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, Aja Wilson, Jackie Young, Aliyah Boston, Tina Charles, Kahleah Copper, Aaliyah Edwards, Allisha Gray, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Saniya Rivers, Nneka Ogwumike, Tiffany Hayes, Britney Sykes, Kayla Thornton, Natasha Howard, Kiki Iriafen, Azura Stevens, Rickea Jackson individually and combined easily draws million upon millions of dollars in generated revenue just from the mentioning of their names as brands.
Every single woman on that roster deserves to have her name recognized and her talent and efforts paid in full.
Let’s be real, not every player is going to receive anything with that $1.2 million cap.
The $1.2 million mark is going to players who are league favorites, who drive ticket sales and merchandise revenue, and who generate content through team branding and recognition. Are we led to believe that Caitlin Clark should be paid $1.2 million, when she easily makes her team 10* as much?
Are we really going to believe that up-and-coming players in overseas leagues and others, like those in the NCAA, should be paid a minimum of $225,000? Caitlin Clark generated millions of dollars in just one rookie season; the current proposal would pay Clark $225,000 if she were to enter the WNBA as a rookie starting in 2026.
The current minimum proposal of $225,000 for rookies is just not enough, given that rookies can easily generate millions of dollars by simply mentioning their names.
College basketball players like Ta’Niya Latson, Lauren Betts, Hannah Hidalgo, JuJu Watkins, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Flau’jae Johnson, or Sarah Strong would easily draw millions of dollars in revenue to whatever teams they would potentially be drafted to in later years.
How would a minimum of $225,000 do anything for players? But enrich the leagues to which they are assigned and devalue their overall performance from a league that continues to grow, expand, develop, and accelerate more than ever before.
A minimum of $225,000 is pocket change to a league that will earn 10* if not 100* as more from these same players who are continuously devalued.
In other words, leagues will easily outpace players in revenue and growth, while players earn pennies and leagues earn millions.
A guaranteed minimum of $225,000 for any player is not enough to survive.
Name-brand and star players who play in other leagues at the moment could easily draw in over $1 million simply by their names alone, if ever drafted to the WNBA.
I Am Humans believes that a guaranteed minimum should be around $659,988, as we mentioned previously. For a 12-woman roster, leagues would need to set aside $7.9 million to fulfill minimum player contracts.
Suppose teams managed their players’ likeness, character, and content well enough. Teams could easily afford to pay at least $659,988 by building their brands around star players within their own teams, as Caitlin Clark was built around.
Clark easily generated millions of dollars from her name alone and her brand. Suppose teams follow similar pathways towards building around players like this. Leagues could easily pay players the minimum of $659,988 while also providing housing, medical coverage, retirement packages, vacation hours, player injury protection, day-care facilities, and access to facilities.
In other words, players could easily generate millions of dollars for their teams, leagues could still bank profits, and players earn what they deserve.
One rookie player alone can easily draw millions upon millions of dollars, just like Caitlin Clark did for the Indiana Fever.
A guaranteed minimum of $225,000 is not enough inside a 44-game schedule.
I Am Humans is not concerned with the max salary cap. We are apprehensive about the guaranteed minimum for every woman on the roster, not what the maximum salary is for players like Clark. But for the likeness of all players regardless of their media attention.
From a league that continues to dodge questions regarding its financial record-keeping. It’s becoming clearer than ever that the league continues to treat these women as its slave labor. Not for the professionals that they truly are in all aspects of life.
We hope the league will pay these players what they are owed in salary and benefits, so that both sides can come to a mutual agreement.