How Much Money Does the NBA Make While the WNBPA Argues with Itself?
The WNBA’s Player Association has made yet another offer in an effort to resolve the labor dispute with the WNBA. As ESPN reported:
According to a source familiar with the proposal, the players’ union is now asking for an average of 27.5% of gross revenue…
This is less than what the players were asking for last December. As ESPN also reported, at that time the players were asking for an “average of 31% of gross revenue”.
That is not where the union started.
As High Post Hoops reported a few days ago, Nneka Ogwumike – President of the WNBPA – reported that initially the players asked for 40% of gross WNBA revenue. This was a reasonable request since the NBA – the majority owner of the WNBA – pays 50% of Basketball Related Income to the men of the NBA. This works out to be about 40% of gross revenue in the NBA.
Picture Source: https://www.si.com/college/stanford/cardinal-in-the-pros/seattle-storm-s-nneka-ogwumike-named-2025-wnba-all-star-game-starter
Had the NBA agreed to that initial offer, the gender-wage gap would be closed in professional basketball and we would all be talking about the 2026 WNBA season. But that didn’t happen.
What did happen – as ESPN initially reported -- is that the NBA offered the players in December of 2025…
… average salaries to above $530,000 and growing to more than $780,000 over the life of the deal…
And then – as I reported a few days ago – the NBA made essentially the same salary offer on January 10th and then again on February 2nd. As Nneka Ogwumike notes, the NBA continues to offer less than 15% of gross revenue.
And that means the WNBPA is effectively arguing with itself. The union keeps making different offers. And the NBA keeps saying the same thing.
The NBA simply making the same offer over and over and over again might give everyone the impression they are doing nothing. But that’s not true. Across the past few weeks the NBA has taken quite a bit of money from the players of the WNBA.
To see how much, let’s talk about revenue. You will note that none of these numbers included a statement about what gross revenue is in the WNBA. But we can use these numbers to estimate what is being fought over.
Yes... this involves some math (skip the next three paragraphs if math isn’t your thing!).
If the average wage in 2026 – according to the NBA’s offer -- is $530,000 and there are 180 players in the league (15 teams with 12 players each), then the total compensation to players is $95.4 million. And if players are paid about 14% of league revenue (i.e. less than 15%), then league revenue is about $680 million.
In 2030, the average wage – again, according to the NBA offer -- is supposed to be $780,000. At that point there will be 216 players (18 teams with 12 players each). So, the total compensation to players will be $168.5 million. Once again, if players are paid about 14% of league revenue, then total revenue in 2030 – according to the NBA’s own numbers – must be projected to be $1.2 billion!
If we assume that revenue from 2026 to 2030 will grow in a linear fashion, then league revenue from 2026 to 2030 is projected to sum to $4.7 billion. One percent of that total is $47.1 million.
That means – and this is the point I wish to make – every time the WNBPA offers to take just 1% less they are giving the NBA $47.1 million.
Or to put it differently, moving from 40% of league revenue (where the union started) to now asking for 27.5% of league revenue (where the union is now) means the WNBPA has already agreed to give the NBA $589 million!!!
And the NBA got that $589 million by
making the same offer over and over again
saying the WNBPA is essentially not changing their offer (yes, they are projecting!)
saying (without offering a shred of evidence!) that the WNBPA’s position is going to result in millions in losses
The media coverage of all this has been mixed.
Maria Marino wrote a great article at Sports Illustrated which called out the NBA’s use of the word “net revenue” (the NBA made up its own definition of that term that doesn’t match any textbook definition). Marino also noted that the NBA has historically paid the men far more than 15% of gross revenue.
These are important points I am just not seeing mentioned elsewhere very often. But this is not all that seems to be missing in most coverage of this issue
For example, I am not seeing reporters consistently note that the the NBA is the majority owner of the WNBA. It is reasonable to assume they are driving this process.
As Suzanne Abair – CEO of the Atlanta Dream – told me back in 2024 (and this is in Slaying the Trolls):
“If the 12 WNBA owners say they want to do something and the NBA says no, the answer is no.”
Adam Silver is often portrayed in the media as some sort of distant observer. But given what Abair said, it is entirely possible that Silver is playing a large role in this process. The NBA frequently told the NBA players during past labor negotiations that the NBA is losing money. This practice goes back decades and was employed by Silver when he became NBA commissioner. The way the NBA is approaching these negotiations with the women definitely looks like the same Adam Silver operation we have seen in the past.
Related to this point is something else I would like people to see. Reporters do not seem to have trouble finding players who wish to comment on these negotiations. Where, though, are the owners? Are we supposed to believe the owners who have recently bought expansion teams or seen existing franchises increase dramatically in value are all thrilled with the NBA’s approach in these negotiations? A simple story telling us that the owners are not talking would be quite revealing.
Beyond these issues, I would love to see more stories telling us that the NBA really has made the same offer multiple times. And – of course – I would love to see more stories telling us why the NBA’s math is really suspect.
I wrote about the claim of massive losses when the players asked for 31% of the revenue. Yes, the NBA’s math didn’t math (and I also told a reporter at the time about this but apparently that wasn’t worth reporting). It would be nice if reporters covering this issue just spent a bit of time seeing if the NBA’s claim of losses make sense mathematically. In other words, don’t just report the NBA’s claim that the WNBPA offer isn’t “realistic”. Take a moment to see if the NBA’s own numbers add up (i.e. if they are realistic!).
OK… they don’t!
Perhaps I will explain in my next story (or to any reporter who might ask!) why the claims of losses made in response to the union’s latest offer once again don’t add up. It really doesn’t take too much effort to see this!
Corporate media is not inclined to give us fair coverage regarding labor. These same billionaires own teams and media companies alike.
He may have turned out to be a pos personally but Chomsky had this shit nailed down in the 80s with 'Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media' If you hire people who believe in the hierarchy of things then you don't even need to get involved at the level of spiking stories. They'll be all to happy to uncritically repeat what the NBA tells them
Not to say that there aren't amazing investigative journalists out there, there absolutely are, but don't expect the ones at the mega corps to get in the trenches with us here.
I also ran the numbers and found major discrepancies that can only be explained by either inflated operational costs, or, pre-net allocations suppressing net revenue. Amazingly, the math lined up perfectly when the 52% of the espn media rights revenue was skimmed off the top and not included in the revenue calculation. Because of the extremely vague wording and lack of defined basketball related income in the WNBA CBA coupled with this bizarre ownership structure, my theory (though it cannot be concretely proven without seeing the books) is entirely possible. Then once you consider how the NBA actually fully owns the ESPN media deal via a bundled package, it actually becomes highly PROBABLE that this specific revenue allocation is absolutely occurring and thus skewing the numbers to fit the league executive's narrative. I cannot believe that nobody (except you) has pointed these things out. This lack of diligent journalism represents a major integrity issue that is directly contributing to the long standing and misguided public narrative that the NBA is obviously pushing in sneaky ways. The fact that the NBA is constantly de-valuing their own investment via their public commentary is very telling, isn't it?? And the commentary I've seen by league executives and the public shows a STARK contrast to what investors are saying publicly. Nike executive president said that "women's athletics is one of the best investments and we are excited to be part of that", Project B's co-founder said,“The growth in women’s sports rivals anything in AI right now,” Burnett told The Athletic, explaining why it is launching with women’s basketball. “It is truly majestic.” Now add to that: Englebert's own words when she announced the 3 new expansion teams back in June, and the fact that billionaires are racing to outbid each other for expansion rights to the tune of $250 million, and its VERY obvious that the true story is not being provided by journalists and the media. Additionally, if the NBA views the WNBA as their "welfare child", how do they explain the fact that all 6 of those expansion teams were awarded to NBA owners?? I'm pretty sure that juxtaposition is worthy of it's own headline...... which is why I'm stepping up to the plate and doing it myself.......