What is the new WNBA minimum salary?

WNBA minimum salary under the new CBA

The WNBA and its players’ union reached a verbal agreement in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement after more than a year of negotiations. Among the most consequential reported elements is a large increase to the league’s minimum salary.

One headline specifically describes a 10x increase compared with 2003 levels, positioning the new minimum as a dramatic uplift rather than a modest adjustment. That matters because the minimum salary often functions as the baseline compensation for players who are lower on team rosters or early in their league careers.

What we can say from the headlines

• The agreement is expected to secure a WNBA season without a work stoppage, allowing the 2026 calendar to proceed.
• The minimum salary rises substantially under the new terms, with at least one report framing it as a 10x increase since 2003.
• The detailed dollar figure for the minimum wasn’t consistently provided in the snippets available here, so it’s safest to focus on the scale of the change rather than a specific number.

Why it matters

A higher minimum salary changes roster math. It can:

• Improve financial stability for players at the bottom of team payrolls
• Affect how teams structure contracts and offseason negotiations
• Raise the overall competitiveness of the league’s labor market

The key takeaway is that the CBA is designed to raise the floor for players, and at least one report characterizes that raise as an order-of-magnitude improvement. As full terms are finalized, more precise minimum-salary numbers and effective dates should become clearer.