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OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:21 PM – Sunday, July 20, 2025
WNBA players have begun demanding increased pay, wearing pregame shirts that read: “Pay us what you owe us,” despite the league consistently failing to generate a profit.
Prior to Saturday night’s WNBA All-Star game, star players wore pregame shirts demanding increased pay as the players’ union engages in ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations with the WNBA.
Star Los Angeles Sparks player Kelsey Plum stated that the players held a meeting on Saturday morning, ultimately deciding to wear the shirts before tipoff.
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“We have the most participation in league history. I think we had close to 40 players in our league meeting,” stated Minnesota Lynx player Napheesa Collier. “I think it just sends a really strong message that we’re standing really firm on the certain areas that we feel really strongly about that we need to improve on, and I think we got that message across.”
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) decided to opt out of the currently agreed CBA, paving the way for negotiations on a new CBA to govern player contracts, salaries, benefits, and other working conditions.
Due to the termination of the currently agreed CBA, the WNBA and the WNBPA met this past week for the first time since December to begin initial talks for a new collective bargaining agreement.
“I think [Thursday’s] meeting was good for the fact that we could be in the same room as the league and the board of governors and that type of thing, but I think, to be frank, it was a wasted opportunity,” stated New York Liberty player Breanna Stewart.
“Based on their most recent proposal, we just aren’t able to get to a place where we’re actually even talking about the same thing,” she continued. “So I think that’s the hardest thing. Our first offer and then their counter was, like, black and white.”
Meanwhile, despite the increased interest in the league, seemingly due to prolific WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark, the league remains unprofitable.
In 2024, the WNBA reportedly lost $40 million despite reportedly receiving around $10 million in subsidies from the NBA.
Social media users reacted to WNBA players demanding higher pay despite the league failing to generate profits.
“The WNBA loses $50 million every year and has NEVER generated a profit. You deserve $0.00,” one X user wrote.
“WNBA All-Stars wearing shirts that say ‘Pay us what you owe us.’ LOL. The league operates at a loss and is subsidized by the NBA. And its players beat the **** out of the only player that fans pay to watch – Caitlin Clark,” another noted.
“WNBA Players are wearing shirts that say ‘Pay us what you owe us.’ Interesting choice to ask for your pay to be decreased,” a third user added.
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