3 weeks ago
Opening nighttime typically pulses pinch anticipation alternatively than gushes pinch nostalgia, but nan New York Liberty wore a “court origins” azygous that alludes to their history arsenic 1 of nan WNBA’s 8 founding members erstwhile they hosted nan Connecticut Sun connected Friday.
Protracted and pugnacious negotiations betwixt nan players’ national and nan convention threatened to hold aliases moreover wreck nan caller season. But an accord that hands nan players important salary rises intends nan convention has overmuch to look guardant to, arsenic good arsenic plentifulness to bespeak on, arsenic it celebrates 30 years.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has described nan 30th play arsenic a “transformational moment” and nan “beginning of a caller era”. An economical roar suggests there’s immoderate credibility to those cliches.
A $300m agreement reached successful March to waste nan Sun, based successful Connecticut since 2003 and owned by nan Mohegan Tribe, to Tilman Fertitta, an intermezo tycoon who owns nan NBA’s Houston Rockets and was past twelvemonth named US ambassador to Italy, is simply a awesome of nan WNBA’s evolving fortunes. The convention is starring nan measurement arsenic interest, salaries and squad valuations soar successful North American women’s master basketball, shot and ice hockey.
The mounting Sun – whose departure has been met pinch disappointment by their New England fanbase – are expected to beryllium renamed nan Houston Comets, reclaiming nan marque personality of an original franchise that dominated nan nascent WNBA pinch their formidable Big Three of Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson.
Founded successful April 1996 pinch nan backing of nan NBA, which shares ownership of nan convention pinch nan individual squad owners and different investors, nan WNBA tipped disconnected nan pursuing year, surfing a activity of enthusiasm aft nan US women won golden astatine nan Atlanta Olympics. It has since expanded and contracted for illustration an accordion’s bellows to its 15 teams this season. Only 3 of nan original 8 – nan Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks – stay and are still playing successful their first city.
True to their name, nan Comets sewage disconnected to a blazing commencement past disintegrated. They won nan first 4 WNBA championships but disbanded successful 2008 because they could not find caller owners for a franchise valued astatine $10m – astir $15m successful 2026 money. The Comets’ demise was an alarming denotation of nan league’s parlous authorities arsenic nan world financial situation hit. Now, pinch Fertitta reportedly paying a league-record fee, nan worth of a WNBA franchise successful Houston has climbed by 1,900% successful nether 20 years.
The numbers are melodramatic moreover if only stretching backmost 2 years. In 2024 nan owners of nan Portland Fire (another bequest name, evoking a franchise that flamed out successful 2002) reportedly paid an first $75m to subordinate nan convention this season. Fellow newcomers nan Toronto Tempo, nan first WNBA squad successful Canada, were charged $50m. Yet successful June past twelvemonth nan convention announced further description s to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. The interest per squad is said to beryllium $250m, a caller precocious for American women’s sports and supra nan NWSL-record $205m paid by Columbus, who will subordinate successful 2028.
One facet driving optimism – and ostentation – is nan instant occurrence of nan Golden State Valkyries, who stock a main proprietor and arena pinch nan NBA’s Golden State Warriors. They paid $50m to commencement successful 2025 and promptly group nan WNBA grounds for mean attendance pinch 18,064. (The wide convention average last play was 11,148.) The Valkyries person group up a waitlist aft trading much than 12,000 play tickets for nan caller campaign. On nan backmost of their crowds and sponsorship deals, CNBC anointed nan Valkyries the first $1bn franchise successful women’s sports, pinch nan WNBA’s second-most valuable team, nan Liberty, weighted astatine an estimated $600m. Sportico places nan Valkyries at $850m, and judges nan apical NWSL club, Angel City, to beryllium worth $335m. The Los Angeles-based squad paid conscionable $2m to participate nan convention successful 2022.
Home to Silicon Valley, nan San Francisco Bay Area is nary alien to hyped-up start-ups. Still, there’s a logic to nan calculations: CNBC estimates nan Warriors to beryllium nan NBA’s astir valuable team, worthy $10.8bn, and their estimated yearly gross of $840m, for illustration their value, is astir 10 times greater than nan Valkyries’. Even nan slightest valuable American squad successful CNBC’s WNBA ranking, nan Atlanta Dream, is worthy an estimated $330m, making $250m-$300m for a franchise look for illustration a coagulated finance contempt uncertainty complete nan WNBA’s profitability. The WNBA is reportedly an yearly money-loser, though NBA commissioner Adam Silver has based on that nan 2 leagues are “one integrated business”, frankincense creating a analyzable financial picture.
“The WNBA’s maturation is important because it changes nan baseline cognition of women’s sport. It signals to investors, sponsors, and media partners that women’s sports are credible, scalable and commercially viable,” Katie Lebel, a sports business professor astatine nan University of Guelph successful Ontario, says by email. “On 1 level, this is simply a marketplace correction. For years, women’s athletics properties were undervalued comparative to their audience, taste relevance, and maturation potential. What we’re seeing now is investors catching up. They’re pricing nan early worth of women’s athletics alternatively than judging women’s athletics properties arsenic risky investments based connected constricted past revenues.”
Could a master women’s franchise 1 time beryllium worthy much than a men’s team?
“I don’t deliberation we’re connected nan cusp of seeing a WNBA squad surpass nan worth of nan Dallas Cowboys successful nan adjacent future,” Lebel says. “But franchise worth isn’t really astir gender, it’s astir marketplace size, scarcity, maturation trajectory, and nan spot of nan business model. Women’s athletics is successful a high-growth shape correct now. Their audiences are expanding, finance is increasing, and there’s a beardown taste tailwind. In contrast, men’s leagues are mature assets, truthful they person slower growth. In this sense, it’s much astir maturation imaginable versus marketplace maturity. So yes, I tin foresee it. In nan correct market, pinch nan correct ownership, it’s wholly possible.”
Valuations are speculative and variable, but subordinate wages are matters of fact. The WNBA’s hotly contested seven-year corporate bargaining statement ratified successful March calls for a minimum net of $270,000, a vertiginous emergence from 2025’s guidelines of $66,079. Last play nan maximum net was astir $250,000; now nan apical complaint is $1.4m and nan net headdress per squad has accrued from $1.5m to $7m.
The NBA rookie minimum net is $1.27m – but that league’s existed since nan 1940s. A fairer comparison whitethorn beryllium pinch MLS, which kicked disconnected successful 1996. In MLS nan minimum elder net is $113,400, though its elder rosters comprise 20 players compared pinch nan WNBA’s dozen.
“You now person master athletes who tin really unrecorded and train for illustration master athletes and play their play and person an offseason and not person to deliberation astir wherever other successful nan world they’re going to play in bid to gain money successful nan WNBA offseason,” says Michele Donnelly, subordinate professor of athletics guidance astatine Brock University successful Ontario.
“I deliberation it besides is simply a really fantabulous illustration – and I deliberation we spot immoderate of this happening successful nan PWHL, nan women’s lucky league, correct now – [of] athletes really invested successful and progressive successful nan governance of their ain sport. I deliberation nan domiciled of nan WNBA players’ relation can’t beryllium overstated successful this process, they really person been truthful productive and progressive and truthful effective successful making their lawsuit for accrued salaries, accrued benefits.”
The expenditures, arsenic good arsenic vocal support from NBA superstars specified arsenic LeBron James, who attends WNBA games and this week sent a good-luck message to Caitlin Clark, nan league’s astir celebrated name, are “signalling a legitimacy”, says Vassilis Dalakas, professor of trading astatine Point Loma Nazarene University successful San Diego. “I retrieve successful nan past, nan early years, a large portion of nan marketing, astatine slightest to sponsors, was like, ‘this is simply a bully cause, do nan correct point [and] support it’. It wasn’t on nan lines of, ‘this is morganatic and a bully finance for you’. That mindset has changed,” he adds. “Investment of that magnitude would not beryllium made if location was not a beardown belief this would beryllium sustained.”
In 2024, nan twelvemonth Clark was selected first successful nan draught by nan Indiana Fever, nan WNBA announced an 11-year media authorities statement pinch aggregate networks worthy astir $200m a year, much than tripling nan erstwhile deal. Add successful sponsorships and nan money and attraction opposition pinch nan comparative anonymity and hardships knowledgeable by earlier generations of WNBA professionals. Now WNBA stars are guests astatine nan Met Gala.
Cooper-Dyke spent 10 seasons successful Spain and Italy earlier nan WNBA was born. There were times erstwhile aft a large capacity successful Europe she felt “like … damn, I person to admit, it would person been bully to do that pinch 20,000 group chanting my name. Or it would person been bully to beryllium connected SportsCenter for immoderate highlights, aliases successful nan sports conception of nan LA Times nan adjacent greeting pinch a write-up,” she told nan Players’ Tribune successful 2020. “I wouldn’t opportunity I felt cheated retired of anything, needfully – but I still decidedly had these moments wherever I was alert of what I was missing retired on, conscionable by kindness of being a female subordinate alternatively of a antheral player.”
This WNBA procreation tin bask wide attraction and adulation while earning overmuch much than nan $75,798 successful guidelines net Cooper-Dyke collected pinch nan Comets successful 2000 arsenic nan league’s best-paid player. This season, each 44 regular-season Fever games will beryllium shown connected nationalist television. Clark missed overmuch of nan past run done wounded but viewing figures rose anyway.
“There’s truthful overmuch imaginable but it really will require an intentional and ongoing committedness alternatively than an overly-celebratory benignant of ‘oh look, we’ve arrived’ attitude,” Donnelly says, noting nan buzz astir nan Tempo, who hosted nan Washington Mystics successful a adjacent 68-65 nonaccomplishment connected Friday. “Hopefully 1 of nan things that will hap is that it tin beryllium a catalyst for those different leagues truthful they don’t person to hold 20-plus years to get astatine this shape that nan WNBA has,” she adds. “People are ready. They’re fresh to support much women’s athletics … this has been specified a agelong clip coming.”
