'Pay them! Pay them!' Fans, WNBA players make clear, loud statement on salaries during All-Star Game

Indianapolis Star

20-07-2025

INDIANAPOLIS – As ESPN reporter Holly Rowe passed the microphone to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to present the All-Star Game MVP, fans made their thoughts clear: "Pay them! Pay them!"
What the fans were referring to were the ongoing negotiations between the league and the players' union for a new collective bargaining agreement. The current agreement, which the union opted out of, expires on October 31, and the two sides have had multiple meetings negotiating a new CBA.
The most recent of those meetings came Thursday; a meeting union president Nneka Ogwumike said later was a "wasted opportunity." The two sides didn't make any progress on contract talks during this meeting, but talked through a lot of their points.
"I want to call it constructive. We had candid dialogue. This is part of the process," Engelbert said before the All-Star Game on Saturday. "... Just want to say I really respect the players. We're listening. They're listening to our owners. We're kind of in the middle as the league trying to make sure we're setting this league up for success for decades. That's the goal, to have a fair CBA for all."
Some of the biggest sticking points are salaries and revenue sharing, exemplified by two different campaigns the players did during the All-Star Game. The first came in their warmup shirts: fans cheered as players took off their warmup jackets to reveal shirts that read "Pay Us What You Owe Us."
"That's something we wanted to make well known.," Ogwumike told Rowe postgame. "In the bubble we always knew how to make a stand with some T-shirts, so we did that today. We look forward to negotiating our fair share and our value.'
The second came postgame as All-Star Brittney Sykes held a sign that read "Pay the Players" behind All-Star Game MVP Napheesa Collier as Rowe interviewed her on the court.
Currently, WNBA players only receive revenue sharing profits if the league hits its 'cumulative revenue target' for the season. After that target is hit, players on a WNBA roster will receive 25% of the revenue sharing profits, and the other 25% will be added to the pool the WNBA pays players in the offseason for marketing agreements.
In contrast, the NBA has a 50-50 revenue split with the players; they receive 50% of all the revenue generated, regardless of target.
The players' union is also hoping to exponentially increase salaries. Right now, the super-maximum for the league is just about $250,000, and that is only available to cored players. The regular max is at $216,000, and the rookie scale contract starts around $72,000.
Coming out of All-Star weekend, one thing is clear: the players aren't going to back down from the things most important to them.
"It's no disrespect to the league, you just want to make sure that the statement is made clear of what we as players have come to deserve," Fever guard and All-Star Kelsey Mitchell said. "I think it was less about trying to make a statement, and more about making sure that statement is clear-cut."