The WNBA CBA deal was heavily dependent on the salary values and the revenue share. As the parties got closer to the conclusion, Cathy Engelbert declared the CBA a historic one with monumental changes in its structure. The 2026 draft backed the claim with the rookies receiving higher salaries than the supermax contract of the 2025 season.
Although the 2026 season saw massive growth in salaries, there was steady growth over the years as the league started off with low values. Here are the gradual changes that the league saw in rookies’ first-year pay.
Over the Years Salary Increment For 2026 WNBA Rookies
As soon as the CBA was in place, the South Carolina coach and former WNBA player Dawn Staley made an encouraging statement for the WNBA players. She backed their fight for higher pay, and the old pay structure showed reason for their celebrations over the ‘massive’ victory.
For most of the league’s history, the salary for the number one overall pick was characterized by extremely slow, incremental growth that failed to match the sport’s rising popularity. In the inaugural 1997 season, the first-ever top pick, Tina Thompson, earned a base salary of approximately $15,000.
Azzi Fudd's rookie deal will pay her $500,000 in year one—more than six times what Paige Bueckers made last season 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pwest9WtwH
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) April 13, 2026
It took two decades for the league to reach the $50,000 barrier as Jackie Young received $53,000 in her first season in 2019. While these figures remained surprisingly low, by 2024, global star Caitlin Clark received a first-year salary of just $76,535. Even in 2025, the top selection, Paige Bueckers, was slated for a modest increase to $78,831.
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During this long era, the most elite incoming talent consistently earned less than $80,000 annually, a figure that became a major point of public debate regarding pay equity in professional sports.
The landscape underwent a historic and total transformation in 2026 following the ratification of a landmark labor agreement. This year marked a massive financial breakthrough as the top overall pick, Azzi Fudd, saw her first-year salary surge to $500,000.
This represents a staggering 534% increase over the previous year’s top pick, effectively ending the era of five-figure base pay for the league’s most anticipated newcomers.
Nobel Prize Winner Economist Plays Huge Role In WNBA Salary Rise
It was not only rookie salaries that saw major increases; the team’s salary cap rose by roughly $1.5 million to $7 million, alongside the introduction of a comprehensive revenue-sharing model. The super max salary also jumped by a massive amount and is now $1.4 million. The architect behind this change is economist Claudia Goldin.
Recently, she opened up her formulation for the salary calculation as the 79-year-old said, “I’ve learned a lot of basketball. I’ve learned about how good they are, and how they really are a community, and I think that shows on the court.”
WSJ: After Claudia Goldin became the first woman to win a solo Nobel in economics in 2023, she received hundreds of invitations and requests.
— Vanshay Murdock 🎥🎥 (@vanshaym) March 29, 2026
She accepted just three.
One of them was advising the WNBA players union as the women prepared to negotiate a new labor deal with the… https://t.co/6Imp0tKaEx
The players were using similar lines in their ‘protests’ to get the deal in their favor, and now, with the new CBA and new era, the league is ready to celebrate its 30th season.