WNBA players only get 9.3% of league revenue — here’s how much NBA, NFL and NHL players get.

At least one WNBA player wants a $1 million salary. Is that possible?

Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty competes Sunday in the 2024 WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx.

The WNBA is more popular than ever. League revenue has doubled since 2019 — from $102 million to $200 million — and new stars like Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark have helped the league bring in more fans.

But Clark, who was the league’s rookie of the year, only earns a $76,535 salary.

The highest-paid players in the league, including Arike Ogunbowale and Jewell Loyd, make $241,984 annually, while the minimum salary for players with up to two years of experience is $64,154, and $76,535 for those with three-plus years of experience.

There are rumblings that the league’s players will force a lockout after the WNBA Finals end this week. The players only split 9.3% of total league revenue, which is much less than what athletes in other major sports leagues earn. NBA players in aggregate receive between 49% and 51% of basketball-related income, NFL players get 48% of all revenue and NHL players get 50% of revenue.

Those revenue splits capture the money generated from TV deals, ticket sales, merchandise sales and licensing.

As evidence that the WNBA is more popular — and generating more money: Regular-season TV viewership for games was up 30% this year from the previous season, averaging 657,000 viewers per game. In addition, attendance was up 48%, and league-wide merchandise sales were up 450%. But despite that growth, WNBA salaries won’t increase proportionally unless the players’ union is able to overhaul its revenue-sharing agreement.

That 9.3% figure was collectively bargained between the WNBPA (the players’ union) and WNBA owners. So even though league revenue is growing, it won’t lead to higher player salaries if the players’ union can’t negotiate a better revenue split.

“There’s no reason to think players shouldn’t be thinking 50% belongs to them,” said Andrew Zimbalist, professor emeritus of economics at Smith College and a leading expert on the economics of sports. “Moving gradually up, there’s no reason why they [WNBA players] shouldn’t be able to get to that level: 50% in the WNBA is not the same as 50% as the NBA, but it makes sense.”

While it’s unclear if WNBA players are asking for a 50-50 revenue split, it’s clear from public comments by many WNBA players that the split will be an important bargaining issue.

“It’s time for WNBA players to get a higher percentage of the league’s basketball-related income,” the Los Angeles Sparks’ Chiney Ogwumike said in a blog post on The Players Tribune. “They deserve much more than the 10% that the players earn now. And when that happens, the rookie salary won’t look crazy, instead it would hit a solid six figures.”

“I don’t think I should get paid the same as LeBron,” Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum said on The Residency Podcast in 2022. “But the percentage of revenue — like for example: They sell my jersey in Mandalay Bay, I don’t get a dime. So that’s the stuff we’re talking about.”

The WNBPA has the ability to opt out of its collective bargaining agreement with the WNBA by Nov. 1, just a few weeks after the WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx conclude. That appears to be a real possibility given the public comments by many players, as well as the impending 11-year media-rights deal with Disney -0.79%, Amazon Prime Video 0.08% and Comcast’s 0.33% NBC for $200 million a year.

If the WNBPA opts out, the CBA would expire at the end of the 2025-’26 season. Doing so would create what is colloquially known as a lockout, which is a temporary shutdown of the league until a new deal is reached. Other major U.S. sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL have at some point this century had labor stoppages.

“It’s possible,” Zimbalist said about a potential strike among WNBA players. “The players could go on strike and the owners can lock them out. But I think if they are wise, the owners will realize they have a really good product on their hands, and they should try and build it and not knock it down.”

“Whenever negotiations are next, it’s not groundbreaking or landmark that we’re aiming for. We’re aiming for transformational,” Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBA players’ union, said in a statement to ESPN in July.

“This is going to be an opportunity to listen to one another and take this league to the next level for generations to come,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said at her annual press conference at the finals. “I look forward to building the future of the league and sitting down with the players. Whether they opt out, not opt out.”

Representatives for the WNBPA did not respond to a request for comment on this story, and the WNBA declined to comment.

“I mean, someone like me, I’d love multiple commas, just because we deserve it,” Indiana Fever guard and 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston said, insinuating a wage of at least $1 million.

Could a WNBA player ever make a $1 million salary?

Nadia Rawlinson, co-owner and operating chairman of the Chicago Sky, told MarketWatch said: “These things are collectively bargained. People should be paid, that’s something that is important to everyone in the league.”