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MINNEAPOLIS – For those involved, the biggest perk of playing in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game is the $500,000 prize pool.
But as Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark called out during teammate Sydney Colson’s Instagram live following Tuesday’s win over the Minnesota Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup final, the player payouts are actually higher for winning the in-season tournament than they are for winning the actual WNBA championship.
“We get more for this than you do if you’re a (WNBA) champion,” Clark said. “It makes no sense. Someone tell (commissioner) Cathy (Engelbert) to help us out.”
Though the $500,000 is not awarded as a lump sum to be divided amongst the players on the winning team, Clark is correct.
As the Commissioner Cup champions, Indiana players are eligible to receive up to $30,000, while the runner-up Lynx can receive up to $10,000. Players on the roster for all cup games plus the championship receive the maximum amount. Players on both cup finalist teams also receive a $5,000 cryptocurrency payout, and additional funds are allocated for donations to local charities.
Winning the WNBA championship entitles players to a bonus of about $20,000, according to Sports Illustrated. Payouts are tiered based on how far a team advances in the playoffs and have actually increased in value in recent years, but it still pays more to win the WNBA’s in-season tournament than it does to win its actual championship.
The current postseason payout structure was negotiated as part of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which was signed in 2020 and also includes ways for players to earn additional income during the season through the Commissioner’s Cup and bonuses tied into All-Star game appearances, the skills competition and postseason awards.
That CBA is set to expire at season’s end and it’s safe to assume player compensation will be a top priority as the sides begin negotiations.
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