New clause in WNBA CBA will boost young stars’ salaries

Fever guard Caitlin Clark and other stars under rookie-scale contracts are due for major paydays even without hitting the free agency market. 

That’s thanks to the WNBA’s tentative new seven-year collective bargaining agreement that is a step closer to becoming official after the league and Women’s National Basketball Players Association signed a term sheet Friday evening. 

The deal includes a comprehensive revenue-share model, major salary bumps, league-wide facility standards and enhanced retirement benefits, among other items.

It still needs to be voted on by players and the WNBA Board of Governors, which is expected to happen “very soon,” a source told The Post. 

Existing rookie contracts will get right-sized to the new scale outlined in the CBA. 

The salary cap will start at $7 million — up from $1.5 million in 2025. The supermax is slated to start at $1.4 million and projected to reach $2.4 million by 2032. 

In 2026, the average salary is around $583,000 and projected to surpass $1 million over the lifetime of the deal. Meanwhile, the minimum salary for this season ranges from $270,000 to $300,000 based on years of service.

Performance and award bonuses saw drastic increases, too, with the 2026 WNBA champions expected to be awarded $60,000 each — up from the bonus check of $22,908 the Aces received in 2025. 

One of the new perks is that players could reap the rewards of performing at a high-level sooner in their careers than ever before. 

The exceptional performance on initial contract clause, aka “EPIC,” allows players to renegotiate their fourth-year salary and earn the standard max if they earn All-WNBA first or second team honors in the first three years of their careers, or the supermax if they’ve been named league MVP. 

ESPN first reported the clause and used Clark as an example of how it could work. 

Clark, who earned $78,066 last season, is projected to see her salary jump 578 percent in 2026 to $530,000. Clark, who was named to the 2024 All-WNBA First Team during her debut campaign, could earn the projected max salary of $1.3 million in 2027 before signing for a $1.7 million supermax in 2028, according to ESPN. 

Sources told The Post that, under EPIC, a player would need to sign a minimum three-year extension that would go into effect after the rookie contract ends.

That would mean the Fever could lock up Clark through 2030. 

Other players who could currently benefit from the EPIC provision are Fever center Aliyah Boston and Wings guard Paige Bueckers, who were named to the 2025 All-WNBA Second Team. 

Boston would be eligible for a max deal this year, while Bueckers would become eligible in 2028. 

Another change in the CBA is that the core designation, the WNBA’s equivalent to the NFL’s franchise tag, is only eligible for players with six or fewer years of service, starting in 2027.

That means Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is eligible to be designated a core player in 2026. 

Teams will be required to carry 12 players in addition to having two new developmental roster spots that don’t count against the salary cap. 

There’s also a new second-ending injury exception that will allow teams salary cap flexibility to replace sidelined players. 

Team-provided housing will be available to all players through the 2028 season.

Starting in 2029, players making $500,000 or less will be eligible for team housing.

The developmental players are guaranteed housing through the lifetime of the deal. 

WNBA and WNBPA officials continued their victory laps Friday night with the official announcement that a deal has been reached.

League commissioner Cathy Engelbert dubbed this a “defining moment” in women’s professional sports.

“Since its inception, the WNBA has been shaped by extraordinary athletes who believed in the league’s future,” Engelbert said in a statement. “The agreement is a testament to that belief and to the tremendous progress we have achieved together.” 

WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson lauded the players union for staying united and not backing down in the fight for their worth. 

“When players win, the league wins,” Jackson said. “This agreement delivers what players set out to do from the beginning, transforming the economics of this league. It marks a new era led by players who know their power and chose to use it.”