The embarrassingly low bonus the WNBA gives its All-Stars

The WNBA All-Star Game isn’t exactly lucrative for its participants.

Whether they’re a starter or reserve, winner or loser, every player in the All-Star Game will receive a bonus of $2,575, according to Front Office Sports.

The All-Star Game MVP will earn $5,150 on top that figure.

“There’s room for reconstruction,” players association president and 10-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike said. “[All-Star bonuses] are another component of the salary and compensation in terms of performance bonuses. What we’re looking to do is not just have a percentage of a higher salary. We’re looking for a revenue share that is reflective across the board for all players. So, as an All-Star, I definitely know, feel, and expect to be able to be rewarded in a much better way.”

With the viewership surging in the WNBA in the past two seasons, the bonus number seems to be quite low.

The NBA, for example, gave bonuses of $125,000 to All-Stars on the winning team at last season’s four-team mini-tournament, while runners-up received $50,000 apiece and the players who finished on the third-place and fourth-place teams were awarded $25,000.

A saving grace of All-Star weekend for the WNBA comes in the form of the 3-point contest and the skills challenge, where Aflac has partnered with the players union and will provide much heftier bonuses to the winners of the challenges.

The winner of the 3-point contest will receive $60,000 from Aflac and the skills challenge winner will take home $55,000. The WNBA will also have $2,575 bonuses for the winners.

Aflac’s number is even up from last year, as the insurance company pledged $55,000 for each contest a season ago.

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray won both competitions last season, receiving $115,150 in total from Aflac and the league — drawing close to what her 2024 WNBA salary was at $185,000.

The $2,575 that the WNBA is giving All-Stars comes in at 2.10 percent of the league-average salary of $117,133, according to The Athletic. In comparison to the male counterparts, the NBA’s $125,000 bonuses to winners were 1.35 percent of the $9,191,285 league-average salary.

So, the women are technically receiving a better bonus in terms of the percentage of their salaries, but it points to a bigger picture of their earnings as a whole.

After opting out of the collective bargaining agreement in October, the players association is in the midst of new CBA negotiations and must reach an agreement by October 31.

The WNBA All-Stars have already been announced and now await being chosen to their specific teams, either Team Caitlin Clark or Team Napheesa Collier, who were the top vote-getters for the game.