Basketball-NBA’s Silver expects WNBA players to get ‘big increase’ in next labor deal

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(Reuters) -NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on Tuesday he expects WNBA players will get big raises when they eventually strike a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show ahead of the NBA season-opening double-header on Tuesday, Silver was asked if players from the Women’s National Basketball Association deserved a higher share of the league’s revenue.

“Yes,” said Silver. “I think ‘share’ isn’t the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA,” said Silver.

“I think you should look at it in absolute numbers in terms of what they’re making, and they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it.”

The NBA owns 42% of the WNBA, whose commissioner reports to Silver.

The current CBA between the WNBA players’ union and the league is set to expire on October 31. That labor pact was once seen as a landmark deal for women’s sports but is now viewed by many players as woefully inadequate amid a surge in popularity of the WNBA.

Players are not seeking salaries that are equivalent to NBA players but rather a bigger share of the league’s revenue that’s roughly equivalent to their NBA counterparts.

WNBA players used the spotlight of the league’s All-Star game in July to champion their cause, warming up in T-shirts bearing slogans such as “Pay Us What You Owe Us,” and fans began cheering “Pay them!” after the final buzzer sounded.

Any disruption to the 2026 season stands to dent the tremendous momentum the league now enjoys, with two new clubs set to debut next year in Portland and Toronto.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis)