One of the most important items on the agenda during All-Star weekend in Indianapolis was the face-to-face meeting between players and the league regarding collective bargaining agreement negotiations. “That’s one of the things we’re in the room fighting for,” Clark said Saturday ahead of the All-Star Game. “We should be paid more, and hopefully that will be the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think that’s probably the most important thing we’re advocating for in the room.” Unfortunately, no agreement was reached during the meeting. But the players weren’t going to stay silent!

The players made their stance loud and clear ahead of the All-Star Game. They showed up to the All-Star game wearing shirts that read “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” A bold protest against the WNBA’s continued refusal to meet their demands. And are they wrong to do so? Well, the argument that often arises is the stark difference between the WNBA and the NBA. Currently, WNBA salaries range from a minimum of roughly $66,000 to a supermax contract of around $250,000, with players averaging $102,249, according to Sports Illustrated. To put things into perspective, the median NBA salary is a staggering $6.7 million, according to Basketball Reference. Now, of course, it’s not exactly fair to compare the two leagues directly, and fans were quick to point that out. Social media lit up with thousands of reactions. Some took the side of the WNBA players, but the majority of them were against this.

Fans react to Caitlin Clark and co sending out a message against the W

The main problem fans had with the whole stunt was the fact that the WNBA has been a loss-making company for quite some time now. “The WNBA is negative $50 million this year. So $50M/153 players= $326,797 dollars per player. THEY need to pay what THEY owe… Women want equal pay without bringing in any revenue. Hilarious,” one fan said. Another joined in to say, “Imagine being an employee at a company that has NEVER turned a profit and showing up to work in these shirts.”

Well, they are partially right. Despite having one of its best season ever, the WNBA did lose $40 million last year. But the reason isn’t that players are not doing enough. Simply put, it’s the ties with the NBA that are more restricting than liberating.“The WNBA owes the NBA so much we won’t see any windfall for years,” an NBA team executive shared regarding the league’s financial conditions.

The WNBA’s financial lifeline is often credited to the NBA, but that support comes at a cost. A significant portion of the WNBA’s income doesn’t stay within the league. About 40% reportedly goes back to the NBA, and another 20% is directed toward outside investors, including those who contributed to a $75 million funding round in 2022, like Nike and various NBA team owners. That leaves only around 40% of the league’s total revenue to be split among its teams and players.

The imbalance becomes even starker when comparing how revenue is shared. In the NBA, players and team owners split revenue roughly evenly after league expenses are covered. In the WNBA, players receive less than 10% of the league’s overall revenue. Even if a new collective bargaining agreement allowed them to claim the entire team share, they’d still only end up with about 20%, a far cry from the 50% cut NBA and NFL players are guaranteed under their CBAs. So, as per fans, asking for more money based on these numbers doesn’t really make sense. One fan even joined in, saying, “Profit? Never heard of her.”

Yes, the WNBA has never been profitable for many years. And according to reporter Andrew Dukovitz, over its 28-year history, the W has lost about 300 million dollars. Naturally, one fan said, “They owe us lol,” pointing out the fact that the NBA owners and league own about 42% of the W.

But hold on! There are quite a few reasons why Caitlin Clark and the other athletes want more and pulled off this stunt in the All-Star games! One fan rightly put it, “It’s about revenue sharing…. Not profit sharing.” The players are not trying to copy NBA players, they are trying to establish a more sustainable financial model in the wake of the media rights deal and expansion. The WNBPA had clearly mentioned in their opt-out announcement, stating, “transforming the current system, which imposes arbitrary and restrictive caps on the value and benefits players receive, by introducing an equity-based model that grows and evolves in step with the league’s business success.”

Just consider this. In 2024 alone, nearly 30 players signed seven-day contracts, with many of those turning into season-long deals only after being renewed multiple times. Players like Odyssey Sims, Queen Egbo, Jaylyn Sherrod, and Amy Atwell were caught in this cycle. They were inked, released, then signed again. And the why behind reveals a lot that no one wants to admit.

Unlike the NBA’s more forgiving system, the WNBA runs under a tight salary cap, set at $1.46 million per team, with zero wiggle room. That means teams can’t spend extra because there’s no luxury tax option as in the NBA and it does not matter that emergencies like injuries or player leaves can occur. In the NBA, teams can go over budget if they’re willing to pay a penalty, and that money is used to support smaller-market teams through revenue sharing. The WNBA, on the other hand, has no such cushion.

At the root of this instability is not just the salary cap, but also how revenue is shared in the league. Without a more sensible revenue distribution, the cap remains tight, limiting what teams can offer. A reworked model, one that gives players a bigger piece of the pie, could undo these financial constraints, allow for better roster planning, reduce reliance on short stints, and improve job security across the board.