The 2025 WNBA season has been historic, shattering attendance records and continuing to build a fan base that makes the league one of the most talked about sports across America.

Welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, October 21st, 2025.

As the contract deadline of October 31st approaches, negotiations are at a standstill. Players and fans alike are contemplating the very real possibility of no 2020-26 season. What are the sticking

points here and how might players pivot? Here to help us dig into all of it. I'm joined by my

colleagues USA Today sports columnist Nancy Armour and USA Today's National Women's Sports

Reporter, Sidney Henderson. It's good to have you both on the

excerpt. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks, Dana. Cindy, I'll start with you. Let's start with laying

out the big sticking points that still need to be negotiated. So the players have prioritized

two main points of concern, and that is going to be increased revenue sharing and structure salary.

So as the league has continued to skyrocket in popularity and viewership is up, jersey sales are up, attendance is up, but that hasn't necessarily trickled down to the players.

And as Kelsey Plum put it at the WMBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis,

they want a piece of the entire pie, not a piece of a part of a pie. With the increased revenue

sharing, they are seeking a model that grows as the WMBA and as the league grows. So right now,

the WMBA players under the current CBA receive about 9.3% of the league revenue according to MarketWatch.

And that is significantly lower than other professional sports teams.

The NBA, for example, receives about 49 to 51% of revenue sharing or the players, excuse me, receive 49 to 51% of revenue sharing.

So you can kind of see the disparity in the leagues. Also, they are focused on payment structure

salaries. So right now, salaries cap out at about $250,000. And they feel that that undervalues

them. So they're seeking more money on all scales.

Nekha Goumadee, who is for the Seattle Storm, also is the president of the Players Association.

She said that the league is proposing more of a fixed percentage over time for the revenue sharing,

while they are seeking something that grows with the times and grows with the popularity.

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