"The top rookie in the 2024 NBA season made around $12.6 million, and the final pick made about $2.5 million, according to Sports Illustrated. But Bueckers, the WNBA's 2025 No. 1 draft pick, will make only $78,831, according to the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Though the women's league is a half century younger than the NBA, its average team valuation of $269 million skyrocketed 180% from last year, according to data from Sportico."
"About half of the WNBA's 144 players play ball outside the U.S., a way to make up to quadruple their salary in the WNBA, which averages about $100,000. In 2022, four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird told CBS's "60 Minutes" she was able to become a millionaire after playing in Russia's EuroLeague. "I pretty much lost money playing in the WNBA," she said at the Fortune Most Powerful Women conference in October 2024."
Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals and alternative U.S. women’s basketball leagues have increased opportunities for WNBA players to earn money domestically. WNBA rookie salaries remain low; the 2025 No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers will make $78,831 under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. By contrast, top NBA rookies earned millions in 2024, and even late NBA draft picks made multiple millions. About half of WNBA players historically have played overseas to substantially increase income, sometimes quadrupling WNBA pay. WNBA team valuations surged about 180% to an average of $269 million, reflecting growing investor interest.
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