A sellout crowd. A heart-stopping finish. A confounding fact.

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese helped generate bundles of money through ticket sales alone last month in Chicago for the showdown between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky. But the rookies made less than $2,000 apiece in base salary for their part in the most-watched WNBA game in 23 years.

Clark still stands to earn up to $500,000 this season, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said, mostly through team and league marketing deals that could be available to Reese, too. Both also are eligible for a $2,575 bonus awarded to players who make the All-Star team, which will be announced Tuesday night.

It’s all part of a financial system that could test the power and loyalty of the emerging stars as a potential battle looms.

This year, in what would shatter a league record for revenue, the WNBA and its 12 teams are projected to bring in up to $200 million for the first time, according to Bloomberg. Less than $20 million this year will go to player salaries. With the WNBA in its 28th season, players’ average base salaries are about $120,000, based on data from Spotrac, and largely have stalled as league revenue soars.

As the WNBA enjoys a surge in attendance and TV ratings, negotiates a lucrative media-rights deal and prepares to add four teams that will net tens of millions in expansion fees, the players want a larger slice of the pie.

So here’s what is likely to happen: Before the Nov. 1 deadline, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) will opt out of the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to run through 2027, with added star power.

Clark and Reese will be in the fold.

‘It’s all about leverage’

The players’ association is in a new position thanks to Clark, Reese and the rest of the WNBA’s rookie class, said Gary Roberts, the former dean of the Indiana University law school whose expertise includes sports law.

“This is really the first draft class that has gotten this kind of attention that would give the union some bargaining leverage,” Roberts said. “And it’s all about leverage.

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“Take the first 40 years of the NBA. They didn’t make (expletive), too, because they didn’t have bargaining leverage.”

The value of Clark and Reese, along with other members of the heralded rookie class, seems clear to Nneka Ogwumike, in her ninth year as president of the WNBPA.

“We’re looking forward to more young players pushing the envelope and hopefully also being engaged in negotiation,,” said Ogwumike, the Seattle Storm forward and eight-time All-Star. “I mean, both with their popularity but also with their engagement on the players’ association side. And, of course, using their platforms however they can to bring history, information and facts to matter when it comes to pay equity and the WNBA.

“It can’t happen without the top players’ engagement.”

‘People flipped’

Already, Clark has provided a service to WNBPA. It happened after she declared for the 2024 WNBA draft and was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever.

“People naturally asked what she would make, and people flipped,” Ogwumike said.

Clark, the all-time leading scorer in college basketball who captivated the country with her logo threes, this season is making $76,535 – the maximum rookie base salary under the WNBA’s current CBA. Her four-year rookie deal is $338,056 in salary.

By comparison, Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft, made more than $10 million as a rookie. His four-year rookie deal is $55 million in salary.

Also, the average NBA player salary last season was more than $10 million annually. The top WNBA player salary this season tops out at $252,420, for Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces.

A snapshot of one WNBA “journeyman”: Lexie Brown, a guard with the Los Angeles Sparks in her seventh year in the league, is making $80,340 this season, according to Spotrac. In 2021, she played a key role in helping the Sky win the championship. This season, through 18 games, she’s fifth in scoring, third in assists and tied for second in steals on the Sparks.

She also played overseas in 2018 and 2019, a common practice to boost income – top players can earn in the seven figures – in part because of the historically low WNBA salaries.

On April 17, President Biden wrote in a social media post, “It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.”

“I’m happy conversations are being sparked again – whether it’s charters or rookie salaries or whatever the case may be – but it’s also like, welcome,” said Breanna Stewart, power forward for the New York Liberty and a two-time WNBA Finals MVP. “Welcome to the fight. Welcome to what we’ve been doing for awhile.”

Kelsey Plum, a two-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces, balks at comparisons of player salaries in the NBA, which generates more than $10 billion in revenue a year.

“We’re not asking to get paid what the men get paid,” Plum told Just Women’s Sports in 2022. “We’re asking to get paid the same percentage of revenue shared.”

‘Fighting tooth and nail’

NBA players receive 51 percent of basketball-related income. WNBA players receive between 10 percent and 20 percent of total revenue, according to published reports. The league policy is not to publicly share league or team financial statements.

Engelbert issues a reminder: Player salaries are collectively bargained. In other words, the WNBPA agreed to them.

“I think most people would look at the (WNBPA) and suggest that it’s not very strong,” said Rodney Fort, author of “Sports Economics” and a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s sports management program. “So far, the owners have the upper hand.”

Kym Hampton, who was the starting center for the New York Liberty during the WNBA’s inaugural season, recalled the league’s approach to the first negotiations with the players. At the time, Renee Brown was a top executive with the WNBA who was discussing player salaries.

“She was saying, $30,000 (a year), there’s a whole lot of people that don’t make $30,000,” said Hampton, who was a team representative in the labor negotiations. “There’s a whole lot of secretaries. And I said, ‘Renee, I’m sure that those secretaries aren’t the best in the world at what they do.’

“It was just really heated because it was like they were fighting tooth and nail for everything.”

Brown, who left the WNBA in 2016, did not respond to a voicemail or a text message left on a phone number listed in her name.

Is a work-stoppage possible?

Ogwumike, serving her third term since first elected in 2016, said she would not rule out a work-stoppage in the next round of labor negotiations.

“I don’t see why we should settle at this point,” she said.

Roberts, the sports law expert, considered the possibility.

“For a Caitlin Clark or an Angel Reese today to threaten to walk out, I think they would not be regarded that sympathetically by a large segment of the public,” he said. “But that’s the kind of leverage you need to have in order to get a collective bargaining agreement that’s going to increase those salaries.

“Maybe in three or four years, especially if you have some really compelling rivalries that get a lot of attention and if Caitlin Clark can win a WNBA championship against Chicago or whatever. That’s the kind of thing that gives bargaining leverage that they’ve had none of in the past.”

Fort, the professor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s sports management program, expressed doubts about Clark’s potential role in a fight for higher salaries. It’s economics, he said. While her base pay led to outrage, she won’t have trouble paying the bills considering she has endorsement deals with Gatorade, State Farm and Wilson Sporting Goods and, as Fort noted, a $24 million deal with Nike.

“It’s difficult to see how Caitlin Clark would sit down and listen to her own players’ association negotiation leadership tell her she (should) put a bunch on the line so she can make a couple of hundred thousand bucks,” Fort said. “How does Nike feel about endorsing a basketball player who’s helping the league strike for maybe an entire year to make another $300,000 (in salary) when they’re paying her (millions)?”

For Reese’s part, during the uproar over Clark’s salary she addressed her rookie salary of $73,439.

“I mean, being able to play for what, four to five months, and get $75,000 on top of the other endorsements that I’m doing,” Reese said, “I think it’s a plus for me.” She has endorsement deals with Reebok and Beats by Dre.

The issue of transparency

Delisha Milton-Jones, a three-time All-Star who retired after the 2015 season, said she thinks the players have been at a disadvantage during labor negotiations.

“People still have to understand that while the league has been here 25-plus years, it’s still kind of in its infancy,” Milton-Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “I understand that we would have to open up the books in order for people to get a hard, in-depth look as to whether or not more money is available.”

Told about the comment, Ogwumike said, “She gets it. She’s absolutely right. We still don’t have all of the books. And that’s something that we’ve worked around. But it’s also something that would give us more clarity on the business for us to truly understand what we’re working with as far as salary and compensation that can be negotiated for the players of the league.”

Engelbert strongly denied the assertions.

“It’s very natural for unions to think that the other side in a negotiation or bargaining aren’t giving a complete picture, but it’s not happening here,” she said. “There’s nothing for us to hide from our union. We want to return to the players everything we can as it relates to the economic picture we’ve been building here.”

Roberts, the sports law expert, said WNBA team finances “can get jumbled” when they’re owned by people or companies that own NBA teams and use the same arena. Five of the 12 WNBA teams and both teams joining the league in the next two years – Golden State in 2025 and Toronto in 2026 – are owned by NBA owners.

Roberts noted that Herb Simon owns the Indiana Pacers and Fever in saying, “It’s hard to really know what the Fever’s economic situation really is independently of the Pacers because they share the facility, they share office space, they share a lot of employees. And so it’s really hard to do that kind of economic analysis to really know what percentage (of revenue) players are getting in the WNBA.

“But the bottom line is, (the players) don’t have the bargaining leverage historically.”

‘Dawn of this new era’

Even before Clark and Reese renewed their rivalry in the WNBA, Engelbert spoke as if she knew what the rookies were about to do for the WNBA.

“We’re just in the dawn of this new era and we’re in a huge league transformation,” she said.

Part of her excitement stems from the new media-rights deal.

The current deal, which will expire after the 2025 season, is worth about $60 million a year, according to Bloomberg News. The new deal will be worth an estimated $150 million a year, said Matt Balvanz, head of analytics and innovation at Navigate, which provides research and consulting for companies in sports and entertainment.

He said the estimate is based on projections such as average viewership growing 50 percent with each of the WNBA’s four partners – ABC, CBS, ION and Amazon; 20 more WNBA games included in the new package from the addition of new teams; and the fee per viewer paid by networks jumping from $1.40 to $2.30.

It would be a massive infusion of revenue for the WNBA.

“We were just surviving when I came into the league and now we’re thriving,” said Engelbert, who this month will complete her fifth year as commissioner.

About the only thing that soured her mood during an interview with USA TODAY Sports was being asked about criticism over the player salaries.

Most players rely almost exclusively on their salaries for income. But Engelbert said salaries fail to account for a host of other benefits and opportunities. (NBA salaries do not account for additional benefits either.) Here’s what Engelbert cited:

Clark and other players can make up to $250,000 a year through league marketing deals, and the WNBA is required to spend at least $1 million a year on the program, which this year includes six players, according to ESPN. The deals begin in October during the playoffs. Players also can make $100,000 a year from team marketing deals, and teams can spend up to $150,000 a year.

On Tuesday, the league will announce its All-Star Game participants. Each will earn a $2,575 bonus with other bonuses earmarked for s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s competition winners and the game’s MVP. Other potential bonuses include postseason awards.

The biggest bonus is a combined $500,000 the two teams that play in the Commissioners Cup championship game (this year that will be shared by the Liberty and Lynx) and almost $100,000 in other “merit bonuses.” For example, Clark would make $5,150 if she wins rookie of the year and an extra $1,500 if she’s on the All-WNBA Rookie Team.

Additional benefits include a charter flight program launched the first week of the season that Engelbert said will cost the league more than $50 million over the next two years; $60,000 in fertility benefits for veteran players; fully paid parental leave; and player housing.

“Now we’ll have an opportunity to do something even more historic with the next deal,” Engelbert said.

Catering to the elite

With the marketing deals and bonuses, the WNBA likely has earned goodwill by supplementing salaries of exceptional young players such as Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft, and Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft and Clark’s teammate. They did the same for veterans like Jewell Loyd, a five-time WNBA All-Star, and Arike Ogunbowale, a three-time WNBA All-Star.

By contrast, Ogwumike said, the players’ association previously has focused its attention on “role players,” or what Ogwumike calls “middle players” – those who comprise the majority of the league and depend largely on their salaries.

The approach is changing, according to Ogwumike.

“I think that middle player was getting overpaid so much, so that there was not enough to distinguish between how salaries were reflected between middle player, role player, and like a franchise player,” she said. “I think that we have to move forward with that top player in mind because someone like Caitlin, if she’s making much more, it’s obviously going to (increase money for salaries).

“But that’s a sensitive concept, especially when talking to the majority of players who aren’t going to be earning the most, given the changes that we anticipate.”

Contributing: Lindsay Schnell

Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11

The Key Points at the top of this article were created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed by a journalist before publication. No other parts of the article were generated using AI. Learn more.