Data and Brands Make the Case for Paying WNBA Players More

The Women’s National Basketball Players Association opted out of the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) last October, seeking greater salary incentives and benefits, especially as league viewership and attendance continue to grow. 

Now, with the CBA set to expire on Oct. 31, a potential work stoppage is on the horizon for 2026 if an agreement isn’t reached.

As the WNBA postseason approaches and the CBA deadline looms, players believe they have a right to a greater share of league revenue from sources including sponsorships. With no animosity toward the league, brands and their observers tend to agree—as do the numbers.

The data doesn’t lie

Wasserman’s women-focused practice, The Collective, released a report in 2023 that noted that athletes in men’s sports earn 21 times more salary than women playing those same sports. As a result, women in sports rely on brands and sponsorship for 82% of their income (compared to just 37% for men) while their salary comprises just 18% of their total compensation (67% for men).

“The reason that they’re prolific on social media is because they have to be … that’s where they build their audiences. That’s where they build their brand. That’s where they get their money. So as a result, they’re good at it,” Elizabeth Lindsey, Wasserman’s global president of brands and properties, said during a panel in Nike Global Headquarters in Oregon in July.

Wasserman noted in the same report that men’s sports still received 90% of sports sponsorship dollars despite women’s sports having audiences that are younger, wealthier, better educated, and more diverse—and more likely to recognize and buy from sponsors. 

Meanwhile, thanks to their social prowess, women athletes double men’s engagement on social media and are especially valuable to the WNBA—which saw 48% growth in attendance last year and is forecast to see 32% viewership growth by 2027 after its new estimated $2.2 billion media rights deals with Amazon, NBCUniversal, ESPN, and ION kick in. 

With a Wasserman report released earlier this year finding that 72% of women around the globe identify as avid sports fans, but only 49% feel brands understand them, Wasserman sees a unique opportunity for brands to exert their influence and help increase on-court pay for WNBA players. 

“How do you ignore 50% of your audience? Do the math, and if you look at what you need to accomplish, do the research. Know who’s buying your product; know what women think of your products; then your investment path becomes clear,” Lindsey said.

With brands including Aflac, Ally, and Samsung already improving player compensation options while remaining cordial with the league—and, in some cases, directly partnering with it—they’re in a valuable position to influence change within the sport … and could use some help off the bench.

The brands fill in the gaps

Showing the stark pay discrepancy between men’s and women’s basketball, the WNBA pays the winners of its All-Star 3-Point Contest and Skills Competition $2,575 apiece. That’s not even enough to pay the taxes on what NBA players make for their All-Star contests.

So heading into this year, Aflac CMO Gareth Knutson explained that his company, which is all about filling in gaps around medical insurance, stepped in to make a difference and fill another pay gap.

“These women—the union and the players—believe that they weren’t getting as much as they should, and we said we’ll give you a check,” Knutson said. “To me, the simplest ideas, when executed well, have the biggest impact.”

When New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud won this year’s competition, Aflac teamed with the WNBPA to add another $55,000 to the prize. After winning and hugging her teammate and partner, Isabelle Harrison, Cloud let the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis know how much that boost in prize money meant.

“This mama over here told me I better win today for a down payment on a house,” she told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “So baby, you’re going to get that house.”

Another of Cloud’s teammates, Sabrina Ionescu, won the 3-Point Contest and agreed to split the prize with fellow contestant and Washington Mystics rookie Sonia Citron. Instead of $2,725, however, Aflac lumped another $60,000 on top of it and sent each home with more than $31,000. 

But the company’s support goes beyond monetary transactions.

During a rainy Saturday on All-Star Weekend, Aflac and media and commerce company Togethxr hosted a panel at Indianapolis venue The Cabaret featuring WNBA players Sydney Colson, Rickea Jackson, and Kate Martin, as well as University of South Carolina coach and Aflac endorser Dawn Staley. Nearly an hour before the show, with fans lined up down the block, Knutson went outside and handed out plush Aflac ducks wearing Togethxr “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” shirts.

That weekend, he also accompanied Staley to a panel hosted by Deloitte that included rapper and actor Common. Amid both panels in rooms filled to capacity, Knutson saw Aflac’s relationship with Staley clearly defined: Not making a statement, but amplifying hers. He sees a similar relationship with the WNBPA, where Aflac is amplifying its point about supplementing income while not dismissing the idea of one day working with both the union and the WNBA—as has long been the case for sponsors in other leagues.

“This idea of doing sponsorships with the players’ union, I would be surprised that that isn’t something that continues to grow. The entry point is lower. It also gives you a special kind of influence on the influencers,” Knutson said. “What I would love to be able to do is, if we’re speaking 18 months or 36 months from now, tell you about how we’re coming on as a new, official partner of the W.”

An Unrivaled opportunity

Ally Financial became the WNBA’s official banking sponsor and Changemaker investor this year after sponsoring the league’s Las Vegas Aces in 2024. At this year’s WNBA All-Star, it set up an arcade at WNBA Live with game debit cards featuring its athlete ambassadors (Breanna Stewart, Sydney Colson, and Paige Bueckers), gave 1,500 fans complimentary League Pass subscriptions, and put its logo on the Gainbridge Fieldhouse court and beneath the rims, among other activations.

However, the company’s support for the athletes is going beyond the league.

The financial company also served as a founding sponsor of the Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league in Miami and had its logo on portions of that league’s activation at WNBA All-Star. While the average $220,000 salary paid to Unrivaled’s 36 players by sponsors, broadcasters, and investors is more than double the WNBA average ($102,000)—and Unrivaled founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart also serve as members of the WNBPA executive committee—Unrivaled plays a winter schedule that doesn’t conflict with the WNBA’s and has been viewed as generally additive for the sport.

For Ally, Unrivaled represented a way the brand could consistently support both players throughout the year while contributing to the growth of women’s basketball overall.

“We’re on the jersey of all the teams, and that’s really important as it not only pulls through some of the social currency of the players, but it shows how much we are invested in the players,” said Stephanie Marciano, Ally’s head of sports and entertainment marketing. “We want to be as close to the players we can, because we want them to know that we are an ally to them.”

Meanwhile, brands that may not have access to their category within the WNBA have found ways to boost player pay and opportunity at Unrivaled. Samsung not only let fans take media-day photos with its Samsung Galaxy Z Fold during the Unrivaled activation at WNBA All-Star, but announced name, image, and likeness rights deals for 14 collegiate players—who went down to Unrivaled’s Miami headquarters for its The Future is Unrivaled Summit earlier this month.

“Bottom line: We are so proud of the work Unrivaled is doing to elevate women’s sports and our partnership with them is built on shared ethos,” said Olga Suvorova,vp of mobile experience marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “This event is a huge step for growing women’s sports, and this partnership reflects our shared values around innovation, equity, and shaping the future of women’s sports.”