Lowest Paid Wnba Player (2023)

FAQs

What is the WNBA lowest salary? ›

WNBA salaries

The average salary among 151 WNBA athletes was $102,751 in 2022, NBC Sports reported. And this season, the minimum is set at $62,285 while the league's top-paid players are earning the maximum of $234,936, according to Spotrac.

Picks 1-4 will make a base salary of $74,305 in their first year. Picks 5-8 will receive a base salary of $71,300 and picks 9-12 will receive $68,295. The CBA also outlines bonuses and other ways to earn and receive monetary compensation as a WNBA player separate and apart from the base salary.

WNBA Revenue By Year

It was $102 million in 2019. The WNBA has seen a rise in the revenue that the league generates annually. Although a slow and steady growth, it is heading in the right direction and has an approximate average revenue of $60 million annually.

Brittney Griner WNBA salary

Griner signed a one-year, $165,100 contract with the Mercury in the offseason. While detained in Russia, the WNBA announced Griner would be paid her full salary of nearly $228,000 for the 2022 season. 2022 marked the final year of a three-year, $644,544 contract for Griner.

The NFL's minimum player salary

The minimum salary rose to $705,000 in 2022. This year, the minimum salary for an NFL player is $750,000. This amount applies exclusively to NFL rookies during their debut season. As they advance, the minimum rises to $870,000 and $940,000 by the third year.

Current Contract

Candace Parker signed a 1 year / $100,000 contract with the Las Vegas Aces, including $100,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $100,000. In 2023, Parker will earn a base salary of $100,000, while carrying a cap hit of $100,000.

The league requires domestic draft entrants to be at least 22 years old during the year in which the draft takes place and to have no remaining college eligibility or to renounce any future college eligibility. International draftees must be at least 20 years old during the year in which the draft takes place.

According to Spotrac, DeWanna Bonner, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith, each signed the richest contract in WNBA history in 2020, worth $899,480 over four years. The $898,700 contract Natasha Howard signed the following year ranks fourth all-time.

Estimated NBA Draft Pick Salaries 2023

The NBA collective bargaining agreement allows players selected in the first round to negotiate salaries up to 20% higher than the standard rookie scale as listed for their draft position — for the No. 1 pick, that means a 2023-24 salary as high as $11.98 million.

When asked if the league was still losing money, Engelbert responded: “Despite the challenges of the past two years, we have made terrific progress in growing the business of the league.

Why is WNBA pay so low? ›

In contrast, the WNBA generates a fraction of the revenue of the NBA and has a smaller, less loyal fan base. This means that there is less money available to pay players, which translates into lower salaries. In addition to generating less revenue, the WNBA also struggles with low attendance and television ratings.

Last season, Atlanta saw eight record-setting sellouts and hosted packed crowds at Gateway Center Arena. With two sell-outs in opening week to start off the 2023 season, the Dream currently leads the WNBA in ticket membership sales and are on track to sell out most of their home games this season in Atlanta.

Since Brittney didn't know she was getting out of prison, she opted to cut her hair so she wouldn't suffer damage to her health during the Russian winter, which is one of the deadliest on the planet.

Jackie Young of the Aces has an average annual salary of $252,450 and is currently the WNBA's highest-paid player in 2023.

The eight-time All-Star took a 32% pay cut to rejoin the franchise that drafted her into the pros. After spending nearly a year detained in Russia, Griner is set to make her Mercury return on May 19.

What is the league average of salaries in the WNBA? As of the start of the 2023 season, the league average of salaries in the WNBA is $113,295 among 137 players. In 2022 it was $102,751.

The minimum salary for players signing contracts in the 2023-2024 NBA season amounted to over 1.1 million U.S. dollars. This is the first time that the minimum salary has exceeded the one million dollar mark, with the minimum salary in the 2021-2022 season estimated at just over 925 thousand U.S. dollars.

In the WNBA, the players receive half of the league's incremental revenue according to Just Women's Sports. That means players in the W only share in the revenue earned above the league's revenue target for that year. The league's target revenue goes up each season.