Adam Minter, Columnist

WNBA Players Are Losing Their Bargaining Power

January 21, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC

Updated on

January 21, 2026 at 6:06 PM UTC

Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of sports. He is the author, most recently, of “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale."

How long will the ball stay in their court?
Photographer: Aryanna Frank/Getty Images North America

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When does a winning hand become a losing one? The Women’s National Basketball Association players are about to find out.

In October 2024, riding the momentum of the most watched season in league history, the players opted out of their collective bargaining agreement. They were in search of a bigger piece of the WNBA’s business, and the timing was ideal to get it. Caitlin Clark and a young cohort of stars were attracting record audiences, sponsors and media rights deals. The launch of Unrivaled, a new off-season league that offered the highest average salary of any women’s professional sports league, added leverage to the players’ position.