The Chicago Sky Forward signed a four-year rookie contract worth a total of just $324,383 upon entering the league.
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Angel Reese is signaling that a WNBA league-wide strike could be on the horizon if player demands go unmet. Never one to shy away from speaking her mind, the All-Star made her position clear on a recent episode of her Unapologetically Angel podcast.
“I need to be in the meetings because I’m hearing that if [the league] don’t give us what we want, we’re sitting out,” the 22-year-old declared. She was joined on the show by fellow WNBA player Dijonai Carrington, who’s also served as the union representative for the Connecticut Sun representative.
“That’s a possibility, for real,” the Dallas Wings player agreed.
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The financial realities Reese and her peers face have long been a point of discussion in and outside of the league. Reese has addressed her low WNBA salary in the past and is set to earn $74,909 next season. Upon entering the league, Reese signed a four-year rookie contract worth $324,383 to play in the same WNBA that secured a $2.2 billion media rights deal in July 2024 to allow games to be aired live on Disney, NBC, and Amazon for the next 11 years.
WNBA Player’s Association Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson addressed the players’ mission in an October statement. “The players made the decision to opt out of the last CBA to realign the business and save the league from its own limitations,” she stated. “Today, with a stronger foundation and new investments flowing in, they’re opting out again — this time to fully professionalize the league, secure proper wages, improve working conditions and lock in meaningful benefits.”
The disparities between the WNBA and its male counterpart, the NBA, are stark.
Bloomberg reported that the WNBA generated $200,000,000 in revenue last season, with only 9.3 percent allocated to player salaries. On the flip-side, NBA players receive a full 50 percent of league revenue — a share that amounted to a staggering $5.3 billion in 2023 alone.
For many WNBA athletes, financial stability requires playing overseas during the offseason — an option that Unrivaled, a new alternative league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, is hoping will help bridge the financial gap.
Angel Reese #5 of Rose goes up for a shot against the Lunar Owls during the second half at Wayfair Arena on February 21, 2025 in Medley, Florida. Rich Storry/Getty Images
Offering a nine-week season and an average salary of $250,000 for its 36 participating players, Unrivaled is meant to present a lucrative alternative to international play.
Reese, who has committed to the new league, has been forthright about her WNBA earnings. “I just hope y’all know, the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all. I don’t even think it pays one of my bills. Literally,” she stated bluntly in an Instagram Live session last year.
While Reese has leveraged her star power to secure endorsement deals and a build a robust personal brand, many of her peers do not have the same financial cushion. Perhaps its star players playing for another league can induce the WNBA will rev up their engines to make change.
