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What do WNBA players earn on top of base salary under the 2026 CBA?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 29, 2026. Last updated October 29, 2026.

This guide covers only what sits on top of base salary. The salary scale itself is in the WNBA salaries guide and the rookie contract guide. Every figure below comes from the text of the WNBA-WNBPA collective bargaining agreement, read directly, and is information, not legal or financial advice.

What bonuses can a WNBA player earn on top of base salary?

The 2026 agreement sets a $3,000,000 bonus pool: $1,920,000 for team results and $1,080,000 for individual awards, per Article IX of the CBA. Each amount is paid per player, and the schedule lists every award separately.

Players on teams eliminated in the second round receive $10,000 each and first-round exits $5,000, per the same article. To collect a team bonus, a player must be on the roster on the last day of the regular season. A player who was on a playoff team's roster for two-thirds of the regular season, but is on no roster on that last day, receives $5,000 if she earned no playoff bonus elsewhere. From 2027, each amount moves at the same rate as the salary cap.

Some contracts also carry a trade bonus. Under Article V, it is payable only the first time the contract is traded, cannot exceed 10% of the base salary remaining, and cannot appear in a contract signed by a player with fewer than six years of service. For a sense of what the individual awards mean, see A’ja Wilson’s record fifth MVP.

What extra pay comes from appearances, marketing and off-season work?

Appearance fees start only after a set number of unpaid ones, per Articles XXIV and XXVI of the CBA.

• Team promotional appearances: the first eight are unpaid, then $1,000 each, with a Team paying no more than $5,000 per player across a season and the offseason after it.
• League promotional appearances: the first three are unpaid, then $2,500 each.
• Commercial appearances for league sponsors: up to six, at $3,500 each.
• Team sponsor appearances: up to three, the first unpaid; a team may pay up to $3,500 for each later one, within a $17,500 cap per player for the season and the offseason after it.

Separately, the league may sign individual marketing agreements with players it chooses, at amounts it sets, capped at the supermax and able to include incentive pay tied to results such as app downloads or merchandise sold, per Article XXXIV. Team marketing agreements were eliminated. The new Enhanced Marketing Program can require selected players to take part in league content days and similar work, and a league content day counts as one league promotional appearance. Offseason league tours pay $4,000 for a one-week trip, or $1,500 for a single game, per Article XIX of the CBA.

Players may play elsewhere in the offseason, but they must notify the league in writing and file the obligation with the league office, though financial terms may be redacted, per Article XVIII. Under the prioritization rule, a contracted player who does not report by the start of the season or April 15, whichever is later (May 1 in 2026), is suspended without pay for the rest of the season. A player not under contract who has not finished her offseason playing obligation by that date cannot sign for that season. The rule does not apply to players with two or fewer years of service at the end of the prior season, and national-team and life-event exceptions exist, per Article XIV, Section 9. The dates are in the salaries guide, and the 2027 overseas games post covers the calendar pressure.

What housing, travel and daily expenses must teams cover?

Teams provide housing, travel and meal money on top of salary, per Article XI of the CBA.

• Housing: a one-bedroom apartment for every player other than developmental players from 2026 through 2028, and for players with base salary of $500,000 or less in 2029 and 2030. Players with children under 13 living with them get two bedrooms.
• Meals: $125 per day on the road and in camp when the team does not pay directly, adjusted for inflation after 2026.
• Local transport: up to $3,500 a season for a player without a car in the team market.
• Travel: first-class travel (when available) to the team city each season, individual hotel rooms on the road, and league charters for games in the United States and Canada.
• Tickets: four complimentary tickets to each home game and two to each away game.

A player cut during the season with no unearned protected salary can claim up to $5,000 in lease payments. A player traded in-season can claim up to $6,000 to ship belongings and gets a hotel room for up to 35 days if she has no team housing. Neither the league nor a team may restrict who visits a player in team housing.

What health and retirement benefits come with a contract?

Medical, dental and vision coverage runs from the first day of camp until the contract ends, per Article X of the CBA. A player cut before the midpoint keeps coverage for 30 days; after the midpoint, until the end of the calendar year. The 2026 in-network medical plan has a $600 deductible and pays 80% until a player has paid $3,000 herself, then 100%, and a player pays 33% of the cost of dependent coverage.

The league also carries group life insurance of $700,000 per player (developmental players excluded), and from 2027 provides a mental health reimbursement of up to $2,250 a year. Retired players with four or more years of service who lack other health coverage and are not team employees can get up to $1,250 a year for preventive screenings starting in 2027.

For retirement, newly eligible players are enrolled at a 3% deferral of base salary unless they opt out, the league matches 140% of what the player defers, and it adds regular contributions of 2%, 3% or 4% of base salary at two, three and four-plus years of service. A year counts if the player was on a roster for half the regular season games. All of it is subject to IRS limits, and developmental players are excluded.

Veterans also receive a one-time, taxable recognition payment by December 31, 2026, based on years of service before the agreement: $30,000 for 5 to 7 years, $50,000 for 8 to 11 and $100,000 for 12 or more. A player who retired before 2026 and won MVP receives the top amount regardless of years.

What does the CBA provide for parents and families?

The agreement gives players with children, and players planning families, specific money and protections, per Article X, Sections 3 and 9 through 11.

• Childcare: tax-preferred reimbursement of up to $1,250 a month in 2026 for a child under 13 living with the player.
• Family planning: up to $20,000 a year for adoption, surrogacy, egg freezing or fertility care, for players with two or more years of service, with a career limit of $60,000 per player and spouse or partner together.
• Pregnancy: 100% of base salary while a player cannot play because of pregnancy, but no team bonuses unless she plays at least one regular season game.
• Non-birthing parents: two paid weeks at 100% of base salary.

Teams must also let a child aged 13 or under travel on team transportation to away games with a caregiver the player provides, with a separate hotel room for the child and caregiver.

How does the revenue formula pay for these extras?

Most of these items are counted as Benefits and subtracted before the cap is set, so each benefit dollar competes with salary dollars, per Articles VII and XII of the CBA. The 2026 cap is set at $7,000,000, and the Salary Cap Benefits figure for 2026 is $31 million. After that, the cap equals the Designated 20% Share of Shared Basketball Revenue (for 2027, 30.25% of league revenue plus 12% of team revenue from 2026), minus Salary Cap Benefits, adjusted for the prior year's differences, divided by the number of teams.

Three protections sit on top of that formula. The cap cannot move more than 13% in 2027 or 10% in later years, and any increase the limit holds back is paid to players. If total salaries end a season below the cap multiplied by the number of teams, the league owes the difference to players, paid through the teams. And each team must spend at least 85% of the cap, or pay the shortfall to its own players.

What does a contract review cover before signing?

A full contract review covers each section above, not just the base salary page. A trade bonus appears only in contracts for players with six or more years of service. A player with a contract in effect by March 15 must tell her team by April 1 whether she wants team housing and whether a child lives with her; others have 14 days after signing. Under Article XVIII, an offseason playing obligation is filed with the league office before the player renders services overseas.

Agents notice that players ask about the headline salary first and the childcare, housing and family-planning language last, and those sections shape a season as much as the salary line does.

Protection of the base salary matters just as much, and guaranteed versus non-guaranteed contracts explains it. For the cap-related tags and dates, see the core designation guide and the WNBA offseason guide. For overseas offers, compare the extras above with what an overseas contract adds.