The Power of the Players: What Netball Can Learn from the WNBA’s New CBA

By Ella Clark

As athletes, we spend so much of our lives focused on performance, training, competing, and constantly chasing marginal gains. But every so often, moments come along that remind us the biggest shifts in sport don’t always happen on the court. They happen at the negotiating table.

The recent collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, reached between the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association is one of those moments and one that should make all of us in netball sit up and take notice.

A Transformational Deal: What’s Actually Changed?

After more than a year of negotiations, the new agreement represents a huge leap forward in what it means to be a professional female athlete.

Under the previous CBA, the average WNBA salary sat around $100,000, with minimum salaries just over $66,000 and a team salary cap of roughly $1.5 million.

The new deal changes that dramatically.

• Minimum salaries rise to over $300,000- Average salaries are expected to reach around $500,000 to $600,000

• The salary cap jumps from $1.5 million to around $7 million

• Players will now receive around 20 percent of league revenue

That last point is key. Previously, players received a much smaller share of the league’s overall revenue, with limited mechanisms for growth to directly benefit athletes.

This new agreement ties player earnings to the success of the league itself, aligning incentives, rewarding growth, and recognising the value players bring.

Put simply, this isn’t just a pay rise. It is a shift in structure, in respect, and in long term sustainability.

A Collective Voice, Not Individual Noise

What stands out most to me isn’t just the outcome, it is how it was achieved.

This wasn’t about one or two star players pushing for change. It was a unified group of athletes, aligned in purpose, willing to opt out of their previous agreement and demand something better.

The Players Association ensured athletes were engaged throughout the process, creating a genuine collective voice.

And that is where the real power lies.

The Professional Gap and the Opportunity for Netball

It is also important to acknowledge context.

The WNBA has been a fully professional league for decades. It has established commercial structures, long term broadcast deals, and a growing global audience. That foundation has allowed players to push for a deal that reflects an already maturing business.

In the UK, netball is on a different part of that journey.

We have made huge strides in recent years, particularly with the move towards a more professional Super League, but we are still building the structures that underpin long term sustainability for athletes.

And that is why this moment is so important.

The WNBA is not just a comparison, it is an example of what is possible.

It shows what happens when a sport grows commercially, when athletes are organised and represented, and when players have a genuine seat at the table.

For netball in the UK, that is aspirational, but it is also achievable.

Growth Demands a Seat at the Table

Women’s sport is growing at an incredible pace. Visibility is increasing, investment is coming in, and audiences are expanding.

But growth on its own is not enough.

The WNBA players recognised that if they did not help shape that growth, they risked being left behind by it. So they stepped forward, collectively, and ensured their voices were part of the conversation.

That is the opportunity we have in netball right now.

To not just be part of the game, but to help shape its future.

Leadership and Responsibility

Strong player leadership has been central to this process.

But leadership in this space is not about being the loudest voice. It is about being consistent, informed, and representative of the whole playing group.

In my role as Player Chair of the NPA, that is something I am incredibly aware of. It is about listening as much as speaking, and making sure every player feels part of the journey.

Because collective bargaining only works when it is truly collective.

Final Thoughts

As athletes, we often define legacy by what happens on the court, wins, caps, and titles.

But moments like this remind us that legacy is also about impact.

The WNBA players have helped redefine what is possible in women’s professional sport. They have set a new standard, not just for basketball, but for all of us.

For netball in the UK, the question is not whether we can replicate that overnight, it is whether we can learn from it.

Because when athletes come together with a shared purpose, backed by structure and representation, they do not just grow the game.

They change it.