The WNBA seems no closer to striking a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement with the players now than several months ago. With a lockout looming, billionaire basketball fan Mark Cuban has some ideas on why things aren’t making any headway.
Taking to X in response to a report on the WNBA players’ demands, Cuban asserted that there simply isn’t enough money in the WNBA as there is in college sports, which will likely impact the league’s ability to get new talent injections moving forward.
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Cuban made a very long post explaining that his big idea would be to let “NIL” help subsidize player contracts in the same way that college teams do now.
“The crazy part, is that no matter what the WNBA does with salaries, every star college player will take a pay cut to play in the WNBA I asked a few ADs what the going rate is for the star player on a power conference WBB team -$500k to $1.2m. And, you are always a free agent with the portal. You get your room and board paid for. And you can get a good education if you work at it. It’s all subsidized by donors and shared school revenues. Which makes it more similar to Europe, where companies subsidize teams , than to the WNBA In the NBA, a team can’t go to a sponsor and negotiate a direct payment deal for a player. In college they effectively can with NIL money. When I have written checks to IU, I knew which players were trying to get with the money (although I never tie the money to specific players. It’s up to them ) The WNBA needs to look at allowing the same thing. Let the teams go to local sponsors and work out payments to players as part of sponsorship packages. The big name players have agents to do this. The rest make minimal amounts. With or without an agent.
Let WNBA teams pay “NIL” money to its players. It’s counter intuitive for NBA folks, but here is the issue. WNBA teams don’t have the margin dollars from tickets, sponsors and shared revenues like tv to pay bigger salaries using their own cash flow. With help from the league , they could create NIL deals with sponsors that go directly to the players. From the sponsors. Make it legal. Create a cap per player, based on years of experience.
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Yes, some teams will suck at it, that’s where the wnba comes in to help. They will suck at it as well for some period. But like collegiate NIL, the sponsorship packages will supplement player salaries without undermining the economics of the teams and league itself. The next question will be competitive balance issues. The big markets can do this better. They have a great addressable market for sponsors. The wnba could require that some percentage of the NIL money deals go into a pool for a version of revenue share. This is effectively what happens (or did ) with jersey ads. I remember advocating that the jersey ads be split with all teams, because the greatest value to sponsors comes not from local tv or games, but from national tv, playoffs and jersey sales. This would be similar. Obviously I’m just spitballing this , but if they came on shark tank , that’s what I would suggest!” Cuban wrote.
The Fatal Flaw
Basketball fans quickly pointed out that the major flaw in Cuban’s model is that it shows that the WNBA isn’t viable on its own. It would also prove difficult since it opens the door to a ton of bad actors like college sports has had for years.
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“It wont work with the WNBA, it’s not comparable. College? Works great: because the college itself has fans that the teams root for. You are not giving money to the player, you are giving money to the team so they GET the player. You are supporting your team. WNBA teams have zero support to draw from. Sounds good in theory, but entirely a non starter in practice,” one user responded.
“The problem is the reason college “NIL” (i.e. pay for play) works is that many people, including billionaires, really care about their alma mater. Not so much about their local WNBA team. There’s nothing stopping players from getting legitimate NIL. Caitlin Clark has no issues,” wrote another.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JUNE 14: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever celebrates during the game against the New York Liberty during a 2025 Commissioner’s Cup game on June 14, 2025 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by A.J. Mast/NBAE via Getty Images)A.J. Mast/Getty Images
(A.J. Mast/Getty Images)
“If a professional league has to copy donor driven college payments to raise salaries, it quietly proves the business still cannot fund its own value and is surviving more on subsidy than real market demand,” a third wrote.
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Something has to be done though – and soon. If the WNBA winds up having a lockout and does not play at all in 2026, it could spell the end of the organization as we know it.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Feb 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the WNBA section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
