As the 2025 WNBA playoffs tip off on Sunday, a contingent of players will be simultaneously pursuing a championship while fighting for the league’s future. That’s no different than any other season played under the cloud of collective bargaining negotiations. The league and union have gone through the process four times since becoming the first women’s pro sports league to ratify one in 1999.
Still, the magnitude of these negotiations in this specific postseason moment feels different than any before. The key metrics of viewership, attendance and sponsorship deals are all climbing, and the league’s stars can’t afford any late-game slippage.
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Not when, like so much else in the league, the playoff structure has expanded to the pro sports standard best-of-seven Finals. Or when they could enter into a work stoppage to kick off the league’s 30th anniversary.
There have never been this many eyes, and in turn, this much opportunity to leave a lasting impression as the union negotiates a deal ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline.
Though its skyrocketing ascension in recent years is largely attributable to a youth movement, it’s the old guard — er, sorry, more experienced players — burdened with the task since the postseason will go on without any of the headline names from the two most recent drafts.
Caitlin Clark, the most widely recognizable player for casual fans, announced last week that time had run out for her to return from a left groin injury. The seventh-seeded Indiana Fever, decimated by injuries all year, will host their first postseason game since 2016 without her. Her absence hasn’t hurt attendance, even if it has lowered the ceiling on the league’s jaw-dropping viewership numbers in games featuring the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer.
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Paige Bueckers, the presumptive Rookie of the Year to take Clark’s crown, and the Dallas Wings were one of the first teams eliminated from playoff contention. The Washington Mystics, led by rookie All-Stars Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, pushed hard for a spot, but fell short. Sky forward Angel Reese is busy telling her front office to surround her with talent so they can be there. And when the Storm secured the final playoff spot on Tuesday night, it knocked out the Sparks’ 2024 lottery picks, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson.
While those absences may be a bummer, they’re far from concerning in terms of playoff attention. Only Clark played in the postseason a year ago. And the 2024 Finals — a five-game gauntlet of a series that became the most-watched in 25 years, with a year-over-year viewership rise of 115%, according to ESPN — featured the same cast that will star in this year’s playoffs. There’s no reason to believe the numbers won’t be as impressive by the time a new champion is crowned in October.
No, this is the time for the veterans to stand up and ball out in crunch time. The playoffs are built for Napheesa Collier, A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, Allisha Gray and Sabrina Ionescu to shine. The StudBudz, too. One final moment for show, not tell, when it comes to reinforcing their case for more of the pie. Because the pie keeps growing larger, beyond the $200 million annual historic media rights deal kicking in in 2026, and a reported $750 million in expansion fees for the most recent three additions.
WNBA All-Stars, including Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu wore “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts during warmups before the All-Star Game. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers via Getty Images)
It’s what future Hall of Famer Candace Parker wanted out of the All-Star Game. The three-time WNBA champion criticized players for wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” T-shirts during this year’s All-Star warm-ups, only to treat the game like a friendly participation trophy soiree. It was an “added opportunity” to make the point and “maximize the moment,” she said on her “Post Moves” podcast with Fever forward Aliyah Boston.
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The playoffs, the premier product of any professional sports league, are that opportunity juiced with four shots of espresso. Add an energy drink on the side for good measure. These are the best players in the world fighting for championships and legacies.
When a league is as young as the WNBA, that fight includes the labor protections they leave for young and future stars. Players are tunnel-visioned on salary and revenue-sharing structures that deliver “a fair and reasonable percentage” of the “entertainment we provide,” Collier said in July. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league wants to balance “significantly increas[ing] their salary and benefits” while allowing owners a path to profitability and continued investment.”
The three most recent CBAs were all ratified in January or February. The lone exception was when the first CBA expired ahead of 2003. The league hadn’t yet turned 10, and questions abounded about whether a professional women’s sports league could survive in the United States.
Rapid growth cratered, leading to franchises in Miami and Portland folding that offseason, while the Orlando Miracle relocated to Connecticut and the Utah Starzz to San Antonio (and many years later, to Las Vegas). The league postponed the player draft when a deal still wasn’t made in April 2003, and the NBA Board of Governors threatened to cancel the season. They finally agreed to a deal, keeping the season and league on pace.
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It’s no longer about fighting for the league’s mere existence. A work stoppage would hurt their growth trajectory, but not fully kill it. Leadership on both sides of the table has insisted they intend to come to an agreement without long-term strife.
Players took to calling the league’s initial CBA proposal a “slap in the face.” The moment is here for them to return the favor, leaving a lasting mark ahead of what could be a tumultuous offseason. It’s time to leave zero doubt in anyone’s mind that the players were and are worth what they’re asking of a business that is indeed booming.
