WNBA players used Saturday’s All-Star Game to send a blunt message to the league.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. hosted the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday. During warmups before the contest, players on both teams wore shirts with a strong six-word message — “Pay us what you owe us.”
Even Caitlin Clark, who did not play in the All-Star Game due to an injury, wore the shirt in solidarity with her fellow WNBA stars.
WNBA all stars wearing a "Pay us what you owe us" shirt in warmups pic.twitter.com/jIj2W6N6kw
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) July 20, 2025
Here is a video of the WNBA All-Stars at large wearing the shirts.
The WNBA All-Stars came out wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 20, 2025
The player’s association is currently negotiating a new CBA with the league
pic.twitter.com/XvOa7n61nS
The WNBA is currently in the middle of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the Player’s Association. The existing WNBA CBA was originally supposed to expire in 2027, but as a result of the players opting out last year, the expiration date is now Oct. 31, 2025.
Players are not happy with the way that negotiations have gone so far, and WNBA MVP frontrunner Naphessa Collier (who also serves as vice president of the WNBPA) even said at All-Star Weekend that they were “disappointed” with the league.
“We were disappointed for sure,” Collier said, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “What they came back with was just nowhere near what we asked for or even in the same conversation.”
The two sides met on Thursday after not having any sort face-to-face talks since December. But based on Collier’s comments as well as the message sent by the WNBA All-Stars in warmups, the talks apparently did not go too well.
As a league, the WNBA has consistently logged operating losses throughout much of its history and continues to be actively subsidized by the NBA. In fact, the league was still unprofitable last season, losing at least $40 million according to estimates.
However, the WNBA has recently seen a major increase in popularity and viewership as a result of Clark’s arrival in the league in 2024. That has translated to a big boost in revenue for the WNBA (who brought in an estimated $200 million last year). The league’s new $2.2 billion media rights deal, which kicks in during the 2026 season, will also push their revenue figure even higher.
That said, the revenue boost still has not translated into profitability for the WNBA. But nevertheless, the players clearly want a bigger slice of the pie right now (with Angel Reese recently even issuing a threat to WNBA team owners over CBA negotiations).
