58% of Americans Support a Potential WNBA Players Strike
60% of Americans Believe WNBA Should Have Higher Revenue Share
More than Half of all Americans say WNBA pay doesn’t match its popularity
The latest Seton Hall Sports Poll reveals that a majority of Americans believe that Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players are unfairly paid compared to NBA players, and three in five Americans (58%) back a strike by WNBA players if there is no collective bargaining agreement reached by the current deadline of Friday, October 31st.
With Halloween and the end of the negotiation period looming on the horizon, the Las Vegas Aces — including MVP A’ja Wilson — are left to determine more than just their Halloween costumes for celebrating their 2025 championship for events like The Fremont Street Experience Halloween Bash, one of Las Vegas’ most popular Halloween parties.
Salary Equivalency?
The happiness of the WNBA players is more likely a function of the progress made in salaries and revenue sharing. The WNBA’s first year was 1997, fifty years after the NBA’s first year of 1947.
“The WNBA is at a crossroads and management should bring their labor force into the 21st century at a level that reflects the surging popularity of women’s basketball,” says Charles Grantham, Director of the Center for Sport Management and the Seton Hall Sports Poll at the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business. “My expectation is that the parties will continue to talk with a no-strike and no-lockout agreement. It is in neither the league’s nor the players’ interest to stop talking. While it is somewhat difficult to match the WNBA structure to the half-century greater NBA history, there is no doubt that the public support of the WNBA means it is time for the players to get a more equitable share of the growing pie.”
The WNBA saw record viewership of 60+ million viewers across TV partners last year and attendance was 33 percent higher than their previous peak. They have a new eleven-year, $2.2 billion media deal (CNBC Julia Boorsin 10/24/25). The league plans expansion to 18 teams and is projected to generate roughly $500 million in annual revenue by 2030 (NBC News 6/30/25). Players such as Caitlin Clark, the 2024 NCAA Player of the Year and 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year described 2025 as “the biggest moment in WNBA history,” and that the league’s success should translate into greater investment in its athletes (Wall Street Journal 10/8/25).
Those are the revelations of the latest Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted October 3rd-6th among 1,519 adults nationwide. The Poll, which is sponsored by the Sharkey Institute within Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, features a national representative sample from YouGov Plc. Weighted on U.S. Census Bureau figures for age, gender, ethnicity, education, income and geography and has margin of error of +/- 2.5%.
Unfair Compensation?
While the WNBA continues its historic surge in popularity, there is public support for players seeking higher compensation and a potential job action against the WNBA. More than half of U.S. adults (54%) say WNBA players are unfairly compensated compared to NBA players which is three times as many who disagree (18%). Among WNBA fans, that number rises to more than three in four (76%) highlighting how closely engaged fans recognize the pay disparity between the WNBA and NBA.
WNBA players are unfairly compensated compared to NBA players.
Further insight from this question includes:
59% of females believe WNBA players are unfairly compensated
55% of 18-34 year-olds and 56% of those 55 and older believe WNBA players are unfairly compensated
Should They Strike?
There is stunning support across all demographics for WNBA players if they strike. When asked if they support the WNBA players strike while they negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, 4 of 5 WNBA fans (80%), 2 of 3 (66%) Avid Sports fans, 3 of 5 (61%) Sports Fans and 18-34 year-olds (61%) support a job action. Less than one in eight disagree (12.3%) with the prospect of a WNBA strike in any demographic category. Rarely does a question provoke such consistent support.
I support the WNBA players if they decide to strike while they negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.
Further insight from this question includes:
59% of females support the strike
A New Revenue Share Model?
At issue in the negotiation is establishing a new revenue-sharing model that gives players a larger percentage of the league’s revenue. WNBA players receive about nine percent of “Basketball Related Income (BRI),” which includes revenue from ticket sales, broadcast deals, and merchandise sales. If certain revenue numbers are achieved, a trigger provision allows WNBA players to share as much as 21 percent. That provision has never been triggered under the current collective bargaining agreement. In comparison, NBA players split approximately 50 percent of the BRI generated by the NBA.
A majority of Americans favor equity in how professional basketball leagues distribute revenue. Sixty percent agree that male and female basketball athletes should receive an equivalent percentage of league revenue, while 16 percent disagree. Support again ran highest among WNBA fans (80%) and among women (65%).
Male and female professional basketball athletes should receive an equivalent percentage of league revenue.
Further insight from this question includes:
A majority of males and females agree that all professional basketball athletes should receive an equivalent percentage.
October 2025 Seton Hall Sports Poll
Daniel Ladik, Ph.D., Chief Methodologist – Daniel.ladik@shu.edu
This SHSP was conducted October 3rd through 6th and includes responses from 1,519 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2.5 %. The sample mirrors the U.S. Census percentages on age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, and region.
Q1. Which of the following statements best describes you?
*Note: Presented in each table, Avid + Casual = total sports fandom in the data. Some tables break out the Avid and Casual segments
Q6a. WNBA players are unfairly compensated compared to NBA players.
Q6b. I support the WNBA players if they decide to strike while they negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement
Q6c. Male and female professional basketball athletes should receive an equivalent percentage of league revenue.