Sports

WNBA fans jeer commissioner with 'Pay them!' chants during All-Star Game ceremony

During Saturday night’s 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, basketball fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse decided to show their support for the players amid their ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the league.

With the current WNBA CBA set to expire in October, WNBA players wore “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts during All-Star Game warmups to send a message to the league about improving the WNBA pay scale.

The WNBA met with more than 40 players on Thursday in Indianapolis but seemingly made little, if any, progress on finding compromises for a new CBA, as the WNBA players association issued a critical statement after the meeting concluded.

The players understandably want their salaries to increase as more and more revenue pours into the WNBA, and any compromise will almost assuredly feature a higher salary cap for the league’s teams so that the athletes’ average pay scale can increase.

Plenty of fans let the league know whose side they were on during the All-Star Game postgame ceremony, where loud chats of “Pay them!” broke out as league commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke.

Fans also held up “Pay the players” signs in the stands.

Washington Mystics guard Brittney Sykes also held up one of the “Pay the players” signs while ESPN’s Holly Rowe interviewed All-Star Game MVP Napheesa Collier.

While we’re sure the CBA negotiations still have a ways to go, the WNBA had to hear the message from the players and the fans loud and clear during one of the biggest nights on the league’s calendar.

“Pay the players” will be one of the biggest takeaways from WNBA All-Star weekend, whether the league wants it to be or not. We’ll see if this momentum breaks the ice any as negotiations continue.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: WNBA fans jeer commissioner with ‘Pay them!’ chants at All-Star Game

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