PHOENIX — WNBA players will earn a lot more money this upcoming season, and it’s possible that no team owner is more excited about that idea than Mark Davis.

Since purchasing the Las Vegas Aces from MGM in 2021, Davis has been at the forefront advocating for WNBA players to be treated like valued professionals. Davis has also been outspoken about his players enjoying the same luxuries as their male counterparts, a concept on which he has a unique perspective as owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement represents a massive step forward in both of those areas, including a massive increase in salaries along with actual standards for the facilities and amenities teams provide.

“If the women are happy, I’m happy, because that’s what I’ve always wanted; is for them to be compensated fairly,” Davis told the Review-Journal during NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore resort.

Players and the WNBA’s board of governors ratified the new CBA last month, but it still needs to be finalized with the signing of an official long-form agreement. Team executives were advised not to discuss the details until that takes place, which should be within a week.

Nearly 18 months of negotiations came to a head as the process moved to in-person talks in New York that lasted 14-16 hours a day for eight days. Those meetings were attended by New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai as one of the representatives of the league.

When asked about the process, Davis was honest.

“I really can’t speak to that because I wasn’t involved in it,” he said. “They didn’t really want to involve me, I don’t believe. I think they felt I’d probably have been on the other side of the table, in a sense.”

Major upgrades

The WNBA released key details of the forthcoming document, detailing a $7 million salary cap in 2026 (up from $1.5 million in 2025 and expected to increase to $11 million by 2032), the first-ever million-dollar super max ($1.4 million in 2026, up from $249,000) and meaningful revenue sharing (players to receive 20 percent of gross revenue).

By the start of the 2028 season, each team will be required to have a facility with a locker room for exclusive use by the team, a private regulation-sized court, a separate weight room and cardio area, a treatment room and a private dining area. In 2027, each arena will also need to have a family room. Teams will be disciplined if they don’t meet these regulations.

Davis made sure the Aces had all of the above as he attempted to equal the playing field in 2023. He ensured the Aces had the first practice facility dedicated solely to a WNBA team, a building that was erected right next to the Raiders’ headquarters in Henderson. He also made Aces coach Becky Hammon the WNBA’s first million-dollar coach.

The practice facility is a development that Davis said which he still receives praise.

“I think that was an important step in creating a truly professional league,” Davis said.

Standing his ground

Davis stood behind there being “absolutely nothing done wrong” as the Aces were investigated by the league for potential rule breaches under the previous CBA after Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) gave each player on the team’s roster $100,000 sponsorships.

The WNBA, most recently contacted Thursday, has declined to answer the Review-Journal’s questions about the status of the negotiation for over a year. The league hired an outside law firm, Kobre and Kim LLP, to conduct the probe in June 2024. The firm has yet to reply to the Review-Journal’s request for comment.

The sponsorships made national headlines when LVCVA president and CEO Steve Hill led a group that surprised Aces players with the news early in the 2024 season. The video of the players’ reactions received millions of views between multiple social media platforms. Amid the league’s probe, the Aces received the sponsorships again in 2025. The LVCVA will not continue the sponsorships in 2026.

“When we did it, we said it was a two-year deal and recognized it was a bridge,” Hill told the Review-Journal at league meetings, which he attended to announce Las Vegas as the Super Bowl host city for 2029.

“Where we got the big bang of value was at the announcement. The players did great, certainly followed through on that commitment to put a spotlight on Las Vegas,” Hill said. “But a lot of what we do in marketing, where we get the biggest impact is when it’s new and exciting and different. Repeating that year after year just doesn’t provide that.”

Ultimately, Hill sees the league’s progress under the new CBA as a win.

“I don’t know how much we had to do with that, probably very little,” Hill said. “They’ve gone from kind of scrounging, really, to now getting in the ballpark of where they really ought to be. So we’re thrilled.”

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