Aliyah Boston's historic contract extension with Fever is a big win for WNBA

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement is ushering in a new day for the WNBA and its players, and they are already starting to experience the rewards of it. That continued on Friday when the Indiana Fever signed superstar Aliyah Boston to a long-term contract extension that has historic meaning for the league.

Why Aliyah Boston's contract is a big deal, and a big win for WNBA players

Boston's contract is reportedly a four-year, $6.3 million contract extension that is, as of now, the largest total contract value in the history of the league. 

She will earn $1 million this season, slightly lower than the $1.19 million max deal she was eligible for, and then earn 20% of the team's salary cap over the next three seasons. 

She took slightly less than the max this season to help give the Fever a little more salary cap flexibility.

Boston is now the second Fever player to sign a contract worth more than $1 million per season, joining Kelsey Mitchell, who signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax contract earlier in the offseason.

The other meaningful angle to this is that Boston is the first WNBA player to sign an EPIC contract under the terms of the new CBA. 

From the Fever:

The EPIC provision enables top-performing players on rookie contracts to renegotiate the final year of their rookie contract as part of a multi-year extension, contingent upon being named to either the All-WNBA First or Second Team, or named Most Valuable Player within their first three years of play. Boston, who was entering the 2026 season on the fourth, and final, year of her rookie contract, was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in 2025.

There is a lot of good here for the WNBA's players and for what's ahead for them. Keep in mind the max salary under the previous CBA was roughly $250,000. Now they are getting over a million. It is also important to note that not every player was making even the $250,000 number. Most of the league was making substantially less, and several players needed to play overseas during the offseason to earn more money. The minimum salary this season is over $270,000. That is $20,000 more than last year's maximum salary. Add in the EPIC clause, which allows players to cash in sooner than they would have under the old CBA, and the players are significantly better off.

That, combined with a lucrative new TV deal, is a big step for the league to continue taking a bigger place in the North American sports landscape. 

The Fever lost in the WNBA semifinals a year ago, but are returning the trio of Boston, Mitchell and Caitlin Clark that made them a contender.