“Don’t Get Paid Enough”: Sophie Cunningham Flags Concerning Reality Surrounding The ‘Growth & Development’ Of WNBA Officials
· Yahoo Sports
Sophie Cunningham has never been shy about showing her frustration with WNBA officiating, and you can tell just by looking back at the viral pointing incident, where she continued pointing at DeWanna Bonner despite receiving a technical foul. Now, however, the Indiana Fever guard is looking beyond questionable calls and towards a problem that she thinks could be affecting the quality of officiating across the league: how much referees are paid.
“I will always have their backs when it comes. They don’t get paid enough,” Cunningham said on the No Hesitation podcast.
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“If we pay them more, their investment level will be a lot higher. Hopefully that means their skill level will be higher. Maybe they’ll be more rested; maybe they’ll not have to work so many games in the off-season; maybe they will be prepared to just be a W ref. Everyone wants the NBA, but our league should be a platform where refs also want to get to and stay. We got to put money where our mouth is… they’re part of the product. They’re part of the game. We need to make sure that they’re taken care of.”
For reference, WNBA referees are much lower paid than referees in other sports. In a report by The Washington Post in June 2025, an anonymous referee revealed that their salary was only $2,000 per game. By comparison, they earned $5,000 per college game, and what makes this figure stand out even more is the NBA comparison.
The men’s league, by comparison, offers referees salaries between $150,000 and $550,000 per season, depending on their level of experience and performance. Of course, this is largely tied to the NBA being a more profitable league.
WNBA referee pay also depends upon experience. In the 2025 report, the most a first-year ref would make is $1,538 per game, while an official in their 10th season would make $2,107.
What made the pay come into focus back then was similar to the problem Cunningham described now. When improper officiating led to Marina Mabrey only getting a technical foul for shoving Clark to the floor, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White called out the officials, leading to anonymous responses from referees.
“One official said complaints from a coach on the collegiate level can lead to not being assigned to cover games involving that coach,” the report read. “That can result in a hesitancy to give a technical or eject a coach for unsportsmanlike behavior.”
“Until they hire us full-time and pay us as full-time employees, then it’s never going to change,” an anonymous official said. “Because if you pay me enough money to, say, just work the WNBA, I’ll leave college.”
The talk of raising referee salaries in the WNBA stands out when just a year ago, much of the offseason was spent making the same argument for players.
While the players eventually walked away with significant increases in salary, referees were not afforded the same level of monetary growth. Now, Cunningham is arguing that it is hurting the WNBA, since many might see the league as a stepping stone to better opportunities.
The WNBA took steps to strengthen its officiating staff. They introduced five officials with G League experience, as well as appointing 25-year WNBA ref Eric Brewton as the WNBA Referee Performance and Development Advisor.
The league described the new position as someone who will “support the growth of the WNBA’s game officials by providing developmental and evaluative performance feedback,” in a press release.
However, that’s only a stopgap measure. What is clear is that Cunningham and some referees share opinions, and unless the problem is nipped in the bud, it could cause a major shakeup in the league that no one would be prepared for.
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