WNBA CBA Negotiations Accelerate: Will a Deal Be Reached Before the Deadline?
Thanksgiving week is usually a time for rest and reflection. However, in midtown New York, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) are immersed in intense negotiations. The main goal is to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) before the deadline. The current CBA is scheduled to expire on Sunday, following a 30-day extension agreed upon by both parties at the end of October. Although negotiations could extend into December, and the deadline could be postponed again, time is running out, as the end of the year approaches, with a two-team expansion draft and a very active free agency period still to be carried out this offseason. Alofoke Deportes keeps you informed about what you need to know about CBA negotiations and what could happen in the future.November 26th Updates
What does the WNBPA think about the WNBA’s most recent proposal? Last week, it was announced that the WNBA proposed an agreement that includes a revenue-sharing component. This, added to the base salary, would allow players to reach a maximum salary of over $1.1 million, with an average exceeding $460,000 and a minimum of over $220,000.However, the WNBPA does not consider this proposal to advance negotiations, according to sources. Players across the league were consulted on the league’s proposal, and a common theme emerged: there is still work to be done to secure the revenue sharing system that players have been advocating for. One player called the league’s proposal a “slap in the face,” while another described it as “frustrating.”
In 2025, the league’s minimum salary was $66,079 and the supermaximum was $249,244, so the proposal does include significant salary increases. However, sources indicate that the union does not perceive that the league’s proposal includes a system in which the salary cap and players’ salaries increase enough with the business, a long-standing demand of the players since they chose not to renew the current CBA in October 2024.In the current CBA, the salary cap increased annually at a fixed rate (3%), reaching $1,507,100 in 2025, and a separate revenue sharing provision provided for direct payments to players if the league reached certain revenue targets. Due largely to the COVID-19 affected seasons of 2020 and 2021, that component was not activated during the term of the agreement.
Instead of a fixed salary cap, the players want a salary system based more directly on revenue, as in the NBA, where the salary cap is determined by basketball-related income (BRI). The league has previously stated in a statement that it has proposed “significant increases in the guaranteed salary cap and a substantial revenue distribution without limits that allows players’ salaries to grow as the league’s business grows.” The union responded in a statement that the proposal “dresses up a pig and reuses a system that is not linked to any part of the business and intentionally undervalues the players.” What is the current state of the negotiations? What happens if an agreement is not reached on Sunday? The league and the union have exchanged updated proposals since last week. Despite the proximity of the Thanksgiving holiday, they plan to meet throughout the week and the weekend, before the deadline on Sunday. The league and the WNBPA could agree to another extension on the deadline; even if that doesn’t happen, a work stoppage wouldn’t automatically occur. They could continue negotiating in a phase called “status quo,” in which the working conditions of the current CBA would be maintained. However, the lack of an extension could open the door to a strike (initiated by the players) or a lockout (initiated by the owners). What’s new in the expansion draft? As the CBA deadline continues to be pushed back, so does the expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, who will play their inaugural seasons in 2026. The expansion draft would be one of the first issues to be addressed once a new CBA is established, and a league source said that both teams are trying to prepare for it. But they are “working with more questions than answers”. Last year, the Golden State Valkyries were informed of their expansion draft format a month before draft night, December 6th. Golden State was informed of the protected player lists from the other pre-existing teams 11 days before the draft. As things stand, Portland and Toronto have “nothing”. Eventually a coin toss will be held, and the winner will choose whether to select number 6 in the college draft and number 2 in the expansion draft, or number 7 in the college draft and number 1 in the expansion draft, but a date has not yet been set for it. Uncertainty has made it difficult for the Fire and Tempo to devise a strategy as they would like at this point in the offseason, the source said. Although nothing is set in stone, they anticipate that the WNBA will model this expansion draft similarly, if not identically, to the 2000 expansion draft, the last time there was a multi-team expansion.In that year’s draft, pre-existing teams were allowed to protect five players from their current roster. The league source said that will likely happen again for the Fire and the Tempo. Last year, teams were allowed to protect six players from the Valkyries.
Sources said Toronto and Portland are expected to be allowed to select only one free agent each, but that has not been confirmed. The league source said that around 85% of current players are free agents this winter, making it difficult for expansion teams to decide who they want to select. If they take a player from a team entering free agency, that player can still leave the expansion franchise and sign elsewhere as a free agent later. The WNBA’s free agency usually begins on January 11, with the possibility of signing contracts from February 1, and the season begins annually in May. But as negotiations drag on, the source said they are preparing for an accelerated schedule. And in an extreme scenario, the source said they are even preparing for the expansion draft, free agency, and college draft to be held between March and early April.November 19th Update
What priorities are the most important at the negotiating table? The conversation about the salary structure and revenue sharing has long been the centerpiece of this CBA negotiation. Although significant salary increases are expected for the players as they capitalize on an influx of capital and investment in the sport, both sides have not agreed on what those systems should look like. Those were some of the priorities that the players emphasized when they chose not to renew the current CBA in October 2024. The most important issues also include establishing minimum professional standards in the facilities and codifying the league’s charter travel program that was introduced at the beginning of the 2024 season. The league has said it wants to substantially increase player salaries and other cost commitments, while incentivizing owners to continue investing in the operation of the business. The tremendous growth of the WNBA in recent years provides an opportunity for the business to move from operating at a loss to building sustained profitability. The expansion of retirement and family planning/pregnancy benefits has also been at the forefront for players. After more than 40 players met with the league before the All-Star weekend at the end of July, Breanna Stewart, vice president of the WNBPA, said that those issues were the only two points on which both sides agreed at that time. Prioritization, a set of rules that requires WNBA players who compete in other leagues to report on time for WNBA training camp or be suspended for the season, became a contentious issue after it was introduced in the last CBA. But owners are unlikely to want to relax those rules, especially amid the expected salary increases in the WNBA. One source said the issue has not been a major factor in negotiations so far and is not considered a major point of contention. The players have also expressed their desire to weaken or completely abolish the “central” system, similar to the NFL’s franchise tag, which was already greatly reduced in the last CBA. But the league is unlikely to want to give that up entirely, as it gives teams the opportunity to develop and retain drafted talent, which can create a competitive leveling effect. The salary cap and roster limit of 12 players (many franchises only have 11 players) have often frustrated team staff. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has previously said that the league prefers expansion as a way to increase its size rather than adding roster spots, while the league prefers not to soften the cap, a source said, as it believes that some teams spending significantly more than others would create an uneven playing field. Another issue that needs to be resolved is the number of games and scheduling in the future; a maximum of 44 games were allowed under the current CBA, and although the league cannot always maintain the exact same footprint due to international competitions, Engelbert has said that the league would like to try to stick to May to October, with some overlap in November as needed in a year like 2026, when the WNBA will break for the FIBA World Cup.Do leagues like Unrivaled or Project B affect negotiations?
WNBA players have competed in other leagues, historically, internationally, since the league’s inception. But the domestic landscape changed dramatically last year when Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 league founded by Stewart and Napheesa Collier, launched its inaugural season, which ran from January to March. Unrivaled has been characterized as an alternative for players who want to supplement their income without going abroad during the WNBA’s off-season, and league staff have said that Unrivaled does not intend to be a competitor to the WNBA. Even so, some players have indicated that they hope Unrivaled, with its high salaries and impressive player amenities, can put pressure on the WNBA during this current round of CBA negotiations. Unrivaled offered the players capital last year and, in the future, aims to provide an average salary of $200,000, which the league claims is the highest average salary in women’s professional team sports. During the last few weeks, a new league called Project B has announced its intention to debut in November 2026 and operate until April 2027, with WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones, and Jewell Loyd among its first public signatories. The league’s model features 66 players competing in an international circuit through Europe and Asia, similar to a Formula 1 format. In addition to having player capital, it is reported that their salaries reach seven figures, above what both the WNBA and Unrivaled offer (the latter’s schedule directly conflicts with Project B’s schedule). Like Unrivaled, Project B says it is not a competing league to the WNBA. While prioritization rules ensure WNBA players arrive at training camp on time, the league has no plans to seek exclusivity—meaning its players would only play in the WNBA and nowhere else in the offseason—during this round of negotiations, a source said. Will the eligibility for the WNBA draft change in this CBA?The start of the college season has evoked a familiar question for basketball fans: Should the WNBA change its draft eligibility rules? Unlike the “one-and-done” rule in the NBA, players must be 22 years old in the calendar year of the WNBA draft to be eligible (unless they have graduated earlier).
A source said that draft eligibility has not been a significant topic of discussion in the negotiations so far. Is there any news about the expansion draft? As we have already addressed, the celebration of the WNBA expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire is one of the first things that will be done once a new CBA is established. The parameters for the expansion draft must be established in the new CBA, so no rules or guidelines have been given to the teams. But the expectation is that a coin toss will determine which of the two newcomers will choose first in the college and expansion drafts (i.e., the team that goes first in the expansion draft will pick seventh in the college draft, and whoever goes second in the expansion draft will pick sixth in the college draft; the number 6 pick is the first pick after the lottery picks). The expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries took place on December 6th and the 12 teams in the league were allowed to protect six players. Golden State selected 11 players, taking one from each team, except Seattle. Since this expansion draft will have two teams building templates, it is believed that perhaps the other teams in the league can only protect five players this time.
October 30th Update
What is the biggest problem that separates the parties? In public statements, the players have hinted that the two sides are, in effect, speaking different languages at the negotiating table, with the main point of friction being how a salary system and revenue sharing should be. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on the “Today” show in October that WNBA players can expect a “significant increase” in their salaries. But players are seeking a salary system that grows with the business (as in the NBA, which uses basketball-related income to determine its salary cap) over a fixed-rate model in the current CBA, where the salary cap increases annually by 3%. The league’s salary cap was $1,507,100 in 2025, with a minimum salary of $66,079 and a supermax of $249,244. The current CBA also has a revenue-sharing provision that would result in direct payments to the players if the league reaches certain revenue targets, but it has not yet been activated. Silver said on the “Today” show that participation “is not the right way to look at it because there is much more revenue in the NBA,” suggesting that spending could still consume a very significant portion of the revenue pie compared to other sports leagues. The WNBPA said in October that the league has “put lipstick on a pig and redone a system that is not tied to any part of the business and intentionally undervalues the players”. The league, for its part, has insisted that it has offered a “revenue sharing model without limits that is directly linked to the performance of the league.” And it has continued to state that it wants, as WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during the WNBA Finals, “to balance the significant increase in salaries and benefits with the long-term viability of the league” and that so far “the Players Association has not yet offered a viable economic proposal.”What happens if there is no agreement at the end of the 30 days?
Another extension is always possible, although the WNBA has a lot to fit into this offseason. And even if the agreement expires, a work stoppage would not automatically occur. Technically, it is not necessary for there to be an extension for both parties to continue negotiating; instead, they would enter a phase called “statu quo” in which the working conditions of the current CBA would be maintained. The problem: If there is no extension, it would open the door to a possible work stoppage, either a strike initiated by the players or a lockout initiated by the owners. So far, that is not an overwhelming concern. Even before the extension was agreed on October 30, sources throughout the league said they did not believe a work stoppage was imminent. What’s up with this condensed off-season calendar? What needs to be done before the next season can begin? A lot, starting with an expansion draft for the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo. Once that concludes, free agency offers unprecedented uncertainty with almost half of the league’s players unrestricted. The situation is very different from the CBA negotiations that dragged on well into the spring of 2003. That CBA introduced free agency for the first time, and only for a limited number of players, which means the league could go from a preliminary agreement with the players on an agreement on April 18 to training camps starting two weeks later, on May 1, with the WNBA draft and a dispersal draft in between. We saw the NBA go from a preliminary agreement to end its 2011 lockout on November 26 to training camps starting on December 9, less than two weeks later, but the league was able to hold free agency at the same time. That’s not realistic given the scope of WNBA free agency, and the new CBA could revise the salary cap in the WNBA more drastically than we’ve seen from one NBA agreement to another. As a result, about three weeks is the fastest the WNBA could reasonably expect to go from an agreement on a deal to holding practices. Ideally, of course, the league wants to move towards a deal in early January to avoid delaying the typical offseason schedule substantially. That’s especially important for the Fire and Tempo, which could promote their inaugural season by having real players on their roster.October 22nd Update
How do negotiations work from a logistical point of view? When the league and the WNBPA hold negotiation sessions, there may be a number of stakeholders in the room, and they are not always the same people at each meeting, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. WNBA and NBA staff, as well as their external advisors, represent the league side, with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert attending all substantive negotiation meetings, in accordance with previous negotiations in 2019 and with the actions of previous league presidents. WNBPA staff and external advisors are the main participants on the union side, although WNBPA advisors and player leaders may also attend.The CBA committee of the players is usually made up of at least 33 players: the 26 player representatives (two per team), seven members of the executive committee (Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Elizabeth Williams, Brianna Turner, Alysha Clark, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart) and some other players outside of those groups who have chosen to participate.
The league has its own version of that group, the labor relations committee, made up of seven team owners and executives: Suzanne Abair of the Atlanta Dream, Greg Bibb of the Dallas Wings, Ginny Gilder of the Seattle Storm, Kelly Krauskopf of the Indiana Fever, Mat Ishbia of the Phoenix Mercury, Nadia Rawlinson of the Chicago Sky, and Jennifer Rizzotti of the Connecticut Sun. That committee does not participate in negotiation sessions. The league and the WNBPA first met in December 2024 for a preliminary conversation about the new CBA and held a larger in-person meeting with representatives from the labor relations committee and more than 40 players at the All-Star weekend at the end of July. Since then, the WNBPA has met with player leaders “weekly, if not a couple of times a week,” according to a source, and the two sides have continued to talk regularly, although the participants and scope have fluctuated.
