The collective bargaining settlement between the WNBA and Girls’s Nationwide Basketball Gamers Affiliation will expire in a single week. Even when Jan. 9 comes and goes with out a new settlement — and as of now all indicators level to that situation — it would not robotically imply a piece stoppage would happen. As a substitute, a interval referred to as “established order” would observe through which the present CBA can be maintained and, even with out a new deal in place, the league and union may proceed negotiating.
But when there is not an extension, it may open the door for a possible work stoppage: both a strike initiated by the gamers or a lockout initiated by the homeowners. Final month, the gamers voted to authorize the WNBPA government committee to strike “when vital,” a transfer the union referred to as an “unavoidable response to the state of negotiations with the WNBA and its groups.”
There have been two extensions thus far, however what’s in retailer for Jan. 9? ESPN explores the newest of what it is advisable know concerning the CBA talks because the deadline looms.
The edges stay far aside on a number of key points, together with what a income sharing system ought to seem like, what must be thought-about income and methods to account for bills.
A number of sources acquainted with the negotiations advised ESPN this week that the WNBA is projecting {that a} latest proposal from the WNBPA — which might give gamers about 30% of gross income and is believed to function roughly a $10.5 million wage cap — would lead to $700 million in losses over the course of the settlement. Such losses would jeopardize the league’s monetary well being, the sources mentioned, and they’d be greater than the mixed losses of the league and its groups within the WNBA’s first 29 years of existence.
The projection, sources mentioned, was decided primarily based on beforehand audited league monetary info.
However the union believes its income sharing mannequin nonetheless places the league in a “worthwhile place,” a separate supply near the negotiations mentioned, and calls the league’s projected loss determine “completely false,” citing a discrepancy in whether or not enlargement charges are factored in. The union’s proposal accounts for enlargement charges in its projections, seeing them as actual cash that also contributes to homeowners’ backside strains. The league considers them transactions that generate zero internet income: New groups are out the enlargement payment however earn a fractional share of future league income, whereas preexisting groups get a portion of the payment however lose a fractional share of future league income.
Both manner, the 2 sides stay divided on the character of the subsequent deal’s income sharing mannequin. The league has proposed a system through which gamers would obtain in extra of fifty% of internet income, a supply advised ESPN, whereas the union is proposing a system through which the gamers would obtain about 30% of gross income.
In primary phrases, internet income is outlined as income after subtracting bills, whereas gross income is revenues earlier than subtracting bills.
The WNBA views gross income as an inaccurate reflection of the enterprise because it would not incorporate the bills wanted to function groups and the league, whereas the WNBPA believes gamers who present the labor and don’t have any management over bills should not basically be paid final.
The league has beforehand mentioned that along with considerably rising salaries and different price commitments, it desires to incentivize homeowners to proceed to spend money on working the enterprise. The WNBA’s large development in recent times offers a chance for the enterprise to go from working at losses to constructing sustained profitability.
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike advised ESPN in a Dec. 19 interview that the league’s income share mannequin is “not satisfactory.” The WNBPA and its gamers have constantly harassed the significance of making a brand new deal that “represents our worth in a really significant manner,” as Ogwumike mentioned, in response to what the union has referred to as “the draconian provisions which have unfairly restricted gamers for practically three many years.”
In line with a doc obtained by ESPN that was shared with gamers, the WNBPA proposed a compensation system final month with a projected wage cap of roughly $12.5 million in 2026, over eight instances the 2025 cap. That Nov. 28 proposal additionally included roughly a $1 million common participant wage and most participant wage of $2.5 million. A number of sources acquainted with the negotiations advised ESPN that in latest weeks the union has proposed a decrease wage cap nearer to $10.5 million.
These altogether mark the primary reported wage figures from the gamers’ aspect of the bargaining desk. As beforehand reported, the league is proposing a $5 million wage cap in 2026 that within the years afterward would improve consistent with income development, and gamers would then obtain separate income sharing payouts following every season. Nonetheless, there may be clearly an extended hole to bridge between the gamers’ $10.5 million proposed cap and the league’s supply.
Within the aforementioned doc obtained by ESPN, the league and the union had been proposing most salaries that made up 20% of the wage cap. Within the final deal, that quantity, often called the supermax, made up 16.5% of the cap.
One participant eligible to obtain one-fifth of the cap — and probably two gamers accounting for 40% of it — may make for some attention-grabbing roster building selections. Entrance workplaces may bristle on the supermax comprising such a excessive proportion of the cap, fearing such a quantity would make it harder to construct an entire staff.
Positive, a number of groups turned contenders by paying their stars nicely under the supermax ($249,244 in 2025) — four-time MVP A’ja Wilson, for instance, made solely $200,000 with the Aces final 12 months. However would (or arguably ought to) stars nonetheless be prepared to go away a large amount of cash on the desk, significantly if there are seven-figure salaries on the road? Or would revenue from different leagues, corresponding to Unequalled and Challenge B, make that notion extra palatable?
The reply to these questions could have downstream results on everybody else, and a few trade insiders have issues that these proposals may squeeze out the league’s center class.
“We’ve got been at a mean of 16.5% of the wage cap as a supermax previously few years, and that has nonetheless been an enormous drawback,” one agent advised ESPN. “Fifteen p.c of the cap as a max wage would not make it simple, however it makes it doable, particularly if we will get the cap up a bit. In any other case, you should have virtually each max participant able to take a 10-30% wage lower, simply to type a aggressive staff or get actual fortunate with the standard of your minimal wage gamers.
“I am trusting that the PA and the elite gamers on the manager committee have really taken out their calculators and are contemplating this, which is kind of essential to 75% of the league.” — Alexa Philippou
In an interview with ESPN final Friday, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike described the vote as a “image of our unity and the boldness that we now have in one another to have the ability to give ourselves some stage of authority in these negotiations.” However she additionally deemed the transfer a option to “give ourselves as a lot leverage as doable to get an excellent deal executed.”
A call on whether or not to strike is no longer within the palms of the 150-plus gamers however as much as the seven-player WNBPA government committee.
“This implies we may presumably strike if we have to, however it does not imply that we would like that to occur,” Ogwumike advised ESPN. “However we now have it in our arsenal to ensure that us to get precisely what we’d like, which is a good deal that represents our worth in a really significant manner.”
Ogwumike advised ESPN that she sees Thursday’s vote as “a chance for [a strike] to be an possibility if negotiations do not progress,” including that she believes talks are nonetheless “a bit of their infancy.” The WNBA, in the meantime, has repeatedly mentioned in statements that the league “strongly disagree[s] with the WNBPA’s characterization of the present state of negotiations.”
When requested what elements would immediate the manager committee to contemplate pursuing a strike, Ogwumike responded, “It is sort of early to even say that, per se.
“That is perhaps a query for one thing nearer to Jan 9. I am not fully positive what elements, other than what we’re seeking to get in income sharing, may probably lead us to decide on this strike authorization vote.”
The union declined to supply particulars on the voting procedures the manager committee would observe if voting on a strike.
The 2026 season is not anticipated to tip off till Might, so the potential of canceled video games remains to be far off. However the gamers may decide to strike earlier than then. The ramifications of a possible strike, or any work stoppage, within the offseason would come with shedding advantages and staff housing for many who nonetheless stay in such lodging.
Ogwumike mentioned that gamers have been proactive in asking questions on what a possible work stoppage would entail and that union employees has labored to coach the participant physique on the realities of a piece stoppage.
“You do not know what is going on to occur, however you wish to be ready for something that may occur,” Ogwumike mentioned.
A vote to strike can be unprecedented for the WNBA; there has by no means been a piece stoppage within the historical past of the league. Business insiders have a spread of opinions on the probability and deserves of a possible strike — significantly one so lengthy earlier than the season begins — in addition to the union’s obvious technique.
“When you’re to date aside [as the union claims], and the negotiations haven’t gone nicely, and you’ve got the best to strike at any time limit, why are you not hanging?” one trade supply mentioned. “If it is all destructive with no progress, what are you ready for?”
“It is OK to strike, to me,” one agent advised ESPN. “In some circumstances, strolling away, saying no, is a very good a part of the technique in negotiation.”
However not everybody believes the league can be extra prepared to come back nearer to the gamers’ calls for with the specter of a strike looming.
“[NBA commissioner] Adam’s [Silver] going to step in and say, ‘Women, we’re not transferring on this and this and this, however we are going to do that and this and this,’ after which we’ll get a deal executed early January,'” one other agent predicted.
Nonetheless, one frequent perception amongst insiders is that for all of the potential strike speak, the gamers and the league perceive the significance of getting a 2026 season, so it’s nonetheless unlikely that video games might be missed.
“I believe a piece stoppage by technicality is feasible,” one other league supply added. “I am not anxious at this level about us lacking any video games.” — Alexa Philippou
Dec. 18 updates
What does the strike authorization imply?
Thursday’s announcement made clear that this isn’t a direct name for a strike, nor ought to or not it’s seen as an intention to pursue one. However that call will now be within the palms of the seven gamers who make up the WNBPA government committee: Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark, Elizabeth Williams and Brianna Turner.
The union mentioned 93% of the gamers participated within the voting, with 98% voting sure, marking an “emphatic affirmation of the gamers’ confidence of their management and their unwavering solidarity in opposition to ongoing efforts to divide, conquer, and undervalue them.”
The league has proposed vital wage will increase — together with a $1 million base wage for the highest-paid gamers — and a brand new compensation mannequin. It additionally proposed that groups would now not present housing for gamers.
But with disputes lingering over what a brand new income sharing mannequin ought to seem like, there have been few indicators that the gamers really feel like significant progress has been made in negotiations — Collier and Stewart echoed as a lot this week at media day for his or her 3-on-3 league Unequalled. Maybe the union sees Thursday’s transfer as a option to apply stress on the league with the specter of a strike.
But when the gamers proceed to imagine that the league is embodying “a resistance to vary and a recommitment to the draconian provisions which have unfairly restricted gamers for practically three many years” because the Jan. 9 deadline approaches, it would not be stunning to see the manager committee contemplate transferring ahead on a strike.
However even earlier than we get to Jan. 9, the CBA extensions have included a provision giving both aspect the power to terminate the settlement with 48 hours’ discover, at which level a piece stoppage — both a strike initiated by the gamers or a lockout initiated by the homeowners — may very well be pursued.
What do we all know concerning the newest proposals from each side?
In line with a supply with information of the state of affairs, the WNBA’s newest proposal contains an uncapped income sharing mannequin that might elevate most salaries above $1.3 million (up from $249,244 in 2025) and rising to almost $2 million over the lifetime of the deal; common salaries to above $530,000 (up from $120,000 in 2025) and rising to greater than $770,000 over the lifetime of the deal; and minimal salaries to in extra of over 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 within the first 12 months alone (up from $66,079 in 2025).
Whereas these figures are huge will increase, the gamers are nonetheless on the lookout for a better share of income. The union has proposed a system the place gamers obtain about 30% of gross income, one other supply advised ESPN, whereas the league proposed a income sharing system that granted gamers in extra of fifty% of internet income, amounting to lower than 15% of gross income.
The gamers have advocated for overhauling a system that, of their phrases, has lengthy undervalued them, therefore their message of “pay us what you owe us” that they wore on T-shirts at July’s All-Star Recreation. The league has mentioned it desires to provide the gamers vital raises whereas making certain the long-term sustainability of the league, and that whereas the WNBA has excessive prices like different main professional leagues, it nonetheless is bringing in, as compared, smaller revenues. — Alexa Philippou
Dec. 5 updates
Workforce-provided housing — the way it works within the WNBA underneath the present CBA and the potential ramifications of its elimination — has emerged as a flashpoint. This is what it is advisable find out about how housing works within the WNBA and what totally different stakeholders all through the league consider the problem.
By Alexa Philippou and Katie Barnes
How does housing work within the WNBA now?
Within the present CBA, groups present housing within the type of a one-bedroom residence or a housing stipend for all of their gamers. Gamers with kids underneath 13 who dwell with the participant full or part-time (visitation doesn’t qualify) are entitled to a two-bedroom unit. There is no such thing as a specific restrict within the CBA for what groups can spend on housing, however there’s a restrict to the stipends that may be supplied to gamers who decide out of staff housing that adjust from market to market. Figures for the Golden State Valkyries, Portland Hearth and Toronto Tempo weren’t included as a result of they joined the league after the negotiation of the newest CBA.
Groups can spend greater than the stipend restrict to safe housing for gamers, supplied it isn’t extreme and that the housing aligns with what’s allowed within the CBA. In different phrases, no penthouses.
Any participant wishing to improve lodging throughout the staff housing facility will pay the staff the distinction in price.
Through the offseason, gamers who’re rehabbing an harm sustained throughout the prior season or who’re paid to market the staff throughout the offseason — often called staff advertising and marketing agreements — can proceed to dwell in team-provided housing.
A number of sources advised ESPN that almost all of gamers make the most of staff housing relatively than select the stipend. Many gamers, although not all, dwell away from their staff markets within the offseason, or play abroad.
How lengthy has housing been required?
WNBA groups have been required to supply housing for gamers from the common season by means of the playoffs, along with coaching camp lodging, for the reason that first CBA, which was ratified in 1999.
Why may the league need groups to now not present housing?
The league may see this as a pure development in additional professionalizing the WNBA to the extent of different distinguished leagues just like the NBA and NFL. With vital wage will increase on the desk, gamers can be in a greater monetary place to cowl their very own hire than at any time within the league’s historical past. The league’s newest proposal features a $1 million base wage for gamers on the supermax (the earlier supermax was just below $249,244 in 2025), and gamers on the minimal undertaking to make no less than $225,000 together with income share (the earlier minimal was $66,079 in 2025).
It will even be a manner to assist offset prices for groups: With greater salaries, franchises can be on the hook for a a lot bigger payroll (underneath the league’s newest proposal, the wage cap would greater than triple from about $1.5 million to $5 million).
The expectation is that there’ll nonetheless be methods for groups to help gamers in sure circumstances — corresponding to in the event that they’re on coaching camp or seven-day contracts or traded midseason — in securing lodging.
How essential is housing to the gamers?
One participant described housing as among the many top-five priorities for gamers on this negotiation. “I believe it is simply actually overcomplicating one thing that should not be difficult,” the participant advised ESPN. “I should not be harassed about the place I’ll dwell when my job is to play basketball.”
In line with a supply acquainted with the negotiations, the gamers have proposed together with the price of staff housing in participant advantages that might be deducted from the participant share of income.
There are two main issues across the potential lack of team-provided housing. Not each WNBA contract is assured, and groups can defend solely six contracts per season. If a participant indicators an unprotected contract in free company, strikes to that staff’s metropolis, and is lower, the participant would not obtain her complete contract wage. Not having to navigate short-term leases, leases and/or mortgages eases a few of that burden for gamers.
Moreover, WNBA salaries do not change from market to market — the minimal is the minimal — however hire does. Merely put, hire in costlier markets corresponding to New York or the Bay Space will eat extra into gamers’ take-home pay than hire in Indianapolis or Phoenix. The present proposal from the league would considerably elevate salaries, however not sufficient, gamers have mentioned, to offset market disparity.
“This is mindless for our youthful gamers, for the gamers that get lower and are caught in leases … nor for gamers in greater markets,” New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud mentioned in an Instagram remark.
How essential is housing for groups?
Housing is a significant endeavor for WNBA groups. Other than the monetary dedication of month-to-month hire, there are a number of housing-related logistics that groups should handle — the whole lot from furnishings leases to coordinating cleanings to dealing with numerous charges, deposits or upfront funds. Groups may prioritize comfort and security in selecting participant housing areas, and every market has totally different rules and legal guidelines {that a} franchise should navigate.
The flip aspect is that homeowners of franchises, say New York and Golden State, may put themselves at a aggressive drawback if gamers are unwilling to play in high-cost cities.
Alternatively, the league may discover not prohibiting team-provided housing, however merely not requiring it. That may probably develop into a aggressive benefit, too, akin to the leaguewide race in recent times for franchises to construct multimillion-dollar follow amenities, for groups which might be extra prepared and capable of pour cash into offering housing lodging.
How do different main leagues deal with housing?
Seasonlong housing just isn’t a subject that seems prominently within the CBAs of the NFL, NBA, MLS or NHL. Groups in these leagues do not present seasonlong housing in the way in which that WNBA groups are required to. As a substitute, housing is supplied in smaller circumstances, corresponding to throughout minicamps within the NFL or reimbursement for housing prices following a commerce within the NBA. MLS groups have discretionary funds that can be utilized to assist participant lodging, however it’s not a requirement. The NHL really prohibits groups from paying for offseason housing in-market. Each NBA G-league and MLB minor league gamers are supplied housing.
In different main girls’s sports activities leagues, nevertheless, housing is a consideration. Within the PWHL, gamers obtain a set stipend ($1,500 in 2023, rising by $100 per 12 months). Athletes Limitless offers housing for all gamers in its softball, basketball and volleyball leagues, as does Unequalled. NWSL groups, like WNBA groups, have traditionally supplied housing for gamers, however the latest CBA ratified in 2024 phases out that requirement by 2027, with some stipulations for gamers whose salaries have not risen to a selected stage and/or who play in costlier markets to proceed to obtain stipends.
Nov. 30 updates
The WNBA and WNBA Gamers Affiliation have agreed to increase the present collective bargaining settlement by means of Jan. 9, 2026.
Either side have the choice to terminate the settlement with 48 hours’ discover.
What impression does one other extended extension have?
A number of extensions aren’t unprecedented. That is what occurred within the final spherical of CBA negotiations 5 years in the past. That deal was initially set to run out in October 2019 earlier than the present one was in the end ratified in January 2020.
A brand new deal may in fact get executed ahead of Jan. 9. However as of now, it seems assured that the two-team enlargement draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Hearth will occur later than ideally scheduled. Final 12 months, the Golden State Valkyries chosen their inaugural gamers on Dec. 6. The principles for the upcoming enlargement draft might be decided by the CBA, so a brand new deal should be executed first.
With groups usually delivering qualifying provides and core participant designations beginning Jan. 11, WNBA free company greater than seemingly might be impacted, too. And with all however two of the league’s veterans hitting free company this 12 months, it will not be possible to utterly consolidate that a part of the offseason.
The school draft is presently scheduled for April 13, 2026, shortly after which coaching camps normally start, with video games beginning in Might.
So whereas the basketball calendar may need some flexibility, there may be nonetheless quite a bit to be sorted out leaguewide this offseason. And continued labor uncertainty may need escalating enterprise implications if followers and company companions begin to concern there will not be a 2026 season.
Nov. 28 updates
What occurs if there isn’t any deal on the finish of the 30 days?
The 2 sides may agree to a different extension, as they did on the finish of October, aiming for continued negotiations to deliver them nearer to finalizing a brand new deal.
However even when there is no such thing as a extension and the present deal expires, a piece stoppage wouldn’t robotically occur and as an alternative a part referred to as “established order” would observe. That interval would keep the working circumstances of the present CBA and, even with out a new settlement in place, the league and union may proceed negotiating.
If there is not an extension, although, it could open the door for a possible work stoppage: both a strike initiated by the gamers or a lockout initiated by the homeowners.
Is there a draw back to a different extension?
One other extension is a logical transfer for each side to proceed negotiating in good religion and get nearer to finalizing a deal. For a body of reference, this present CBA wasn’t ratified till January 2020 after months of bargaining by means of 2019. So, working past the preliminary deadline just isn’t unprecedented.
Extended labor uncertainty has actual enterprise implications. However one other concern is that the WNBA and gamers are working with a singular time crunch this 12 months.
The league nonetheless wants to carry a two-team enlargement draft for the Portland Hearth and Toronto Tempo, which may solely occur after a brand new CBA is accomplished. Then in an unprecedented offseason, all however two of the league’s veterans will hit free company in a time that some predict might be akin to the “Wild, Wild, West.” (Many gamers signed one-year offers after the gamers opted out of the present CBA in October 2024.)
Final 12 months the Golden State Valkyries enlargement draft was held in early December. Free company normally happens in January with gamers capable of signal contracts beginning Feb. 1. The longer everybody goes with out a deal, the longer these essential components of the league’s offseason will stay on maintain, and the probability of the whole lot needing to occur in a condensed timeframe will increase.
What do we all know of how far aside each side may nonetheless be?
Information leaked final week of a WNBA proposal that included vital wage raises in addition to a income sharing part, in all providing gamers on the most greater than $1.1 million and on the minimal greater than $220,000.
However sources advised ESPN that the WNBPA didn’t see this proposal as transferring issues ahead, a sentiment many gamers echoed when surveyed by ESPN.
The principle concern from the gamers’ aspect is that they didn’t really feel the proposal featured a system the place the wage cap, and thus participant salaries, sufficiently develop with the enterprise — corresponding to within the NBA, the place the wage cap is instantly decided by basketball-related revenue (BRI).
Gamers now not desire a wage cap that, of their view, is chosen arbitrarily ($1,507,100 in 2025) and grows at a set price (3% annually underneath the present CBA). The present settlement additionally has a separate income sharing provision that grants direct funds to gamers if the league hits sure income targets (this has but to occur, largely as a result of impression of the COVID-19 pandemic).
If each side are nonetheless as far aside because the gamers and the gamers union have indicated, reaching a deal within the close to future may nonetheless show elusive.
Nov. 26 updates
What did the WNBPA consider the WNBA’s latest proposal?
Information broke final week that the WNBA had proposed a deal together with a income sharing part that, together with a base wage, would permit gamers to earn a most wage of greater than $1.1 million, on common greater than $460,000 and a minimal of greater than $220,000.
However the WNBPA didn’t see that proposal as one thing that moved negotiations ahead, sources advised ESPN on Thursday.
ESPN canvassed gamers throughout the league for his or her ideas on the league’s proposal and a typical theme emerged: that there was work to nonetheless be executed in securing the income share system the gamers have been advocating for. A lot in order that one participant referred to as the league’s proposal a “slap within the face,” and one other described it as “irritating.”
In 2025, the league’s minimal wage was $66,079 and its supermax was $249,244, so the proposal did embody vital wage will increase. However sources advised ESPN that the union doesn’t see the league’s proposal as together with a system through which the wage cap and participant salaries sufficiently develop with the enterprise, a longstanding demand of the gamers since they opted out of the present CBA in October 2024.
Within the present CBA, the wage cap elevated yearly by a set price (3%), coming in at $1,507,100 in 2025, and a separate income sharing provision referred to as for direct funds to gamers if the league hit sure income targets. Largely as a result of COVID-19-impacted seasons of 2020 and 2021, that part was not triggered over the course of the settlement.
As a substitute of a set wage cap, the gamers as an alternative desire a wage system primarily based extra instantly on income, corresponding to within the NBA, through which the wage cap is set by basketball-related revenue (BRI).
The league beforehand mentioned in an announcement it has proposed “vital assured wage cap will increase and substantial uncapped income sharing that permits participant salaries to develop because the league’s enterprise grows.” The union responded in an announcement that mentioned the proposal “put lipstick on a pig and retread a system that is not tied to any a part of the enterprise and deliberately undervalues the gamers.”
What’s the newest on the place negotiations stand? What occurs if there is not a deal reached by Sunday?
The league and union have despatched up to date proposals forwards and backwards since final week. Even with the Thanksgiving vacation approaching, they’re planning to satisfy all through the week and into the weekend forward of Sunday’s deadline.
The league and WNBPA may agree to a different extension on the deadline; even when that does not occur, a piece stoppage wouldn’t robotically observe. They may proceed bargaining underneath a part referred to as “established order,” through which the working circumstances of the present CBA would stay in place. However a scarcity of an extension may open the door for a strike (initiated by gamers) or lockout (initiated by homeowners).
What is the newest on the enlargement draft?
Because the CBA deadline continues to be pushed again, so does the enlargement draft for the Portland Hearth and Toronto Tempo, who will each be enjoying their inaugural seasons in 2026.
The enlargement draft can be among the many first order of enterprise as soon as a brand new CBA is put in place, and a league supply advised ESPN each groups try to arrange for it. However they’re “working with extra questions than solutions.”
Final 12 months, the Golden State Valkyries had been advised the format of their enlargement draft one month earlier than the Dec. 6 draft night time. Golden State was knowledgeable of the listing of protected gamers from the opposite preexisting groups 11 days earlier than the draft. Because it stands, Portland and Toronto have “nothing.”
A coin flip will finally be held with the winner selecting whether or not they choose No. 6 within the faculty draft and No. 2 within the enlargement draft, or No. 7 within the faculty draft and No. 1 within the enlargement draft — however a date has not but been set for when that can happen.
The uncertainty has hindered the Hearth’s and Tempo’s skill to strategize as a lot as they’d like at this level within the offseason, the supply mentioned.
Although nothing is ready in stone, they anticipate the WNBA to mannequin this enlargement draft equally, if not the identical as, the 2000 enlargement draft, the final time there was a multiteam enlargement.
In that 12 months’s draft, preexisting groups had been allowed to guard 5 gamers on their present roster. The league supply advised ESPN that’s in all probability what’s going to occur once more for the Hearth and Tempo. Final 12 months, groups had been allowed to guard six gamers from the Valkyries.
Sources mentioned the expectation is for Toronto and Portland to be allowed to pick out just one free agent every, however that hasn’t been confirmed. The league supply mentioned about 85% of present gamers are free brokers this winter, which makes it tough for the enlargement groups to determine who they wish to choose. In the event that they take a participant from a staff that’s coming into free company, that participant can nonetheless depart the enlargement franchise and signal elsewhere as a free agent later.
WNBA free company usually begins Jan. 11, with contracts capable of be signed beginning Feb. 1, and the season yearly tipping off in Might. However as negotiations linger, the supply mentioned that they’re making ready for an expedited calendar. And in a single excessive situation, the supply mentioned they’re even prepping for the enlargement draft, free company and faculty draft to all be held between March and the start of April.
Nov. 19 replace
What priorities are prime of thoughts on the bargaining desk?
The dialog over wage construction and income share has lengthy been the centerpiece of this CBA negotiation. Whereas significant wage will increase are anticipated for the gamers as they capitalize off an infusion of capital and funding within the sport, each side have not seen eye to eye on what these techniques ought to seem like.
These had been amongst a number of priorities the gamers emphasised after they opted out of the present CBA in October 2024. The most important points additionally embody establishing minimal skilled requirements in amenities and codifying the league’s constitution journey program that was launched at first of the 2024 season.
The league has mentioned it desires to considerably improve participant salaries and different price commitments, whereas additionally incentivizing homeowners to proceed to spend money on working the enterprise. The WNBA’s large development in recent times offers a chance for the enterprise to go from working at losses to constructing sustained profitability.
Increasing retirement and being pregnant/household planning advantages have additionally been on the forefront for gamers. After 40-plus gamers met with the league forward of All-Star Weekend in late July, Breanna Stewart, a vice chairman with the WNBPA, mentioned these matters had been the one two bullet factors each side had agreed on at the moment.
Prioritization, a algorithm that requires WNBA gamers competing in different leagues to point out up in time for WNBA coaching camp or else be suspended for the season, turned a controversial matter after it was launched within the final CBA. Nevertheless it’s unlikely homeowners would wish to loosen these guidelines, particularly amid anticipated WNBA wage will increase. A supply advised ESPN that the subject has not largely figured into negotiations to date and that it is not thought-about a significant level of competition.
Gamers have additionally expressed a want to weaken or abolish fully the “core” system, akin to the NFL’s franchise tag, which was already largely diminished previously CBA. However the league is unlikely to wish to give that up fully because it offers groups the chance to develop and retain drafted expertise, which may create a leveling aggressive impact.
The league’s onerous cap and 12-player roster limits (many franchises carry solely 11 gamers) have usually pissed off staff personnel. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has beforehand mentioned that the league prefers enlargement as a option to develop its measurement relatively than including roster spots, whereas the league prefers to not soften the cap, a supply mentioned, because it believes some groups considerably outspending others would create an unlevel discipline of competitors.
One other matter to be sorted is the variety of video games and scheduling transferring ahead; there have been a most of 44 video games allowed underneath the present CBA, and whereas the league cannot all the time hold the identical precise footprint on account of worldwide competitions, Engelbert has mentioned the league want to attempt to follow Might by means of October, with some overlap into November as wanted in a 12 months like 2026, when the WNBA will break for the FIBA World Cup.
Do leagues corresponding to Unequalled or Challenge B impression negotiations?
WNBA gamers have competed in different leagues — traditionally, internationally — for the reason that league’s inception. However the home panorama modified dramatically this previous 12 months when Unequalled — a 3-on-3 league based by Stewart and Napheesa Collier — launched its inaugural season, which ran from January to March.
Unequalled has characterised itself in its place for gamers who wish to complement their incomes with out going abroad throughout the WNBA offseason, and league personnel have mentioned Unequalled is not meant to be a competitor to the WNBA. Nonetheless, some gamers have indicated they hope Unequalled, with its excessive salaries and spectacular participant facilities, can apply stress to the WNBA throughout this present spherical of CBA negotiations.
Unequalled supplied gamers fairness final 12 months and transferring ahead goals to supply a mean wage of $200,000, what the league claims is the very best common wage in girls’s skilled staff sports activities.
Over the previous few weeks, a brand new league referred to as Challenge B has introduced its intention to debut in November 2026 and run by means of April 2027, with WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones and Jewell Loyd amongst its first public signees. The league’s mannequin options 66 gamers enjoying on a world circuit throughout Europe and Asia, much like a System 1 format.
Along with having participant fairness, their salaries are reported to achieve seven figures, above what’s supplied by each the WNBA and Unequalled (the latter’s schedule instantly conflicts with Challenge B’s schedule). Like Unequalled, Challenge B says it is not a competitor league to the WNBA.
Whereas prioritization guidelines guarantee WNBA gamers arrive on time to coaching camp, the league has no plans of asking for exclusivity — that its gamers solely play within the WNBA and nowhere else within the offseason — throughout this spherical of negotiations, a supply mentioned.
Will WNBA draft eligibility change on this CBA?
The beginning of the faculty season has evoked a well-known query for basketball followers: Ought to the WNBA change its draft eligibility guidelines? Not like the one-and-done rule within the NBA, gamers should be 22 years outdated within the calendar 12 months of the WNBA draft to be eligible (until they’ve graduated early). Worldwide gamers want to show 20 throughout the calendar 12 months of the draft to be eligible.
A supply advised ESPN that draft eligibility hasn’t been a significant matter of dialogue in negotiations to date.
Is there any information relating to the enlargement draft?
As we have beforehand addressed, holding the WNBA enlargement draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Hearth is likely one of the first issues that might be executed as soon as a brand new CBA is in place. The parameters for the enlargement draft are speculated to be set within the new CBA, so groups have not been given any guidelines or tips.
However the expectation is {that a} coin flip will decide which of the 2 newcomers will choose first within the faculty and enlargement drafts (i.e. whichever staff goes first within the enlargement draft will choose seventh within the faculty draft, and whoever goes second within the enlargement draft will choose sixth within the faculty draft; the No. 6 choose is the primary choice following the lottery picks).
The enlargement draft for the Golden State Valkyries was held Dec. 6 with the league’s 12 groups allowed to guard six gamers. Golden State chosen 11 gamers, taking one from each staff besides Seattle.
Since this enlargement draft could have two groups constructing rosters, it is thought that maybe the league’s different groups may solely be capable to defend 5 gamers this time.
Oct. 30 replace
What’s the greatest subject retaining the edges aside?
In public feedback, gamers have implied that the 2 sides are successfully talking totally different languages on the bargaining desk, with the most important sticking level being what a wage system and income sharing ought to seem like.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned on the “Right this moment” present in October that WNBA gamers can count on a “large improve” of their salaries. However the gamers are looking for a wage system that grows with the enterprise (corresponding to within the NBA, which makes use of basketball-related revenue to find out its wage cap) over a fixed-rate mannequin within the present CBA, the place the wage cap raises yearly by 3%. The league’s wage cap was $1,507,100 in 2025, with a minimal wage of $66,079 and a supermax of $249,244.
The present CBA additionally has a income sharing provision that might lead to direct funds to gamers if the league hits sure income targets, however it hasn’t but been triggered.
Silver mentioned on the “Right this moment” present that share “is not the best manner to have a look at it as a result of there’s a lot extra income within the NBA,” suggesting that expense may nonetheless eat a really significant slice of the income pie in comparison with different sports activities leagues.
The WNBPA mentioned in October that the league has “put lipstick on a pig and retread a system that is not tied to any a part of the enterprise and deliberately undervalues the gamers.”
The league, on its half, has insisted it has supplied an “uncapped income sharing mannequin that’s instantly tied to the league’s efficiency.” And it has continued to keep up that it desires to, as WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert put it throughout the WNBA Finals, “steadiness the numerous improve in salaries and advantages with the long-term viability of the league” and that to date “the Gamers Affiliation has but to supply a viable financial proposal.”
What occurs if there isn’t any deal on the finish of the 30 days?
One other extension is all the time doable, though the WNBA has quite a bit to suit into this offseason. And even when the deal expires, a piece stoppage would not robotically observe.
There would not technically should be an extension for each side to proceed bargaining — as an alternative they’d enter a part referred to as “established order” through which the working circumstances of the present CBA would stay in place.
The issue: If there is not an extension, it could open the door for a possible work stoppage, both a strike initiated by the gamers or a lockout initiated by the homeowners. Thus far, that is not an amazing concern. Even earlier than the extension was agreed to on Oct. 30, sources leaguewide mentioned they didn’t imagine a piece stoppage was imminent.
What about this condensed offseason schedule? What must occur earlier than the subsequent season can begin?
Quite a bit, beginning with an enlargement draft for the Portland Hearth and Toronto Tempo. As soon as that is concluded, free company provides unprecedented uncertainty with practically half of the league’s gamers unrestricted.
The state of affairs could be very totally different from the CBA negotiations that dragged nicely into the spring of 2003. That CBA launched free company for the primary time, and just for a restricted variety of gamers, which means the league may go from preliminary settlement with gamers on a deal April 18 to coaching camp beginning two weeks in a while Might 1 — with each the WNBA draft and a dispersal draft in between.
We did see the NBA go from a preliminary settlement to finish its 2011 lockout on Nov. 26 to coaching camps starting Dec. 9, lower than two weeks later, however the league was capable of maintain free company on the similar time. That is not practical given the scope of WNBA free company, and the brand new CBA may overhaul the wage cap within the WNBA extra dramatically than we have seen from one NBA deal to the subsequent.
In consequence, about three weeks is the quickest the WNBA may realistically hope to go from settlement on a deal to holding practices. Ideally, in fact, the league desires progress towards an settlement by early January to keep away from delaying the everyday offseason schedule too considerably. That is particularly essential for the Hearth and Tempo, who may stand to advertise their inaugural season by having precise gamers on their roster.
Oct. 22 replace
How does bargaining work logistically?
When the league and WNBPA maintain bargaining periods, there could be an array of stakeholders within the room, and it is not all the time the identical individuals every assembly, sources acquainted with the negotiations mentioned. WNBA and NBA employees, in addition to their exterior counsel, symbolize the league’s aspect of the aisle, with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert attending all substantive bargaining conferences, in line with earlier negotiations in 2019 and with the actions of former league presidents. WNBPA employees and out of doors counsel are the principle contributors for the union aspect, although WNBPA advisors and participant management may additionally attend.
The gamers’ CBA committee usually options no less than 33 gamers: the 26 participant representatives (two per staff), seven members of the manager committee (Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Elizabeth Williams, Brianna Turner, Alysha Clark, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart) and some different gamers exterior of these teams who’ve opted to take part.
The league has its personal model of that group, the labor relations committee, that includes seven staff homeowners 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 Solar. That committee doesn’t take part in bargaining periods.
The league and WNBPA first met in December 2024 for a preliminary dialog on the brand new CBA and held a bigger in-person assembly that includes representatives from the labor relations committee plus over 40 gamers at All-Star weekend in late July. Since then, the WNBPA has met with participant management “weekly, if not a pair instances per week,” in keeping with a supply, and the 2 sides have continued to speak with regularity, although the contributors and scope have fluctuated.