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NEW YORK — Following back-to-back days of prolonged negotiations between the WNBA and its players union, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters late Wednesday that the players are “feeling movement” in collective bargaining talks and are “committed to being at the table.”
The two sides remain without a new deal, now going on two days past the target date the league gave the union for when a term sheet should be completed to avoid scheduling impacts for the 2026 season.
“At the end of the day, we want a season,” Ogwumike told reporters. “We want to play. We’ve heard that from the other side as well. We need to see a more robust demonstration of that as we continue on in these negotiations.”
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the league’s latest proposal featured a salary cap starting at $6.2 million (up from a previously reported number of $5.75 million and $1.5 million in 2025) and that will continue to grow over the life of the deal. The average player compensation is projected to reach $570,000 in Year 1 and $850,000 in Year 6, while the maximum compensation would come in at over $1.3 million in Year 1 and nearly $2 million in Year 6.
“Our proposal on the table is a really historic and transformational deal for these players,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters early Thursday. “We’re proud of the deal we have on the table. I think it’s huge gains for the players, while balancing that with the health of the league. So we’ll just continue to work really hard, and we’ve got to get a deal done.”
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Added Connecticut Sun team president and labor relations committee member Jennifer Rizzotti: “As a former player, I don’t know that I ever thought I would see the day that such a transformational deal would be offered and on the table for these players, and I’m proud of that.”
The WNBA has proposed players receive on average over 70% of net revenue (revenue after deducting expenses). The players’ union previously asked for 26% of gross revenue (revenue before expenses) over the lifetime of the agreement, with the salary cap in Year 1 of the deal at about $9.5 million, but it is unknown where its current proposals stand.
The sides have been far apart on what a new revenue sharing system should look like, while also negotiating the future of the core designation, team provided housing and more. In all, there have been eight proposals exchanged over the past two days, with the parties meeting for roughly 12 hours Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning and then for about 11 hours Wednesday afternoon into early Thursday.
“Being able to be in the room, being able to exchange proposals, we’re feeling movement,” Ogwumike said. “We’re sticking to the process. That’s something that we’ve always been true to from the very beginning, so making sure that we stick to that process and the strength in our unity and obviously remaining resolute in what we’re representing ourselves for in these negotiations is kind of where we’re at now.”
Ogwumike and the three executive committee members who are attending the in-person meetings — vice presidents Breanna Stewart and Alysha Clark, as well as treasurer Brianna Turner — spoke with reporters shortly before 11:30 p.m. ET before leaving for the night. The league and union staffs stayed to continue negotiations, with both sides planning to continue bargaining Thursday.
The union has maintained it considers the March 10 “deadline” provided by the league as a negotiation tactic, while the league has pointed to the potential business and scheduling ramifications if negotiations are prolonged much longer.
“We haven’t ever really considered that as a timeline that has been something to prioritize on our side because we have always been negotiating in good faith,” Ogwumike said. “We’ve experienced lulls, shall I say, in the negotiation [from the other side] and we want to play, and that’s why we all flew out here.
“I think the league has their own priorities as such, and we’ve read a lot of things about timelines, and there’s been timelines that have been thrown out, but for us, we’re trying to get a good deal done, and we want to play this season. So that’s, to me, the time that we’re on.”
Once a deal is done, it must be ratified — which could take several weeks — and then the league must hold a two-team expansion draft, free agency for more than 100 players and a college draft, currently scheduled for April 13.
Training camps are slated to begin April 19 and the regular season to tip May 8.
“I think time is of the essence to get this deal done,” Rizzotti said, “and that’s what we’re working for.”
