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The WNBA and players returned to the table Thursday after two days of marathon negotiations yielded no deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.
In its most recent proposal, the league proposed a higher salary cap while standing firm on its revenue-sharing model, which would allow the league and teams to deduct expenses before sharing revenue.
During Wednesday’s 11-hour session in New York (which followed a 12-hour session beginning Tuesday), the WNBA proposed a $6.2 million salary cap — up from its most recent proposal of $5.75 million — which would put the supermax salary at $1.3 million in Year 1, increasing to roughly $2 million by Year 6 of the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the sessions. Under the previous CBA, the 2025 salary cap was roughly $1.5 million with a supermax salary just under $250,000.
WNBA players are “feeling movement” with the league this week, players’ association president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters following Wednesday’s meeting.
However, the core issue remains and will likely be central in Thursday’s negotiations. Under the league’s proposal, players would receive about 15.5 percent of the total revenue over the lifetime of the CBA. Players have drastically come down from their initial proposal of a 40 percent pre-expenses revenue share, dropping to 26 percent in a Feb. 27 meeting and even lower in this week’s meetings, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The two sides have continued to butt heads because they’ve used different models for revenue sharing, but the players are also frustrated that in the league’s proposal, players would be prohibited from auditing league and team expenses. The league has also continued to eliminate team housing benefits from proposals, which has become another wedge issue, even as the salary cap has increased.
A second source with knowledge of the sessions said that the sides remain “not close enough” to expect an imminent agreement. Two weeks ago, the WNBA set a March 10 deadline for negotiations to avoid delaying the start of the 2026 season. The deadline factored in a preseason schedule that needs to include free agency with more than 100 free agents, an expansion draft and a college draft before the beginning of training camp on April 19 and the season tip-off on May 8. As negotiations continue past that date, the league has not publicly detailed whether the season calendar will be impacted.
According to multiple reports, the two sides are committed to “being at the table.”
“At the end of the day, we want a season,” Ogwumike told ESPN. “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.”
The sides have been in a virtual stalemate for several months after the players opted out of the previous CBA roughly 17 months ago.
Since the institution of the latest deadline, the pace of negotiations has quickened. Players sent a proposal to the league on Feb. 27 with its reduced gross revenue share ask. The league responded on March 1, and the two parties traded proposals again this past weekend.
League commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters outside the New York hotel meeting: “It’s complex. We’re working towards a win-win deal … a transformational deal for these players that balances all the things we’ve been trying to balance with continued investment by our owners. So we’re working hard towards that, and we still have work to do.”
WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson described the talks as moving “in the right direction,” according to reports.
The protracted nature of the bargaining process introduced some strain recently. Breanna Stewart and Kelsey Plum, both members of the WNBPA executive committee, reportedly wrote a letter to Jackson outlining concerns with the state of the negotiations, including a lack of clarity about their roles and a lack of transparency about league proposals. A group of player agents previously sent a letter to union leadership expressing similar concerns about communication.
The rush of activity comes in stark contrast to the apparent lack of urgency during previous months. The league waited more than six weeks before replying to a union proposal delivered on Dec. 25, during which time the second extension to the CBA expired, and the WNBA entered a period of status quo.
The CBA originally expired on Oct. 31, 2025. The players had opted out in October 2024, giving the league and union nearly a year to come to a new deal, but little progress was made before the first 30-day extension.
