WNBA CBA live updates as league, players agree to deal in principle

After more than 17 months of negotiations, the WNBA and Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) agreed in principle to a new collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday, March 18, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about ongoing negotiations.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson, union president Nneka Ogwumike, vice presidents Breanna Stewart and Alysha Clark, along with treasurer Brianna Turner, from the union committee, addressed on-site media shortly after tentatively reaching an agreement.

After the deal is agreed to in principle, a term sheet will need to be signed. It will then go to the players for a vote and then to a board of governors for ratification. Here are the latest WNBA CBA negotiation updates.

When does WNBA season start 2026?

Engelbert said the season will start on time on May 8. Training camp begins on April 19. The WNBA also needs conduct free agency and expansion drafts for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. A timeline for those two items was not provided early Wednesday morning.

WOMEN’S SPORTS: The latest news and insider insights from USA TODAY Studio IX.

WNBA CBA negotiations update

Details of the agreement, including the number of years, have not been finalized. Neither the WNBA or players’ union would comment on specifics of the deal. ESPN reported the new salary cap would start at $7 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025, and the average revenue share for the the players would be nearly 20% across deal, up from 9.3% under the old deal. As for player salaries, according to the report, the supermax would be $1.4 million, average in range of $600,000 and the minimum above $300,000.

WNBA CBA salary update

The deal is expected to increase player salaries nearly fourfold from last season. The league will have million-dollar players for the first time entering its 30th season. The agreement reflects the league’s continued growth over the past few years reflected in attendance, viewership and investment.

In a statement, Ogwumike said the revenue sharing system, which was a major sticking point throughout negotiations, will fuel “exponential” salary cap growth. Average player compensation will be more than $500,000 while facilities, staffing and support, housing and retirement will also be improved.

A new salary system became the main point of contention in negotiations. Although Engelbert noted the league wanted to “significantly increase (player) salary and benefits,” and create a “transformational deal” for players, both sides proposed different ways of doing so. The WNBA proposed a fixed salary cap and salary system separate from revenue.

How WNBA, WNBPA reacted to CBA agreement

“First, I just want to say thank you for your endurance through this process, especially I know it’s been a long week. I just want to say we have aligned on key elements of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement together,” Engelbert said in a statement. “We still need to finalize a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward for players and the league. It underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth of the game. So, we’ll share additional details as they become available.  

“We just had some congratulations with each other. It’s been, obviously, a process, but we’re very proud to be leading women’s sports. These players are amazing, and we’re going to have an amazing 30th season tipping off in May.”

“We have always believed that as this game grows, the players who power it must grow with it,” Ogwumike said in a statement. “That belief brought us together, not just for ourselves, but for those who built the league and those who will carry it forward. We challenged one anther, we listened, we stay at the table when it mattered most.

“This CBA delivers on that commitment. … It redefines what it means to a professional in this league.”

“The deal is going to be transformational,” Stewart said told ESPN. “It’s going to build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more, from on the court and off the court aspects. Just excited that we can tell our fans that we’re going to be back.”

How long WNBA CBA negotiations took

The new CBA agreement ends a tense, monthslong back and forth between the players’ union and league, including eight days and over 100 hours of marathon negotiations from March 10-18 to get the deal over the line.

With this agreement, the league has had six CBAs in its history including 1999, 2003, 2008, 2014 and 2020. The previous CBA, which was signed into effect in January 2020, shortly after Cathy Engelbert was named the league’s first commissioner in 2019, was set to expire after eight seasons in 2027. The WNBPA, however, exercised its right to opt out of the agreement in October 2024 amid unprecedented growth in the league, putting the 2020 CBA expiration date on Oct. 31, 2025.

WNBA players brought CBA negotiations to the spotlight during the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis in July, where all participants came out in black warmup shirts that read, “Pay Us What You Owe Us.”

“We see the growth in the league, and as it stands, the current salary system is not really paying us what we’re owed,” Ogwumike said in July of last year. “We want to be able to have that fair share moving forward, especially as we see all of the investment going in, and we want to be able to have our salaries be reflected in a structure that makes sense for us.”

Negotiations reached a boiling point in October 2025, when the sides released competing statements about who was at fault for the impasse. At the time, the WNBPA alleged the league offered “more of the same” in one of its latest proposals, while the WNBA accused the players’ association of “disseminating public misinformation.”

Shortly before the October 2025 deadline, the WNBA and WNBPA agreed to a 30-day extension, extending negotiations to Nov. 30, 2025. When the November deadline arrived, both sides extended their collective bargaining agreement negotiations for a second time to avoid a work stoppage, with a new deadline of Jan. 9, 2026, roughly six weeks later.

In December 2025, WNBA players voted to strike if the CBA negotiations impasse continued with the league. Ultimately, the WNBA and its players didn’t reach a new CBA agreement by a January 2026 deadline, entering a “status quo” period and then a moratorium to continue negotiations. Amidst ongoing talks, the WNBA set a March 10 deadline as the date by which a term sheet for a new CBA must be completed to avoid a delay in the start of the 2026 season.

After the March 10 deadline passed, Engelbert set a new deadline of March 16. According to Engelbert, the hope was that if a revenue share and housing could be agreed upon and included in a CBA agreement by Monday or “24 to 48 hours later,” the season could start on time.

What is WNBA salary cap?

The new salary cap is expected to be $7 million, up from $1.5 million in 2025.  

The union’s last proposal had been a salary cap of less than $9.5 million. As of March 12, the WNBA’s offer increased the Year 1 salary cap to $6.2 million.

What is WNBA revenue sharing percentage?

The average revenue share for the the players is reportedly nearly 20% across deal, up from 9.3%.

The WNBPA had requested 25% of gross revenue in the first year, increasing over the life of the agreement to an average of roughly 26%. The WNBA was offering more than 70% of league and team net revenue.

What will WNBA players be paid?

As for player salaries, according to the report, the supermax would be $1.4 million, average in range of $600,000 and the minimum above $300,000.

Supermax players earned a base salary of $249,244 last season. The average player salary was around $105,000 and the minimum salary $66,079.

When does WNBA free agency start?

It is not yet known when exactly free agency will begin, but ESPN released some tentative dates ― April 7-18 ― on Wednesday. it will likely be a wild ride with about 80% of players being free agents.

WNBA player housing

Housing, which has been provided by the league since the beginning, was a point of debate throughout the negotiations. The league had said it would like to sunset that policy. It is not known where the two sides landed on that piece yet.

When is the 2026 expansion draft?

The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire are set to join the league in 2026 as the 14th and 15th WNBA franchises, but the teams will have to wait a little longer to begin assembling their rosters. ESPN reported tentative dates of April 1-6 for the process to take place, which would include teams protecting their players, a coin flip between Portland and Toronto to see who drafts first and the actual draft.

“We have given our general managers some guidance on how we’re thinking, but until we get the collective bargaining agreement done, it won’t be finalized as to the format or process,” Englebert said in October. “But you can expect, because you saw what we did last year, something similar.”

When the Golden State Valkyries joined the league as the 13th franchise in 2025, the team’s expansion draft was held on Dec. 6, 2024. The draft rules were released on Sept. 30, 2024 and WNBA teams were required to provide the league with a roster list of all their players by Nov 25, 2024, including six protected players that wouldn’t be available for selection. Golden State then got to pick one player from each team, nearly two months before team-building continued through free agency in late January.

The timeline will be much tighter for the Tempo and Fire with the WNBA’s projected May 8 start date. The league has to squeeze in an expansion draft for two teams, free agency featuring over 100 players, and the 2026 WNBA Draft before opening night.

2026 WNBA season schedule

The WNBA’s landmark 30th season is scheduled to tip off on Friday, May 8.

May 8: Opening NightJune 1-17: Commissioner’s CupJuly 24-27: All-Star Weekend (Chicago)Sept. 1-16: FIBA BreakSept. 24: Last day of regular season

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.