rewrite this content and keep HTML tags (remove this from content : rewrite this content and keep HTML tags)
Although the WNBPA is still reviewing the league’s latest collective bargaining proposal, sources on Tuesday said the union will reject the offer in part due to vague pay-scale projections, salary cap ambiguity and the surprising issue of player housing.
Sources familiar with negotiations had said Monday that the WNBA offered players a 2026 max base salary of $1M which can rise to a projected $1.2M or more through revenue sharing — as well as a projected average salary in the $500,000 range and a minimum salary in the $225,000 area.
In addition, the league increased its salary cap figure in 2026 to $5M (up from $1.5M in 2025) and purportedly made concessions such as including both league and team profits in the overall revenue-share template.
According to sources, the league believed the proposal was a significant advance, considering yearly salary increases were no longer tied to a fixed annual figure of 3% and because each season’s pay scale would now grow as league and team business grows — which is what the WNBPA had long been requesting.
But, according to sources familiar with the players’ thinking, the union is still questioning the league’s “math.” For instance, they believe the league’s revenue share projections have been inconsistent, and they doubt the average salary is truly $500,000 if the salary cap is only $5M.
“The average salary is $500,000 but the cap is 5 million? That doesn’t really make sense,” one source said. “I mean, $500,000 times 12 is not 5 million.”
In other words, because there are 11 or 12 players on each WNBA team, the union remains skeptical about league projections and obviously believes the salary cap should be higher if the average salaries are $500,000.
The WNBA declined to comment on the union’s salary cap doubts. But sources familiar with league thinking said their $500,000 average salary is calculated based on the total salary players will receive for a season divided by the number of players–and not calculated based on the cap. As has been the case for much of these negotiations, the union and league believe some of these differences are purely semantics.
Sources also said the union wonders why an earlier league proposal had an $800,000 max base salary rising to $1.1M through revenue sharing and that, in its latest proposal, the max salary starts at $1M and rises to only $1.2M through revenue sharing. That is another discrepancy they took note of.
In addition, players were surprised that the league took away player housing in its recent proposals, which was reported earlier today by Front Office Sports. Currently, players have the option to utilize team housing or receive a housing stipend, which varies by team market. The WNBA is not offering that benefit in its latest proposal — although some sources point out the players will also be making far more money than before and can better handle housing on their own.
Either way, it was widely expected that the union would reject the league’s new proposal, and sources said the league always suspected the negotiations would be ongoing. Meanwhile, other portions of the league’s proposal — such as moving training camps up to mid-March and potentially overlapping with Project B’s international season in 2027 — aren’t considered to be deal breakers.
For instance, under the current CBA, the league could always begin training camps on April 1, but never has done so (usually opening camp after the WNBA Draft later in April). Sources, then, do not believe the league will remain overly adamant about moving the camps up to mid-March — because drafted rookies would still be finishing their college careers in the NCAA Tournament at that time.
On the other hand, sources said the league proposed starting earlier and lengthening the season because a longer season would create more revenue — and, ultimately, more money for the teams and players.
As for Project B — which already has publicly signed as many as seven key W players — a March training camp would disrupt its plan to run its inaugural 2027 season from November to April. But it’s possible — if the WNBA ultimately moves its season up — that Project B (which is still in the planning stages) could adjust and conclude its season in early March.
On Sunday the league and union extended their negotiating window another 40 days until Jan. 9.
