WNBA CBA Negotiations Enter Sixth Day With No Deal

After nearly a week of marathon negotiations in Manhattan, players say revenue sharing and housing remain the biggest sticking points as the league pushes for a deal by Monday.

The WNBA’s marathon collective bargaining negotiations have now stretched into a sixth day with still no deal on the table.

League officials and representatives from the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) have been meeting in person in Manhattan since Tuesday, when talks began with a 12-hour overnight bargaining session. 

Multiple marathon meetings have followed throughout the week as both sides try to close the gap before the start of the league’s 30th season.

For the players, union president Nneka Ogwumike says two issues remain at the center of the negotiations: revenue sharing and housing.

“The fact we are here talking about housing shows that we care about every single player — in the same way that we do about revenue share,” Ogwumike told reporters on Saturday. “It’s very important for us to nail those two things down, which is the biggest thing on the agenda today.”

Under previous CBAs, the WNBA has provided housing for players through team-paid apartments or stipends. But a league source told OutKick earlier this month that the league initially proposed eliminating that benefit as part of the new CBA, arguing that significantly higher salaries would make it reasonable for players to secure their own housing. 

The league has since revised that position, first proposing to phase out housing for some players over several years and most recently offering to keep the benefit in place for all players in 2026.

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Revenue sharing, though, has been the biggest sticking point for months. The players union’s last known proposal called for about 26% of gross revenue, while the league has offered players more than 70% of net revenue.

As negotiations drag on, commissioner Cathy Engelbert has made it clear the league needs a deal soon in order to keep the 2026 schedule on track.

“We have to get a deal done by Monday,” Engelbert said. “We have to get it done without disrupting some part of the fact that we’ve got to run this two-team expansion (draft). We have to get expansion going. (We’ve) got to get free agency going. We gotta get the college draft.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert talks during a presser before the start of game one of the 2025 WNBA Finals.

(Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)

Training camp is currently scheduled to begin April 19, with preseason games starting April 25 and opening night slated for May 8.

But none of that happens without a signed CBA. So back to the conference room they go.