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The WNBA and its players’ union met at a hotel Tuesday to continue discussions on reaching a new collective bargaining agreement, with a deadline to get the season started on time at hand.
The meeting comes on a day that the league has said at least a handshake agreement on a labour deal would need to be done to start the season as scheduled.
The union leadership walked into the hotel shortly before 5 p.m. ET. The group included executive council members Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark and Brianna Turner. The league was represented by commissioner Cathy Engelbert, head of league operations Bethany Donaphin and New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai.
The sides exchanged proposals over the weekend with the league sending one on Saturday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Revenue sharing is the key sticking point between the sides.
Time is running out. The league had said it would need a deal by Tuesday to be able to have it signed by the end of the month. Under that timeline, the expansion draft for new franchises in Portland and Toronto would be held sometime between April 1-6, according to a timetable obtained by the AP.
Free agent qualifying offers, including franchise player tags, would be sent April 7-8. Teams would then have three days to negotiate with the more than 80 per cent of players who are free agents. The signing period would take place April 12-18.
Training camps would open the next day and the season could start May 8.
After the WNBA and player union failed to agree on a new CBA by their Jan. 9th deadline, a moratorium has been placed on free agency. Less than four months from the start of the 2026 season, could a lockout be on the horizon?
But for any of that to happen, the two sides must figure out a revenue sharing model. The union’s previous proposal from a week ago had asked for an average of 26 per cent of the gross revenue, revenue before expenses, over the course of the CBA. That would include only 25 per cent in the first year of the new deal. The league has said that number was unrealistic.
The WNBA’s last few proposals have offered more than 70 per cent of net revenue, with that number going up as the league continues to grow.
The meeting comes three days after Caitlin Clark said at USA Basketball training camp that the two sides should stop sending proposals and instead meet face-to-face until a deal gets done.
“I don’t understand why we don’t just get in a room and iron it out and shake hands,” she said. “That’s how business is. You look each other in the eye, you shake hands, you respect both sides. For me, that’s what I would love to see.”
Stewart agreed with Clark’s idea.
“I think that would be great for us all to sit in a room until we really get it done,” the New York Liberty star said. “If that means sitting in there for hours and hours at a time, let’s do it. That’s for the better of the player. While a situation like that has never happened before, there’s a first time for everything.”
