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Normally, early February is a big month for the WNBA. It’s when we know which free agents will change teams. And it’s also when most big trades are made.
However, there is no Collective Bargaining Agreement yet since both sides are at an impasse. At least until last weekend. According to ESPN, the WNBA and WNBPA players union held a CBA negotiation meeting last Friday in New York City where the league gave a counteroffer. The biggest hurdle is revenue sharing. However, according to Seattle Storm forward/WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike, things shouldn’t be difficult once that hurdle is negotiated. Here is a snippet from the ESPN article.
Ogwumike said once revenue sharing is solved, the rest hopefully will fall into place quickly.
“We made the point that once we nail this, we can get everything else done,” Ogwumike said.
The players are looking to get 30 percent of gross revenue while the owners are looking to give the players 70 percent of net revenue after expenses.
While WNBA players are in various international leagues or alternative American leagues like Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited, it is still in both sides’ interest to have a season given that the NBA and WNBA’s joint media deal kicked off last fall with the 2025-26 NBA season. The revenue the WNBA will be getting is multiple times more than what it previously received.
The WNBA regular season is supposed to begin on May 8 but the offseason, including the draft, will be on a compressed timeline when the agreement is finalized. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
