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The WNBA’s new counterproposal Friday again did not budge off its revenue share offer of just less than 15% to players, multiple sources told SBJ Saturday, overshadowing the incremental movement the league provided on housing, retirement and 401(k) issues.
For the second time since January, the league’s offer — based off current projections — did not close the gap on the core divide between the sides: the split of league and team revenue. Just three days prior, the players had lowered their rev share demand of 30% to 25% in 2026 and 27.5% over the course of the deal, whereas the league –although it has raised its 9% number from 2025 — has not veered off its approximate 15% number that has negotiations at an impasse.
The league similarly did not move off its $5.65M salary cap offer —compared to the union’s proposal of $9.5M —and also did not address another underlying issue: the dispute over league expenses and a pervasive feeling from players, sources said, the WNBA has not been completely transparent on what their expenses are.
Sources said the WNBPA will respond with another counteroffer soon, but, based on player comments and sources familiar with union thinking, it will be difficult to finalize a collective bargaining agreement if the league sticks to its 15% revenue share split.
“We negotiate as well as we can, but we all know that time is not on our side anymore,” Liberty F Breanna Stewart told the New York Post on Friday.
Otherwise, a somewhat minimal league concession Friday pinpointed the critical issue of housing, with sources saying the WNBA agreed to pay housing costs for all players during the 2026 season. However, the league also wanted to revert to its original plan for the 2027 and 2028 seasons —in which the WNBA would pay for one-bedroom apartments for only rookies and minimum-earning players and for no players in ensuing seasons.
The offer would give developmental players studio departments for the entire CBA.
In another league concession, the WNBA offered to pay current retired players $4,500 times their numbered years of service as long as they played eight years in the league —meaning a player who served 10 years in the league would receive a one-time payment of $45,000 and a player with nine years experience would earn $40,500. There was also an undisclosed bump on 401(k) plans, sources said.
But it is all secondary until the league and the union can solve their complex revenue-share divide. The league has offered the players 70% of net revenue, but, after expenses — such as paying for charter flights, hotels, arenas, security, training staffs and facilities– the actual split of gross revenue is the 15% number that is the root of the dispute.
Sources have said the union’s latest request for 27.5% of the pie would cost the WNBA $460,000 in losses over the course of the deal –all because of those expenses the league needs to pay. But this is just another ancillary part of the dispute.
For instance, sources familiar with WNBPA thinking said the union would like to audit those expenses, which would purportedly provide a clearer picture of why the league won’t veer off the 15% revenue share number. The union also remains convinced the league’s expansion fees —from teams such as the Valkyries, Tempo, Fire and upcoming teams in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia —should reduce the amount of money the league claims it will lose by increasing revenue share.
The league, conversely, wants to players to fixate on what it calls “massive” money offers: a $1.295M max salary in 2026 (compared to about $250,000 in 2025) and potential $2.4M max salary in 2031. The league is also offering $540,000 average salary in 2026 (compared to $120,000 in 2025) and a potential $1M average salary by 2031.
