It appears the WNBA will avoid losing games to a work stoppage for what would have been the first time in its history.
The WNBA and its players union reached a verbal agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement overnight, apparently doing so in time to preserve the league’s 2026 schedule. The league had set a deadline of March 10 — more than a week ago — by which a deal needed to be reached in order to preserve its May 8 start date, but commissioner Cathy Engelbert is said to have told reporters Wednesday that no delays are expected.
The agreement still needs to be formalized into a term sheet and then ratified by both sides. While there is precedent for an agreed-to CBA falling apart before ratification — notably occurring in 1995, when a faction of NBA players, including Michael Jordan, blew up an agreed-to deal between the NBA and its union — all indications are that those steps are a mere formality.
Under the agreement, the WNBA has reportedly agreed to pay players 20% of revenue. That would presumably be gross revenue, rather than the cut of net revenue the league had been proposing throughout the talks.
The league had been offering 70% of net revenue — meaning what is left after expenses — but that would have equaled less than 15 percent of the gross, per various reports. The players were at some points reportedly seeking as much as 40% of gross revenues.
According to ESPN, WNBA players would earn about $600,000 on average, with minimum salaries at $300,000 and the maximum “starting at” $1.4 million. That compares to $120,000, $66,000 and $250,000, respectively, in the previous CBA.
Not yet mentioned in any reporting is whether the new CBA will include any changes to the WNBA calendar. The league was reported throughout the negotiations to be pursuing a longer regular season spanning a greater length of time, with training camps starting as early as March and the Finals concluding as late as November. Such a move would conflict not only with the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, but also with the set-to-launch “Project B” barnstorming tour that counts several WNBA players as participants.
It is not clear exactly how close the WNBA came to losing games. The players authorized the union’s executive committee to call a strike if the need came, but other than a report last month that players were considering a picket line at the NBA All-Star Game, there were few indications that the players ever seriously considered the possibility.
And while the league in recent weeks raised the prospect of the season being delayed or shortened without a deal, those warnings are fairly common tactics in collective bargaining.
The WNBA season is set to begin May 8, preceded by an offseason that will include two expansion drafts. The season is the first of the new WNBA media rights deal, which includes new partners NBCUniversal and Versant joining the returning Disney, Amazon and Scripps. (Paramount-owned CBS also held rights last season, but there is no indication it is returning this year.)
