play1:11How close are WNBA, players’ union after latest bargaining session?Alexa Philippou joins “SportsCenter” to detail the marathon, 12-hour bargaining session between the WNBA and its players’ union.
play1:11How close are WNBA, players’ union after latest bargaining session?Alexa Philippou joins “SportsCenter” to detail the marathon, 12-hour bargaining session between the WNBA and its players’ union.
Stephen A.’s message to the WNBA: ‘Get a deal done!’ (2:07)Stephen A. Smith sides with the players as the WNBA and its players’ union remain at odds over a new CBA. (2:07)
How close are WNBA, players’ union after latest bargaining session?Alexa Philippou joins “SportsCenter” to detail the marathon, 12-hour bargaining session between the WNBA and its players’ union.
Alexa Philippou joins “SportsCenter” to detail the marathon, 12-hour bargaining session between the WNBA and its players’ union.
How close are WNBA, players’ union after latest bargaining session?Alexa Philippou joins “SportsCenter” to detail the marathon, 12-hour bargaining session between the WNBA and its players’ union.
Alexa Philippou joins “SportsCenter” to detail the marathon, 12-hour bargaining session between the WNBA and its players’ union.
Alexa PhilippouMar 13, 2026, 01:11 AM ETCloseCovers women’s college basketball and the WNBA Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati EnquirerFollow on XMultiple Authors
Nearly a year and a half of negotiations have yet to yield a new collective bargaining agreement. Last month, the WNBA told the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and its teams that a new deal should be agreed to by March 10 to keep the 2026 schedule unaffected.
The two sides met Tuesday evening in New York, with the meeting lasting nearly 12 hours into Wednesday morning. They gathered again Wednesday and Thursday to continue negotiations, which have now extended past 30 hours.
With less than 60 days remaining until games are supposed to tip on May 8, a time crunch is upon us with much to do between now and then.
The WNBA and union met at 5 p.m. ET at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan to continue negotiations. League personnel and WNBPA staff attended the meeting.
Four WNBPA executive committee members — president Nneka Ogwumike, vice presidents Alysha Clark and Breanna Stewart and treasurer Brianna Turner — attended the meeting as well. They left at 3 a.m. as the meeting continued.
WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told reporters the bargaining session featured “a lot of conversation going in the right direction,” while WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert added “we’re working hard … and still have work to do.”
Engelbert briefly spoke with reporters but did not take questions, saying both sides are working hard on securing a win-win deal.
She called the talks “complex” and “complicated” and the pursuit of a transformational deal “really important to the future not just of the league, but of women’s sports.”
Asked whether there were indications a deal could be reached in the coming days Jackson responded that “conversations are continuing, and they need to be.”
How close are WNBA, players’ union after latest bargaining session?
The two sides swapped proposals over the weekend, with the WNBA submitting a counterproposal Saturday evening, a day after the WNBPA submitted one of its own. That would mean the ball is in the union’s court for the next response.
There’s some interest in holding an in-person meeting, potentially including players, on Tuesday or as close to the deadline as possible. The possible benefits of such were brought up by players at USA Basketball camp over the weekend.
“I don’t understand why we don’t just get in a room and iron it out and shake hands,” Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark told reporters in Miami. “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.”
“I think that would be great for us all to sit in a room until we really get it done,” Stewart 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.”
Notably, there haven’t been any leaks on the contents of the proposals exchanged over the weekend — perhaps a sign both sides recognize the high-stakes nature as the league’s deadline approaches.
But in their previous proposals, the league and the WNBPA were still far apart on revenue sharing, with the WNBA proposing players receive on average over 70% of net revenue (revenue after deducting expenses). Their proposal includes a $5.75 million salary cap in 2026 (up from $1.5 million in 2026) that in subsequent years would grow in line with revenue growth.
The league’s proposals featured maximum salaries, including revenue sharing payouts, amounting to nearly $1.3 million in 2026 and projected to approach $2 million in 2031. The supermax in 2025 came in at $249,000. The average player salary, including revenue sharing, was projected to reach $540,000 in 2026 and $780,000 by 2031, up from $120,000 in 2025.
The union has bristled at the league’s proposal for amounting to less than 15% of gross revenue, while the league has called the union’s proposals “unrealistic” and claimed they would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
Other issues the parties are still negotiating include housing, the future of the core designation and retired player benefits.
Sources initially described March 10 as more of a “target date” than a hard-and-fast deadline like three dates where the previous CBA was up for expiration. That said, the league is still pushing for this deal to get done sooner rather than later to avoid any schedule impacts and revenue losses.
Even when a term sheet is completed, it could take several weeks for a deal to be ratified. Then an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire must be conducted as well as free agency for 100-plus players — all with the 2026 WNBA draft set for April 13.
And even if a deal were to be agreed upon on Tuesday, the league could still be looking at the expansion draft and free agency beginning in April. Training camp is slated to start April 19.
A strike has been on the table since December, when the WNBPA player body authorized the seven-player executive committee to authorize a strike “when necessary.” But the popularity of a strike among the players at this moment remains unknown. First vice president Kelsey Plum said as recently as last week that “a strike would be the worst thing for both sides.”
For one, not a work stoppage — at least, not yet. Under the status quo, the working conditions of the current CBA would be maintained, and the league and union can continue negotiating. But because the CBA expired without a replacement, and the agreement prohibits either side from engaging in a work stoppage, status quo opens the door for a strike initiated by the players or a lockout instituted by the owners.
Sources told ESPN that the league has not been contemplating a lockout, but a strike has been considered for players. In mid-December, they voted to give the union’s seven-player executive committee the right to call a strike “when necessary.”
Both sides continue to be far apart as they work toward a new deal, particularly on the issue of revenue sharing and what such a system should look like. A source told ESPN that the league has yet to respond to a recent proposal from the union because it wasn’t significantly different from the WNBPA’s previous offer.
The longer both sides go without a deal, the greater the likelihood that the league will need to conduct a condensed offseason, where a two-team expansion draft, free agency and the college draft all must occur within a few weeks or months. (Last offseason, by contrast, an expansion draft was held in early December, free agency took place from Jan. 11 to Feb. 1 and the college draft was April 14.)
Despite the uncertainty, league sources believe both sides will get a deal done and there will be a 2026 season. — Alexa Philippou
Revenue sharing and housing — the latter emerged as a flashpoint in early December, when a proposal from the league no longer included provided housing — remain the biggest priorities for WNBA players.
The league’s proposal to eliminate team-provided housing — which has been required since the league’s first CBA in 1999 — is one issue, Brittney Sykes said, that has led players to feel “disrespected” throughout negotiations.
“They are trying to take something away from us in our CBA that is something that benefits everyone across the board,” Sykes said. “They are trying to take away housing and cars … if you try to take something away, what is in place of it? You up the money, but just because you gave us $100,000 more doesn’t mean a housing complex is going to sublease for us, especially for four months.
“Is the contract guaranteed, where if a player gets traded, they still got to deal with the apartment?”
Some said that if the league reinstated team housing into the new CBA deal, there might be space for the union to give in on some other areas.
“They need to keep housing. That is a huge thing. They can’t get rid of that,” a player told ESPN. “But if they say OK, but then we’re going to extend the season — you need to play more games and it’s going to take more months of the year, I would be OK with that, as an example.”
Paige Bueckers added: “We’ve had those talks and we’ve sort of come up with an idea on just what we’re not willing to bargain and go back and forth with. Once we think the other side has showed a little bit of compromise in meeting us halfway on what we deserve, I think that’s when the negotiations are settled.” — Kendra Andrews
The sides remain far apart on several key issues, including what a revenue sharing system should look like, what should be considered revenue and how to account for expenses.