The WNBA released a fiery statement late Tuesday night calling the players union’s latest collective bargaining agreement proposal “unrealistic” as the two sides remain at odds with the 2026 season scheduled to start in 80 days.
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association submitted a revised proposal hours prior that included some concessions on several hot-button issues, including revenue sharing and housing.
But the WNBA said the modifications were not enough and the proposal, as it stands, “would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for our teams.”
A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Jackie Youngof the Las Vegas Aces wear shirts saying “Pay us what you owe us” prior to the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. Getty Images
“We still need to complete two drafts and free agency before the start of training camp and are running out of time,” a league spokesperson said in a statement. “We believe the WNBA’s proposal would result in a huge win for current players and generations to come.”
The WNBPA’s latest proposal is requesting an average of 27.5 percent of the team and league’s gross revenue over the course of the agreement, including 25 percent in the first year, sources with knowledge of the bargaining process confirmed. That’s a tick down from the 31 percent average (and 28 percent in Year 1) the WNBPA had been asking for in its previous proposal.
The union’s offer also suggested a salary cap of fewer than $9.5 million in Year 1, though that’s still $3.85 million more than what the league offered earlier this month.
The WNBA has agreed to a new uncapped revenue sharing system tied to both league and team revenues, with the salary cap set to increase each year of the deal. But the league’s Feb. 6 proposal offered around 70 percent of the net revenue share (or revenue after expenses are withdrawn), which equates to roughly 15 percent of the gross revenue share.
The WNBA has offered an average player salary of more than $535,000 in the first year that would grow to more than $775,000 in 2031. The maximum salary starts at nearly $1.3 million and is expected to grow to nearly $2 million over the life of the deal.
Rookie contracts are also set to balloon, with a player like 2023 No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston expected to have a salary of $541,000 in 2026 under the WNBA’s latest offer, sources said.
The WNBA also has agreed to setting minimum facility requirements for all teams, including exclusive locker rooms, private weight rooms and treatment areas and family rooms during games.
Brittney Sykes of the Washington Mystics holds a “Pay the Players” sign next to Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky following the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. Getty Images
Another point of contention of late has been team-funded housing.
Players have maintained housing is an essential benefit, so they are asking for team-provided housing to be available for all players in the first few years of the new deal, though they are open to phasing out that requirement for the highest-paid players who are on multiyear, guaranteed contracts, sources said.
Under the previous CBA, players who didn’t live in team-provided housing could receive a stipend to live elsewhere, but the WNBPA has agreed to get rid of the stipend moving forward.
The WNBPA declined to comment.
Both sides are feeling the time crunch, with the 2026 season scheduled to start May 8. The two-team expansion draft, free agency and the college draft can’t happen until a CBA is ratified.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said over the weekend that he wasn’t ready to set a drop-dead date for the WNBA needs to have a new CBA before the 2026 season would have to be delayed, but Silver did admit that “what I’d love to accomplish is putting pressure on everybody.”
Silver wanted both sides to be working with a “next-level sense of urgency.”
The WNBA’s statement late Tuesday night sounded the alarm that the two sides are “running out of time” as the longer labor talks continue, the more likely a delayed start to the season will be necessary.
