The Women’s National Basketball Players Association delivered a new collective bargaining agreement proposal to the WNBA on Tuesday. While it offered concessions on revenue sharing and housing, the league was unmoved and called the offer “unrealistic,” while warning that the two sides were “running out of time” to get a deal done and ensure the 2026 season goes ahead as planned.
Notably, the players have dropped their revenue sharing target from an average of 31% of gross revenue over the course of the agreement (with a $10.5 million salary cap in 2026) to an average of 27.5% of the gross revenue over the course of the agreement (with a $9.5 million salary cap in 2026), as first unveiled by ESPN and confirmed by CBS Sports. Additionally, the players want housing to be provided to everyone in the first few years of the deal, but put forth a plan to phase it out for those on guaranteed multi-year deals that are close to the max.
Within hours, the WNBA had released a strongly worded statement.
“The Players Association’s recent proposal remains unrealistic and would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for our teams,” a WNBA spokesperson told CBS Sports. “We still need to complete two Drafts and free agency before the start of training camp and are running out of time. We believe the WNBA’s proposal would result in a huge win for current players and generations to come.”
A source with knowledge of the situation indicated that the WNBPA’s proposal would result in projected losses of $460M over the lifetime of the agreement for the league’s teams, but it’s unclear how that calculation was made. Throughout this process, the players have accused the league of a lack of transparency.
The WNBA’s most recent proposal arrived on Feb. 7, following an in-person meeting between key stakeholders in New York on Feb. 2.
The league had previously sought to end all housing benefits, but offered its own concessions on housing in the Feb. 7 offer. First-year players and players on a minimum salary would be provided a one-bedroom apartment for the first three years of the CBA, while developmental players would be provided a studio apartment, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to CBS Sports. (The league previously agreed to create two new developmental player roster spots, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed to CBS Sports. Those players would receive a stipend, plus money for each game appearance, but would be limited to a certain number of appearances.)
The WNBA has provided housing for players since 1999. In the most recent CBA, teams were required to offer players a one-bedroom apartment or a stipend for housing costs.
Housing and revenue sharing remain the two biggest disagreements between the two sides.
While the players’ most recent proposal lowers their revenue sharing target, they are still asking for a share of gross revenue, while the league is offering a share of net revenue — that is, the revenue remaining when league-specified operating expenses are removed from the pot.
The league’s Feb. 7 proposal offered a $5.65 million salary cap in 2026, with an average player salary of more than $535,000 and a max salary of nearly $1.3 million. For comparison, in 2025, the WNBA’s salary cap was about $1.5 million, the minimum salary was around $66,000 and its supermax was about $250,000.
WNBA, players make CBA progress as Breanna Stewart opens up on process that has taken ‘way longer’ than needed
Jack Maloney
Last month, the WNBA unveiled the full schedule for the 2026 season. Training camps are scheduled to begin on April 19, with preseason games to begin on April 25 and opening night set for May 8.
With just over two months until training camps are supposed to open, the two sides not only have to come to terms on a new CBA, but hold a double expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, and conduct the busiest free agency period in league history.
“Time is of the essence,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart told CBS Sports earlier this month. “I think that both sides are very aware that this has gone on way longer than it needed to. But hopefully we can really start to be hearing each other and they hear us on things that are non-negotiables.”
