After more than 100 hours of marathon talks, the WNBA and WNBPA's battle to lock in a new CBA is reportedly nearing its end.
"We have aligned on key elements of a new collective bargaining agreement together," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters early Wednesday morning. "We still need to finalize a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward."
"We're proud of ourselves," said WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike. "We always told you all we were going to stand on business, and that's what this looks like."
After blowing past multiple league deadlines, Engelbert confirmed that this week's deal will keep the schedule intact for the 2026 WNBA season.
CBA reportedly secures 20% revenue share, 500% salary bumps
While all formal terms are still in the finalization process, early details of the new CBA emerged late Wednesday morning.
According to ESPN, the league's 2026 salary cap will be $7 million — a nearly 500% increase over 2025's $1.5 million cap.
The average player salary also saw a 500% increase to $600,000, with the WNBA minimum exceeding $300,000 after some athletes banked a mere $66,000 in 2025.
The league's top stars, on the other hand, will be able to earn upwards of $1.4 million under the new WNBA supermax — almost six times the $249,244 salary last season's elite players could garner.
Even more, the incoming CBA will reportedly enshrine an average revenue share of nearly 20% — a massive win for the players union on what became the primary wedge issue throughout the negotiating process.
As for next steps, the players and the WNBA board of governors now need to ratify the agreement before operational moratoriums can lift.
Once the CBA is signed, the WNBA will have less than two months to hold a free agency period and the league's April 13th college draft — as well as a two-team expansion draft to stock the incoming Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo — all before preseason training begins.
Assuming all goes according to plan, the 2026 WNBA regular season will tip off on Friday, May 8th.
