The WNBA and WNBPA are still at odds, as three consecutive days of marathon negotiations this week have yet to yield a new CBA.
Beginning with a 12 hour meeting on Tuesday, the two parties exceeded 30 hours of negotiations this week as of late Thursday.
"Being able to be in the room, being able to exchange proposals, we're feeling movement," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told reporters. "We're sticking to the process."
The league's latest proposal reportedly includes a $6.2 million year-one salary cap, with a $1.3 million 2026 maximum contract — movement on both metrics since the previous WNBA offer.
"We're proud of the deal we have on the table," said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. "I think it's huge gains for the players, while balancing that with the health of the league."
Even though numbers appear to be on the rise, the revenue sharing gap remains unclear, after differing models emerged as a wedge issue between the two parties.
While negotiations have blown past the league's March 10th deadline, the WNBA has not yet implemented any 2026 season schedule changes as of Friday morning, with the upcoming campaign set to tip off on Friday, May 8th.
"We haven't ever really considered [the deadline] as a timeline that has been something to prioritize on our side, because we have always been negotiating in good faith," said Ogwumike.
"At the end of the day, we want a season," she added. "We want to play."
Tuesday's CBA deadline has arrived, as both the league and WNBPA remain divided with unsettled negotiations threatening to delay the 2026 WNBA season.
The league reportedly issued its most recent proposal on Saturday, with no new clarity around issues like revenue sharing and housing stipends.
"We want the deal done, we want to have the season," WNBPA VP Breanna Stewart said over the weekend. "We just need to find the right numbers that reflect it."
Should the parties not reach a deal by Tuesday night, the union could call for a work stoppage, with the WNBPA voting to authorize a strike last December.
The WNBA is currently operating under a status quo from the previous CBA, with a moratorium on offseason transactions preventing player movement.
With expansion drafts, free agency, and a college draft left in the lurch, any delay beyond the deadline will impact the upcoming season, even without an official work stoppage.
That said, it's unclear whether the WNBA plans to push the season's previously announced May 8th tipoff, or attempt to instead truncate the 2026 preseason.
"Negotiation is not easy.... When I negotiate deals, you go back and forth until you come to a common ground," Chicago Sky star Angel Reese said from this week's USA Basketball camp. "We do all want to play basketball. But at the same time, we do want to be compensated for what we deserve."
The WNBA continues making headlines amidst the ongoing CBA battle, with the WNBPA confirming Monday reports that the league passed the threshold for net revenue sharing for the first time in history last season.
The 13 teams who competed in the 2025 WNBA season will receive a total of $8 million out of an earned $16 million, with the funds split directly among active players from last year.
The league will invest the remaining $8 million into marketing agreements, in which select players receive promotional work for the WNBA in the offseason.
The players union has also begun distributing a total of $9.25 million of licensing revenue compiled from 2020 to 2025 to athletes playing during those years, with a maximum cap of $50,000 to those actively competing across all five seasons.
The news of the 2025 season's financial success comes on the same day that the WNBA set a hard deadline of Tuesday, March 10th, to reach a CBA deal, with revenue sharing still serving as the primary pain point between the league and the WNBPA.
While talks could continue past March 10th, the deadline serves as the final date before ongoing negotiations would delay the 2026 WNBA season, which is currently on track to tip off on Friday, May 8th.
As for next steps, ESPN reported Monday that over 50 players participated in a bargaining session earlier this week, with the union preparing a response to the league's Friday counterproposal.
The WNBA and WNBPA continue to spar over CBA details, with the league office reportedly issuing a quick response to the union's most recent offer on Friday.
Sources say Friday's draft fails to budge on the highly contested revenue sharing model, with the league holding strong in their previously offered 70% net revenue to players in contrast to the union's preferred gross revenue share.
The pair also remain far apart on salary cap, with the union proposing a $9.5 million cap in the first year in contrast to the WNBA's $5.65 million limit.
The latest WNBA offer has, however, addressed other concerns, guaranteeing new and minimum contract players housing for the first three years of the CBA while giving developmental players housing throughout the entirety of the agreement.
Other notable concessions include new developmental roster spots, increased 401(k) support, and guaranteed charter flights.
After six weeks of stalled talks opened the new year, both parties have sped up their response times as the 2026 WNBA season looms.
Without a deal, both free agency transactions and planned expansion drafts remain on ice — with less than 10 weeks until the season's scheduled tip-off.
"It is unfathomable that anyone would question our commitment to negotiations and desire to get a deal done after nearly a year and a half of pushing and pulling, meetings upon meetings, proposal after counter proposal," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson wrote last week in a message obtained by The Athletic.
Saying that the league and teams have "played games," Jackson doubled down on the union's offer.
"What we have proposed is very realistic."
WNBA leadership is on the clock, as the league's front office failed to produce a new proposal during Monday's in-person CBA meeting with the players union.
"They volunteered that they did not have a proposal prepared at the top of the meeting," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told Front Office Sports on Monday. "That kind of set the tone for the conversation because we were hoping to hear otherwise."
Reports now indicate that the WNBA plans to officially respond to the union's December CBA proposal, though the timeline for the league to do so remains unclear.
Negotiations between the WNBA and WNBPA are currently at an impasse, as talks drag on months after the old contract's late-October expiration — and weeks past the double CBA deadline extensions — with a work stoppage still possible entering the 2026 season.
"After the meeting today, [a strike is] still on the table," WNBPA VP Alysha Clark told FOS on Monday.
However, the Washington Mystics forward also tempered the possibility of a work stoppage, adding "Until we get a response from the league about proposals, there's nothing that we've been able to negotiate and go back and forth with to even warrant 'Ok, what does a strike look like?'"
The WNBA's most recent proposal features a $1.3 million maximum salary, with the parties continuing to spar over a revenue sharing plan — arguably the highest priority item according to the players.
"The sooner it gets to a WNBA season, we're prepared to do it — to not play," WNBPA VP Breanna Stewart said on her Game Recognizes Game podcast this week. "But we don't want to. We want to play."
The Chicago Sky is under legal fire, as minority partner Steven Rogers filed a lawsuit last week alleging majority owner Michael Alter "breached his fiduciary duty to the minority investors" by devaluing the WNBA team for his own benefit.
The complaint claims that in 2022 — months after Chicago won their lone WNBA championship — Alter engaged in "opportunistic self-dealing," diluting minority shares in the lead-up to a 2023 funding round that saw MLB's Cubs owner Laura Ricketts buy into the team at an $85 million valuation.
In late 2025, Forbes ranked the Sky as the world's 12th most valuable women's sports franchise at $240 million — a significant turnaround from that 2023 valuation despite three consecutive losing seasons.
The current lawsuit also puts Alter's Chicago Sky leadership in the hot seat, accusing the commercial real estate developer of going rogue without a board of directors.
"As a business, Alter's operation has been a mess," reads the filing. "Throughout his tenure, Alter flouted the agreement's basic requirements and minimal standards for business operations."
Alter's legal representation countered with their own statement. "We are aware of the lawsuit filed last week by an early Chicago Sky investor. The lawsuit is completely meritless. We look forward to defending our case through the appropriate legal channels and believe this matter will be disposed of quickly. This matter will not affect the Sky's operations. Because this is active litigation, neither Mr. Alter nor the Chicago Sky will be commenting further."
The Chicago Sky will open their 2026 season by visiting incoming expansion side Portland Fire on Saturday, May 9th.
However, as the season nears and CBA negotiations stall, internal issues continue to overshadow what promises to be a pivotal year for the WNBA.
The WNBA and the WNBPA are literally coming to the table this week, with both parties meeting in-person on Monday as stalled CBA talks continue to delay offseason movement prior to the 2026 season.
WNBPA executive committee members Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle Storm), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty), and Kelsey Plum (LA Sparks) will attend Monday's CBA negotiations in New York alongside WNBA, team, and union leadership.
"I think we'll learn a lot from this meeting," WNBPA first VP Plum said from the Unrivaled tour stop in Philadelphia on Friday. "I think everyone understands what's at stake, timeline-wise."
The two parties reportedly remain far apart on wedge topics like revenue sharing, three months after the previous CBA expired.
According to sources, Monday will mark the first full CBA meeting between the WNBPA and WNBA in over a month, with offseason transactions currently left in limbo while other league operations continue under a status quo mechanism.
"At the end of the day, we're human beings. I think conversation face-to-face goes a long way," Plum continued. "To be able to sit down face-to-face and say, 'This is how I feel, this is how you feel, let's see what we can do from there.'"
"I'm just excited for the opportunity to be able to be there in-person with other players that are really invested in this," Plum added.
The 15th WNBA team is starting to spark, with incoming expansion side Portland Fire dropping their inaugural 2026 jersey designs this week.
"Our 2026 jerseys are an embodiment this new era of the team: bold, innovative, and resilient," said Fire senior VP of marketing and communications Kimberly Veale in the team's Wednesday press release. "Every element was shaped with Portland in mind, honoring our legacy, while capturing the spirit and energy of this incredible city we represent."
The two-jersey lineup includes the white WNBA Nike Heroine Edition with "Fire" written on the front "signifying the city's passion for the team," as well as a red WNBA Nike Explorer Edition "celebrating the Fire's legacy" in the league's return to Portland.
Both jerseys also feature a left shoulder patch for sponsor Chime, after the financial services company officially signed on to be the team's banking and credit partner on Tuesday.
Additionally, the franchise unveiled new secondary "PDX" logos on Wednesday, designed to reference local geographic icons like the Willamette River and Mt. Hood.
Notably, the team is still without a roster, as ongoing CBA negotiations have thrown the WNBA calendar in flux.
Barring a work stoppage, the first-ever Portland Fire game will tip off against the visiting Chicago Sky on Saturday, May 9th.
How to buy a Portland Fire WNBA jersey
While the white "Heroine Edition" is not yet available for purchase, fans can now buy an "Explorer" jersey, as well as apparel from the new PDX logo capsule collection, at the Portland Fire's online Team Shop.
The 2026 WNBA schedule has arrived, as the league released key dates on Wednesday despite ongoing CBA talks that threaten to delay the start of the upcoming season.
Opening day will be Friday, May 8th, when the WNBA tips off with a tripleheader featuring incoming expansion side Toronto Tempo against the Washington Mystics, the New York Liberty hosting the Connecticut Sun, and the Golden State Valkyries visiting the Seattle Storm.
Fellow 2026 addition Portland Fire will debut on Saturday, May 9th, hosting the Chicago Sky to close out another tripleheader that includes a 2025 WNBA Finals rematch between the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, as well as a Rookie of the Year showdown between the Paige Bueckers-led Dallas Wings and Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever.
Other 2026 season highlights include the return of the annual WNBA Commissioner's Cup in June and the Chicago Sky-hosted All-Star Weekend in late July, with the league set to pause for a two-week break in early September to allow its stars to compete in the FIBA World Cup.
After the regular-season closes on Thursday, September 24th, the 2026 WNBA Playoffs will tip off on Sunday, September 27th, with a repeat of last year's best-of-three first round, best-of-five semifinals round, and best-of-seven Finals.
Notably, the 2026 WNBA schedule drop falls within the current status quo period, which allows the league to conduct certain aspects of its business as usual under the old CBA while continuing to negotiate new terms with the players union.
"I'm just starting to see [the light at the end of the tunnel]," New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart told Front Office Sports this week, hinting at a bargaining resolution while an official work stoppage remains on the table.
The WNBA continued its holding pattern this week, with the league and WNBPA reportedly agreeing to a moratorium on free agency transactions while still negotiating a new CBA.
The league office and players union did not reach a deal prior to last Friday's deadline expiration, with both parties choosing to move into a status quo period in which the old CBA terms remain in effect — rather than negotiate a third extension.
While the moratorium puts the 2026 WNBA season's free agency period in question, it also allows teams to avoid making offers to players that are unlikely to sign under the expiring CBA with its likely lower compensation thresholds than the expected incoming deal.
With nearly every WNBA veteran signing short-term deals in anticipation of the new CBA last offseason, all but two league vets are free agents entering 2026 — and while a work stoppage isn't currently imminent, the clock is ticking.
The league originally set the free agency period to begin this week, with 2026 newcomers the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire now sitting in a holding pattern as the incoming franchises await the stalled expansion draft details.
Roster building aside, the moratorium does allow for other aspects of league business to continue, with players still able to access team facilities and openly communicate with team executives.