Posts tagged WNBA
WNBA, union sign new CBA that will run through the 2032 season
March 23, 2026 // After more than a year of negotiations, the two sides reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday morning. As part of that agreement, the WNBA’s salary cap will jump from $1.5 million to $7 million next season.
WNBA vet and union leader’s strike insight is a wake-up call for fans
March 4, 2026 // The league has proposed giving players who are on rookie contracts and who make First or Second Team-All WNBA will have the chance to earn the maximum salary during their fourth season. If approved as part of a new CBA, this would give Aliyah Boston the opportunity to sign a maximum contract this year, while Caitlin Clark could do so in 2027, and Paige Bueckers could follow suit in 2028 The proposed first year salary cap is $5.7 million, which is a big increase of 280% from the 2025 season and the January 2020 CBA. By the end of the deal, the team salary cap would be $8.6 million, and maximum salaries in the WNBA would increase by $1 million. The current maximum salary is $249,000, and that number would ultimately jump up to $1.3 million.
WNBA CBA negotiations just got an ominous update
January 28, 2026 // Like we’ve talked about in the past, there is really no point in the WNBA holding a lockout — it wouldn’t do anyone any good. The WNBA isn’t like the NBA in the sense that it doesn’t ban players from playing in other leagues. Locking players out only works when they can’t go seek other places to play and train. A strike, on the other hand? That has the opposite effect, essentially stopping the league in its tracks after they just announced the 2026 season schedule last week. The fact that the league and the players just haven’t spoken in weeks gives the impression that we are still very far apart on any deal. Which means whatever “offseason” is ahead for the WNBA when (if?) a deal does happen gets more precarious by the day.
WNBA projecting big losses in latest proposal; union disagrees
January 5, 2026 // Multiple sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN on Wednesday that the WNBA is projecting that a recent proposal from the WNBPA -- which would give players about 30% of gross revenue and is believed to feature approximately a $10.5 million salary cap -- would result in $700 million in losses over the course of the agreement. Such losses would jeopardize the league's financial health, the sources said, and they would be more than the combined losses of the league and its teams in the WNBA's first 29 years of existence.
WNBA players union votes to authorize a strike after record-breaking season
December 23, 2025 // Labor negotiations reached a tipping point on Thursday when the WNBA’s players association announced that its members voted to authorize a strike if one becomes necessary as the deadline for the league’s contract negotiations grows closer. After months of stalled talks over the player’s new collective bargaining agreement, which has seen players like Napheesa Collier speaking out about low player salaries despite record growth, 98% of players who participated in the vote agreed to authorize a strike.
WNBA and players union agree to 30-day extension for CBA negotiations
November 4, 2025 // The new Nov. 30 deadline gives the sides more time to come up with a new deal that would be transformational for the players in terms of salary. In 2019, when the last CBA deal had expired, the sides agreed to a 60-day extension and eventually ratified the current CBA in January 2020. The sides have had meetings over the past few days, including in New York on Thursday. Had an extension not been reached by Friday, the sides would have had three options: let things continue as is, have the players go on strike or the owners lock them out. A strike or lockout didn't really make sense for either side to do.
Union Leadership Blasts State Plan to Invest Pension Fund in Connecticut Sun
September 22, 2025 // Earlier this month, Gov. Lamont floated the idea of using the state’s pension fund to invest in the Sun to keep it in the state. That build on reporting last month that the state was considering a plan to help keep the WNBA franchise in the state, despite offers from at least two NBA owners and the WNBA itself.
NFLPA Investigating Own Role in OneTeam Amid Corruption Allegations
January 22, 2025 // The letter asks the recipients to save all documents related to OneTeam and lists two NFLPA executives for contact: assistant general counsel Heather McGee and general counsel Tom DePaso. A source said the NFLPA also hired Linklaters partner Richard Smith for the investigation. Smith has handled several high-profile investigations for the football union, including allegations brought by Colin Kaepernick; the Ray Rice domestic violence episode; the Miami Dolphins’ bullying investigation; and the New Orleans Saints’ “Bountygate” scandal. Smith did not reply for comment. The NFLPA, MLBPA, and RedBird Capital created OneTeam in 2019 to represent athletes and their lucrative group licensing deals. In 2022 RedBird sold its stake to a group of equity investors, including HPS Investment Partners and Atlantic Park, in a deal that valued OneTeam at $1.9 billion.
WNBA players union decides to opt out of current collective bargaining agreement, two years before expiration.
October 23, 2024 // The WNBA players union has decided to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement, two years before its expiration. The league and players union had the option to do so before Nov. 1. The early opt-out marks a crucial juncture for the league. The WNBA signed a historic 11-year media rights deal worth $200 million a year.
WNBA labor strike, alternate league will follow new media rights deal: Bill Simmons
July 29, 2024 // But the WNBA’s portion of that deal, with about $200 million per year — which translates to $2.2 billion out of a $77 billion pie for the NBA — already has some raising their eyebrows. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is firmly among that crowd, speculating on his podcast that the massive disparity between valuation of the NBA and WNBA will eventually lead to a labor strike, and possibly a competing league forming. “It’s gonna lead to a labor strike is what’s gonna happen,” Simmons said after his guest, The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson, pointed out that average WNBA viewership is not far off NBA numbers — and in the case of games between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, eclipses it. “That’s where we’re headed in the next two years. The thing that I think is gonna happen is I think somebody is gonna try to form an alternate league. Cause it’s not like all of these WNBA players are tied to their teams forever.”