On November 18, Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press published a report that shed new light on the ongoing negotiations for the WNBA’s next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“The WNBA’s latest collective bargaining proposal would include revenue sharing with a maximum salary of more than $1.1 million available to more than one player per team growing each year, according to a person familiar with the negotiations on Tuesday night,” Feinberg wrote.
He later added, “The new league minimum would be more than $220,000 with an average of more than $460,000. Those numbers would start in the first year of the deal for more than 180 players and increase over the length of the CBA.”
Initially, the reaction on social media was that this was exactly what the players were looking for with a ratified CBA, and fans were convinced this meant that a new deal would be struck soon and there would certainly be a WNBA season in 2026.
Oct 3, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert talks during a presser before the start of game one of the 2025 WNBA Finals between the Phoenix Mercury and the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
However, that report came out nearly two days ago, and no new deal has been reached.
ESPN Insider Provides New Information on WNBA CBA Negotiations
ESPN WNBA insider Alexa Philippou made a November 20 appearance on NBA Today and discussed the players’ reaction to this new CBA proposal.
“I’m hearing that the players and the WNBPA [the WNBA’s players’ association] do not feel like this proposal moves things forward,” Philippou said on ESPN. “And if you look at the numbers that came out with this report, you see a salary maximum reported of $1.1 million, a minimum of $220,000, and an average salary of $460,000.
“But the issue that the players and the WNBPA seem to have with this proposal is that it does now meaningfully actually apply their request to have a revenue share system in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement,” Philippou added. “What they want — and the players have been really consistent in this message — is that they feel that the salary system needs to grow with the business. And so far, this proposal does not include that to the extent they have been asking for.”
Philippou: WNBPA doesn’t see proposed $1.1M max salary as moving negotiations forward.
— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) November 20, 2025
She then added, “There’s a lot of work left to be done in bargaining for them to move this forward into the direction that we could we talking about a deal anytime soon.”
When asked what a potential revenue share would look like (that the players would agree to), Philippou said, “That is still something that has a lot of ambiguity around, and is not yet clear to the players. So that’s another question they’re asking and want to get some solutions on.”
It seems it will be back to the drawing board between these two sides.
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