On Monday, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association held their first in-person meeting to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement since October.

According to ESPN, the sit down in New York lasted three hours and was “helpful” to both sides, though Nneka Ogwumike told Front Office Sports that the players were frustrated the league did not arrive with a counterproposal to the union’s latest offer. Additionally, ESPN reported prior to the meeting that there is a “strong debate” among members of the WNBPA’s executive committee over the path the union should take — including about whether or not they should strike. 

With just over three months until the 2026 WNBA season is supposed to tip off on May 8, here’s a look at where the negotiations on a new CBA stand. 

What happened at Monday’s meeting, and why was it important?

The WNBA and the WNBPA have exchanged communication and proposals over the last few months, but key stakeholders from both sides have not been in the same room since the WNBA Finals in October. Multiple stars indicated in recent weeks that they wanted to change that. 

“At some point, enough is enough,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart said in January. “Personally, I want to be in the room talking about the real stuff happening. These meetings get so sidetracked by the language, verbiage and context. We’re missing the point.”

WNBPA first vice president Kelsey Plum concurred. “At the end of the day, we’re human beings. I think conversation face-to-face goes a long way,” Plum said late last month. “Going into this meeting, I’m just excited for the opportunity to be able to be there in person with other players that are really invested in this, in the [executive committee] and stuff, and then of course the league making the commitment to be there.”

Per ESPN, about 40 players took part in Monday’s meeting, either in person or via Zoom. Meanwhile, FOS reported that WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and over half a dozen team owners and executives were involved, either in person or via Zoom. Notably, New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai and Storm co-owner Sue Bird were both present in person. 

WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told FOS that the league “volunteered that they did not have a [CBA] proposal prepared at the top of the meeting,” which “kind of set the tone for the conversation because we were hoping to hear otherwise.” 

Over the course of three hours, the two sides explained their most recent CBA proposals and asked each other questions. Per FOS, the league stated that it would begin working on an official response to the union’s most recent proposal following Monday’s meeting. 

How far apart are the two sides?

While Napheesa Collier told ESPN in early January that the league and the union have found common ground on “areas of agreement” such as maternity leave, child care and charter travel, the two sides are still far apart when it comes to money. The players will receive a substantial raise, but how big of one remains to be seen. 

The WNBA’s proposal in early December would raise the cap to $5 million and the max salary to about $1.3 million in the first year of the deal. A source close to the situation told CBS Sports that over the course of the proposed deal, the max salary would raise to almost $2 million and that multiple players on each team would be eligible for the max salary. The minimum salary in this deal would start at $230,000 and the average salary would start at $530,000. 

All of the above salary figures include a base salary plus a revenue-sharing component that includes both team and league revenue, something players have been asking for. The source estimates this deal would result in players getting about 70% of net revenue — that is, the revenue remaining when league-specified operating expenses are removed from the pot.

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.

The WNBPA, however, reportedly countered with a proposal for the players to get 30% of gross revenue, moving the salary cap in 2026 to around $10.5 million with a max salary around $2.5 million. 

“Well, we can’t really talk about the numbers that we’re asking for, but in terms of just like we’re looking for: something that we think accurately depicts our value, and especially when it comes to net versus gross revenue,” Collier said. “We’re just looking for a new salary system, something that’s going to be a big win for us, that represents our value, and we think that that is represented through gross and not net.”

How long do the two sides have to get a deal done?

The WNBA has never lost games to a work stoppage, and no one wants that streak to end while the league is enjoying significant growth. However, time is quickly running out to get a new CBA in place and ensure the 2026 season starts on time. 

The 2026 WNBA Draft is scheduled to take place on April 13, and late last month the league announced the full schedule for the upcoming season. Training camps are supposed to open on April 19, with preseason games to begin on April 25 and opening night set for May 8. 

In the next two-plus months before the draft is scheduled, the league has to ratify a new CBA, hold a dual expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo and conduct free agency. Notably, this year’s free agency class features every single player not on a rookie-scale contract besides Kalani Brown and Lexie Brown. 

Stewart told Sarah Spain on her podcast in January that “Hopefully, everything can be done by February 1… If we can get [it done] by February 1, we’ll all be in a good place.” That date has since come and passed without a deal.  

It’s unclear if there’s a drop-dead date, at which point the league will no longer be able to start the season on time if there’s no CBA in place. At a certain point, though, it will become logistically impossible to squeeze in an entire offseason before the draft and training camps in mid-April. 

While that point is approaching, Fever star Caitlin Clark remains hopeful that the two sides will put pen to paper soon. 

“I truly do believe we’re going to get something done here in the next couple of weeks,” Clark said while doing TV for NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball over the weekend. “There’s a lot of boxes that we still need to check … but I really do feel confident that both sides are going to reach a deal here soon.”

Will the players go on strike?

The initial deadline to get a CBA done was Oct. 31, but the two sides agreed to an initial extension until Nov. 30 and a second extension until Jan. 9. They chose not to extend the deadline a third time, however, and have no entered a period of status quo. 

During status quo, the conditions of the previous CBA remain in place, but either party can enact a work stoppage at any time. The WNBA has never had a work stoppage, and both sides have, to this point, agreed to continue negotiations in good faith. 

However, it’s worth noting that the union voted in December to authorize the executive committee to strike “when necessary.” Per ESPN, the seven-person executive committee has broken into two camps, which are engaged in a “strong debate” about whether to use that power:

“The union, sources said, has grown increasingly frustrated that the league hasn’t formally responded to its most recent proposal, submitted around Christmas. But sources said a strong debate has emerged within the seven-member executive committee, which the WNBPA player body authorized in December to call a strike “when necessary.”

“According to multiple sources, one group says that now is the time to fundamentally alter the league’s revenue sharing model and players shouldn’t compromise further until they feel comfortable with the new system.

“Another group says that though there are still some matters to be negotiated, the players have already gained significant ground and are closer to a deal — and are less inclined to pursue a strike.”

Ogwumike and vice president Alysha Clark denied any rift among the executive committee members, however, in on-the-record comments to FOS. 

“I don’t think there’s been fracturing,” Alysha Clark said. “As the EC, the point of our job is to have these tough conversations behind closed doors with one another. To be able to hash through it all, because it’s a lot. It’s complicated. There are so many things that are on the table in this proposal and us having discussions doesn’t equate to fracturing.”  

“There are so many more conversations that have to happen before a strike can even be called,” Clark continued. “After the meeting today, it’s still on the table. 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?’ It’s on the table, as it has been since the strike authorization vote happened.”