Negotiations stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning as the WNBA and players union worked against the March 10 deadline set by the league for the 2026 season to start on time.
Around 3 a.m. ET, 10 hours after they arrived, players were seen leaving the Manhattan hotel where meetings were held. They gave no comment, but union executive director Terri Jackson spoke to reporters nearly an hour later about the lack of a deal. Jackson characterized the negotiations as “conversation going in the right direction,” but gave no indication that a deal would be reached in the following days.
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In February, the league suggested to the players union that Tuesday would mark the point where the season would be delayed if no collective bargaining agreement was reached, as Yahoo Sports previously confirmed. The 2026 season is scheduled to begin May 8.
Prior to Tuesday, proposals had been exchanged as recently as Saturday, but neither side would share details on the changes that were made in them.
The league and players union entered a “status quo” period and continued negotiating in good faith after the second deadline extension expired on Jan. 9. A moratorium deal days afterward put free agency on hold, and the sides met in person on Feb. 2 for the first time in months. Since then, the union and league have traded proposals while cracks emerged in the player contingent.
Players opted out of the previous CBA in October 2024 to advocate for a revenue-sharing structure that would tie their salaries to the business. They’ve centered it as their No. 1 priority, including wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” T-shirts at All-Star, and into the heat of tense negotiations.
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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said repeatedly that the league wants players to make more, and they would, but there were disagreements on how that would look. There was a revenue-sharing model in the previous CBA, but it was structured with thresholds that must be met. For the first time in history, the league made enough money in 2025 to trigger revenue sharing. During negotiations, the league offered deals based on percentage of net revenue, whereas the union used gross revenue and included expansion fee monies in its offers.
Prioritization, team-provided housing, retirement and family planning benefits, facility standards, and core designations also became touchpoints. The sides agreed to two extensions past the initial October 31 deadline, and in mid-December, players voted nearly unanimously to authorize the WNBPA executive committee to vote to strike.
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A work stoppage, which would be the first in league history, is still on the table, though several players have said they’d like to avoid that outcome. The WNBA turns 30 in 2026, but faces a major challenge in what would’ve already been a condensed offseason.
A two-team expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo still needs to be held. The terms of the draft were part of collective bargaining; existing teams were not able to prepare their lists without guidelines. Three more teams will join by the end of the decade.
And whenever free agency begins, there will be a crush of activity. Last year, qualifying offers and core designations were delivered from Jan. 11-20, and player negotiations could begin on Jan. 21. That timeline will have to shift even later now, in what will be a bonanza of a free agency period. All but two players not on rookie contracts are free agents, to best take advantage of the new CBA.