{"id":218765,"date":"2025-10-17T02:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T02:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/218765\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T02:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T02:45:07","slug":"what-to-expect-as-fiery-wnba-cba-negotiations-comes-to-a-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/218765\/","title":{"rendered":"What to expect as fiery WNBA CBA negotiations comes to a head"},"content":{"rendered":"

A simmering clash between players and WNBA leadership, led by commissioner Cathy Engelbert and stoked by Lynx star Napheesa Collier\u2019s explosive end-of-season news conference<\/a>, is the backdrop for negotiations that are going down to the wire.<\/p>\n

There are still more questions than answers. Here\u2019s what you need to know:<\/p>\n

How did we get here?<\/p>\n

Players opted out of the current CBA at the end of the 2024 season. The hope was that by pulling out when they did it would give the WNBA and Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association plenty of time to negotiate a new deal.<\/p>\n

WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said in May that she hoped to see \u201csignificant progress\u201d made by the July All-Star break.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Instead, there was a pivotal meeting with more than 40 players present to discuss matters with league officials, including Engelbert. Ultimately, though, players left that meeting feeling like it was a \u201cwasted opportunity.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The players organized a protest during warmups for the All-Star Game, where they all wore \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us\u201d T-shirts.<\/p>\n

N.Y. Post photo composite<\/p>\n

Meetings continued to take place over the course of the season, but the two sides remain at an impasse.<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s ownership model has been a snag in negotiations, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kiki Iriafen #44 of the Washington Mystics, Gabby Williams #5 of the Seattle Storm, Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces, Sonia Citron #2 of the Washington Mystics and Brittney Sykes #15 of the Washington Mystics wear shirts saying \u201cPay us what you owe us\u201d prior to the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game. Getty Images<\/p>\n

What do players want and why do they have more bargaining power?<\/p>\n

Players have seen the $250 million expansion fees, skyrocketing franchise evaluations, attendance and TV viewership records and the $2.2 billion media rights deal and want their share.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why they\u2019re fighting for a more robust revenue sharing structure and increased salaries. Other priorities include a softer salary cap and improved benefits, including for mothers and former players.<\/p>\n

This is the most bargaining power players have ever had in negotiations. For years, there was concern about the league folding or owners withdrawing their support.<\/p>\n

But those days are over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Players are vital to the league\u2019s success. Younger stars, including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, are a big part of driving the league\u2019s popularity over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings and Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky react during the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star practice sessions at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 18, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever and Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty wears a shirt saying \u201cPay us what you owe us.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

The WNBA\u2019s best bargaining chip could\u2019ve been charter flights, which had been a dream for players for the first 20-plus years. In fact, the Liberty were fined $500,000 in May 2022 for chartering flights to away games, among other things.<\/p>\n

The WNBA instituted a league-wide charter flights program ahead of the 2024 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The players have leverage like never before and plan to use it.<\/p>\n

What do we know about the proposal as of now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Players feel like their value is being downplayed in the negotiations.<\/p>\n

The WNBA\u2019s latest proposal doesn\u2019t include a supermax salary at, or exceeding, $1 million in the first year, according to Front Office Sports. Instead, the supermax salary proposal is closer to $850,000, and a veteran minimum is around $300,000 for the first year, the report said.<\/p>\n

AP<\/p>\n

Both are increases from the current CBA. The league\u2019s current supermax is $249,244, and the veteran minimum is $78,831. But the players may argue the increase is not equal to the league\u2019s booming valuation, with some franchises being valued at north of $400 million.<\/a><\/p>\n

Front Office Sports also reported that the latest WNBA proposal is similar to the current CBA, meaning revenue-sharing bonuses only happen if league revenue exceeds certain targets.<\/p>\n

Players are hoping for a salary model similar to the NBA\u2019s, where basketball-related income (such as TV deals, sponsorships and ticket sales) helps determine the next year\u2019s cap.<\/p>\n

What could happen at the Oct. 31 deadline?<\/p>\n

There are three possible scenarios that could play out come the end of the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best \u2014 and seemingly least likely \u2014 would be the two parties ratifying a new deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Considering how far apart the two sides were during the WNBA Finals<\/a>, it appears more likely that one of two things will happen: Either they will mutually agree to extend the deadline to reach a new CBA and continue negotiations or a work stoppage will ensue.<\/p>\n

Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx warms up before the game against the Phoenix Mercury during Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals on September 26, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Last time a new CBA was being brokered in 2019, the two sides chose to do the former and came to an agreement in January 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the league\u2019s first-ever work stoppage is not out of the question as players have said they\u2019ve been bracing for one all season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCovering the Liberty like never before\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Madeline Kenney’s Inside the Liberty, a weekly Sports+ newsletter.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A labor strike is a bargaining tactic that happens when the players union initiates a work stoppage, while a lockout happens when owners green-light a work stoppage by locking players out of team facilities and preventing them from working.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the WNBPA has been careful not to use the word \u201cstrike,\u201d that appears more likely to happen since the current contract favors the owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Obviously, it\u2019s the WNBA offseason, but there are a lot of events that need to take place between now and the anticipated start of the 2026 season beyond finalizing a new CBA, including the draft lottery, two expansion drafts, free agency and the college draft. All of those happenings would be on hold until a deal is reached.<\/p>\n

Both sides are hoping to avoid delaying the start of next season and missing games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A simmering clash between players and WNBA leadership, led by commissioner Cathy Engelbert and stoked by Lynx star…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,105473,630,105474],"class_list":{"0":"post-218765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-sports-contracts","12":"tag-wnba","13":"tag-wnba-free-agency"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}