{"id":490931,"date":"2026-02-21T23:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/490931\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T23:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:53:10","slug":"wnba-doesnt-budge-on-salary-in-latest-cba-proposal-heres-why-thats-significant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/490931\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Doesn’t Budge on Salary in Latest CBA Proposal, Here\u2019s Why That\u2019s Significant"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA has countered a recent collective bargaining agreement proposal from its Players\u2019 Association after the league quickly announced its displeasure<\/a> with the financials suggested by the players.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the WNBPA took its revenue-sharing ask slightly down. Players asked for an average of 27.5% of gross revenue<\/a>, down from a previously reported proposal of 30%. The league submitted a CBA proposal two weeks ago<\/a> that included players receiving 70% of net revenue (which comes after expenses are deducted) and a $5.65 million salary cap. According to The Athletic<\/a>, the WNBA\u2019s newest counterproposal keeps the previous revenue figures offered to players the same.<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s latest offer does include concessions on the issue of provided housing, however. Guaranteed team housing for the 2026 season was proposed by the league, with housing provided only to players on minimum salaries or those with no years of service the next two years. After 2028, the housing benefit would expire for the full-time roster per The Athletic\u2019s Sabreena Merchant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the WNBPA\u2019s latest proposal asked for teams to continue to provide housing to players over the first several years of a new CBA, but in later years, teams would no longer be obligated to provide housing for players making close to the maximum salary. The two parties appear to be much closer on the housing issue than they are on revenue sharing.<\/p>\n

Why is the WNBA\u2019s newest CBA counterproposal significant?<\/p>\n

After the WNBPA\u2019s most recent CBA counterproposal, the WNBA quickly issued a harsh statement on the suggested financials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Players Association\u2019s latest proposal remains unrealistic and would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of losses to our teams,\u201d a WNBA spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN\u2019s Alexa Philippou<\/a>. \u201cWe still need to complete two drafts and free agency before the start of training camp and are running out of time. We believe the WNBA\u2019s proposal would result in a huge win for current players and generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s counter on Friday night reflects that statement, not budging on its previously proposed revenue model. On the other hand, the WNBPA\u2019s most recent offer did include a concession on revenue sharing, going down to a suggested 27.5% of gross revenue from the previously reported offer of 30%. The WNBA wasn\u2019t pleased with that suggestion from its players, now digging its heels in and potentially signaling a fork in the road for the heated CBA negotiations.<\/p>\n

WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson refuted the league\u2019s sentiment regarding the union\u2019s latest proposal in a message to players that was obtained by The Athletic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unfathomable that anyone would question our commitment to negotiations and desire to get a deal done after nearly a year and a half of pushing and pulling, meetings upon meetings, proposal after counter proposal,\u201d Jackson wrote. \u201cAnd then to have been kept waiting [six] weeks for a response from the league?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have proposed is very realistic. What the league and the teams have done is played games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly a full offseason has to take place before the WNBA\u2019s scheduled start of May 8. The draft lottery is in the books, but the April 13 draft, an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, a free agency period and training camp all still need to happen, and none can start until a new CBA agreed to by both parties.<\/p>\n

Things could come together quickly, but the league keeping its proposed revenue model consistent brings a sense that tensions are only on the rise. In December, WNBA players voted to authorize a strike \u201cwhen necessary\u201d<\/a> after negotiations stalled past initial expiration dates and multiple deadline extensions. That hasn\u2019t happened yet, but we\u2019ll have to see how the players receive the league\u2019s latest CBA offer.<\/p>\n

More WNBA on Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA has countered a recent collective bargaining agreement proposal from its Players\u2019 Association after the league quickly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-490931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490931","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=490931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}