{"id":504401,"date":"2026-02-28T03:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/504401\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T03:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:13:14","slug":"wnba-cba-updates-players-held-testy-meeting-agents-ask-for-transparency-per-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/504401\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA CBA updates: Players held testy meeting, agents ask for transparency, per report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Time is running out for the WNBA and the Women&#8217;s National Basketball Players Association. Earlier this week, the league <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/wnba\/news\/wnba-revenue-sharing-players-union\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">reportedly told the players<\/a> that a new collective bargaining agreement must be in place by March 10 to avoid disrupting the 2026 season. It seems the rapidly approaching deadline is causing a stir.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The WNBPA held a meeting on Tuesday that became contentious, <a href=\"https:\/\/frontofficesports.com\/wnba-union-meeting-strike-divides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">according to Front Office Sports<\/a>, while a group of powerful agents sent a letter to the union asking for more transparency about negotiations, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/48049021\/agents-ask-coordinated-communication-wnbpa-cba-talks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">per ESPN<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A &#8216;spirited&#8217; and &#8216;passionate&#8217; meeting<\/p>\n<p>The league and the WNBPA met Monday for a virtual bargaining session, and on Tuesday the union convened it&#8217;s own virtual meeting to discuss the state of the negotiations and their path forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Following the meeting, WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson sent a letter to union members, which was obtained by FOS, that stated, &#8220;last night&#8217;s conversation was spirited, passionate, and at times tough.&#8221; Jackson added, &#8220;Honest debate is not division. It is engagement.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the players are reportedly no longer aligned on whether or not to call a strike.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In December, the union authorized the seven-player executive committee, led by president <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/wnba\/players\/1980587\/nneka-ogwumike\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nneka Ogwumike<\/a>, to &#8220;call a strike when necessary.&#8221; Per the WNBPA, 93% of its members participated in that vote, and 98% voted in favor of authorizing a strike if necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Per FOS, some players have since changed their stance, though the exact breakdown is unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jackson&#8217;s letter also explained that the union would send out a survey to its members to get feedback on the latest proposal from the league, which arrived on Feb. 20. The players have still not made a counter offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Agents want &#8216;transparency&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, a group of nearly a dozen powerful agents sent a letter to Jackson stating &#8220;our collective preference for transparency and coordinated communication&#8221; about the CBA negotiations, according to ESPN.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At this stage of negotiations, with time being of the essence, alignment and shared information will best serve the players and the Union,&#8221; the letter said.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN confirmed that the following agents all signed the letter (notable players they represent in parentheses):<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Notably, there is an unprecedented level of unity among agents at this moment,&#8221; the agent letter said. &#8220;That alignment reflects a shared commitment to doing what is best for players and the long-term health of the league. We believe that same spirit of collaboration, utilizing all available expertise and resources, is how we should continue working together as a team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/wnba\/news\/wnba-revenue-sharing-players-union\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>WNBA CBA updates: League reportedly sets key deadline, WNBPA says revenue sharing was triggered in 2025<\/p>\n<p>\n                    Jack Maloney                <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" alt=\"WNBA CBA updates: League reportedly sets key deadline, WNBPA says revenue sharing was triggered in 2025\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/untitled-design-2026-02-23t114221-892.png\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"152\" width=\"270\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <\/a><br \/>\nTime running out<\/p>\n<p>The WNBA reportedly told players (and teams) on Monday that if a deal is not in place by March 10, the 2026 season will be disrupted. That leaves less than two weeks for the two sides to come to terms on a new CBA. At this point, however, the two sides still remain far apart on revenue sharing, which has been the primary point of contention throughout this process.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The WNBPA is fighting for a share of gross revenue, while the league is still offering a share of net revenue &#8212; that is, the revenue remaining when league-specified operating expenses are removed from the pot.<\/p>\n<p>The WNBPA&#8217;s most recent proposal would see the players receive an average of 27.5% of the gross revenue over the course of the agreement (with a $9.5 million salary cap in 2026), sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed to CBS Sports. The league&#8217;s most recent prosposal would offer the players 70% of net revenue over the course of the deal (with a $5.65 million salary cap in 2026).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Last month,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/wnba\/news\/wnba-2026-schedule-release-30th-season-begin-may-8-44-games-per-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the WNBA announced the full schedule for the 2026 season<\/a>. Training camps are scheduled to begin on April 19, with preseason games to begin on April 25 and opening night set for May 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With less than two months until training camps are supposed to open, the two sides not only have to come to terms on a new CBA, but hold a double expansion draft for the\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/wnba\/teams\/TOR\/toronto-tempo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Toronto Tempo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/wnba\/teams\/POR\/portland-fire\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Portland Fire<\/a>, conduct the busiest free agency period in league history and hold the annual college draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Time is running out for the WNBA and the Women&#8217;s National Basketball Players Association. Earlier this week, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[4662,724,4657,49,735,48,40528,6001,729,4653,4658,104252,82,45963,630,201177],"class_list":["post-504401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aja-wilson","tag-angel-reese","tag-breanna-stewart","tag-ca","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-canada","tag-dominique-malonga","tag-kayla-mcbride","tag-napheesa-collier","tag-nneka-ogwumike","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-portland-fire","tag-sports","tag-toronto-tempo","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-cba-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504401","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=504401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}