![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2PaigeBueckersUnrivaled3-19-26.jpeg\")
WNBA star Paige Bueckers playing in Unrivaled earlier this month.(Credit: Unrivaled)<\/p>\n
This article was written\u00a0on Tuesday,\u00a0before it was known whether a new WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) had been agreed upon or whether the players would strike.<\/p>\n
As this week began with intense, face-to-face negotiations between the WNBA and the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), the 2026 WNBA season \u2014 at least a smooth start to it on the announced opening day of May 8 \u2014 hung in the balance. Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and the rest of the players wrapping up play at the FIBA Women\u2019s World Cup Qualifying Tournament in San Juan are either headed home to begin preparations for the WNBA season or they\u2019re going on an extended, unpaid vacation.<\/p>\n
How did we reach this eleventh-hour scenario? Negotiations began at last summer\u2019s WNBA All-Star Game, where the players wore \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us\u201d shirts to reflect their disagreement with the league\u2019s proposal, and continued with back-and-forth proposals for the past eight months. Why weren\u2019t there in-person negotiations sooner?<\/p>\n
WNBA star Paige Bueckers playing in Unrivaled earlier this month.
(Credit: Unrivaled)<\/p>\n
I offer this opinion: the league needs to have the players\u2019 trust, which Commissioner Cathy Engelbert does not appear to have. Insight into her thought pattern would be speculation. I think either NBA Commissioner Adam Silver should have taken the reins or Engelbert should have been replaced with someone capable of building consensus.<\/p>\n
On the league\u2019s side, I will give a business perspective. The WNBA continued to exist through some very shaky times when profit was just a dream and a far-off goal. During a webinar presented by Sports Business Journal last month, \u201cPivotal Play: Women\u2019s Basketball in 2026,\u201d I tried to get former WNBA president Donna Orender (2005\u201310), who is now commissioner of the Upshot League (launching this summer), to explain that. She acknowledged there was red ink, but didn\u2019t elaborate on how that could impact current WNBA economics.<\/p>\n
While there is now impressive revenue \u2014 franchises valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, sold-out arenas, and plenty of sponsors \u2014 there is a long way to go until the league recoups its investment. While the WNBA must come to terms with the fact that the players deserve fair compensation for the incredible product they\u2019ve put on the floor that got us to this pivotal moment in history, the players need to understand that the league must recoup its investment and sustain viable forward momentum. Hopefully, both sides understand reality and are ready to play ball.<\/p>\n
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