NEW YORK \u2013 The WNBA labor dispute moved one step closer to a final resolution with players voting to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league, according to the players\u2019 union president on ESPN\u2019s \u201cFirst Take\u201d on Monday.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike said the results of the ratification vote were a near-unanimous yes with 90 per cent of players taking part in the voting.<\/p>\n
The CBA will now go back to the league for its approval.<\/p>\n
The league, in partnership with the Players Association, officially announced on Friday that a seven-year CBA had been agreed upon. The agreement will run through the 2032 season.<\/p>\n
The revenue-sharing deal will increase the average salary to US$583,000 this season and the maximum salary to US$1.4 million, while providing over US$1 billion in salaries and benefits over the contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Collective Bargaining Agreement represents a defining moment in the WNBA\u2019s 30-year history and all of women\u2019s professional sports,\u201d WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Friday in a news release. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince its inception, the WNBA has been shaped by extraordinary athletes who believed in the league\u2019s future. The agreement is a testament to that belief and to the tremendous progress we have achieved together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The salary increases represent a significant jump for WNBA players. Team salary caps will be US$7 million this season \u2013 a huge leap from US$1.5 million in 2025 \u2013 and will be adjusted annually based on teams and league revenue growth.<\/p>\n
The deal projects the maximum salary to reach US$2.4 million by 2032, and the average salary to surpass US$1 million by then.<\/p>\n
The minimum salary this season will range from US$270,000 to US$300,000, depending on service time. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft will earn approximately US$500,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always believed that as this league grows, the players who power it must grow with it, and we\u2019re proud to see that belief shared,\u201d said Ogwumike, the league MVP in 2016. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe love this game enough to push for what it can become… This agreement reflects that shared commitment, with players owning their value and future alongside a league growing stronger because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The players have been without a collective bargaining agreement since they opted out of their existing agreement in October 2024, a year before its Oct 31, 2025, expiration.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the length of the regular season will increase to 50 games in 2027 and 2028 and 52 from 2029-32. The WNBA Draft is slated for April 13 with training camps opening six days later. REUTERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 The WNBA labor dispute moved one step closer to a final resolution with players voting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-556860","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\/556860","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=556860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}