Prior to Monday, no official deadline had been set for the WNBA and the players union to agree upon a new CBA deal amid ongoing negotiations. A couple of previous deadlines had been extended as both sides continued to exchange talks and proposals. But on Monday afternoon, the WNBA informed the players side that a layout on an agreement needed to be in place by March 10 before the 2026 season schedule starts being impacted, as per Alexa Philippou of ESPN.
Amid the ongoing CBA negotiations between the WNBA and the players union, the league set the start date for the 2026 season at May 8. With no deal in place, the usual free agency period in late January and early February has been skipped over for now.
Also needing to get done is two expansion drafts with both the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire set to begin play for the 2026 season. There’s also the issue of what would happen regarding the regular WNBA Draft, which is held in mid April following the conclusion of the NCAA season and March Madness.
While talks have been ongoing and proposals have been exchanged by both sides, there has not been any traction as far as getting closer to an agreement. Both the WNBA and the players are still reportedly far apart regarding talks.
Earlier in the day, in a somewhat related issue, the league informed the players union that the WNBA had hit the required benchmarks in order to trigger revenue sharing. The league had generated around $8 million in revenue to be split amongst players were who active in the WNBA from 2020-2025. Revenue sharing, and how much should go to the players, has been one of the key issues at the front and center of the CBA talks.
Another issue in the negotiations is the league’s responsibility to provide housing to players while in market during the regular season. According to the latest proposal from the WNBA, the league who shoulder the issue of housing for all players for the upcoming season, while gradually reducing it only first-year players and players on a qualifying minimum contract until 2028.
