The WNBA and its players union continued to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement for a fourth day on Friday at a hotel in midtown Manhattan, stretching behind the suggested March 10 deadline the league set for the season to begin on time.
After neither side opted to speak with reporters on site during Thursday’s negotiations, both WNBA Players Association executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said late Friday that there continues to be movement in the talks.
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Engelbert told on-site media that there is urgency to get a deal done by Monday to avoid any disruptions to the preseason schedule of training camp and games, per ESPN’s Alexa Phillappou, Front Office Sports’ Annie Costabile, The IX’s Jackie Powell and The Associated Press’ Doug Feinberg in New York.
The talks have totaled nearly 50 hours since Tuesday’s meeting began around 5 p.m. ET, and as the negotiations enter their 17th month. The league is actively in a “status quo” period of negotiations after a second deadline expired in January. Players opted out of the previous CBA in October 2024.
The days have stretched deep into the night and early morning hours, with one negotiation period ending near 5 a.m. ET the following morning. It included breakouts where each group huddled together before coming back to the table, sources told Yahoo Sports.
“We have been there committed round the clock and speaking very passionately and factually,” Jackson told reporters, per the AP. “As long as movement keeps us going in a forward direction, then I think we’re good.”
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At least a dozen proposals were shared throughout the week. While both sides include revenue-sharing in their proposals, the way that revenue is shared has always been at issue.
The league broke out its revenue-sharing via net revenue and continues to move up its salary cap. Its latest known proposal includes a $6.2 million cap and roughly 70% share of net revenue, a source familiar with the talks confirmed to Yahoo Sports. The salary cap for 2025 was approximately $1.5 million, with super-maximum salaries of $249,000.
The players union built its proposals on gross revenue, initially asking for over 40% and recently dropping to 26%. Its salary cap number sits around $9.5 million. Jackson reiterated to reporters on-site that the players want a system “tied to revenue in a meaningful way.”
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“I think the continued conversations [this week] have helped us chip away at what the concerns are for both sides and how we meet them, how we address them,” she said, via ESPN.
Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti and New York Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai were involved this week on the league side. The Sun operate independently, while the Tsais are part of a group of owners that also run NBA teams. On the players’ side, the contingent included executive committee members Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Brianna Turner and Alysha Clark. Naphessa Collier arrived in-person on Friday.
Housing, facility standards, core designations and player benefits are also at the top of the negotiating list. The sides need a tentative deal in place to push an offseason into overdrive with fewer than two months before the start of the season on May 8. The official ratification would not happen for a few weeks.
There will be a two-team expansion draft for the Toronto and Portland expansion teams. The WNBA collegiate draft is scheduled for April 13, eight days after the NCAA national championship game in Phoenix. The draft is typically held in New York. There will also be a free agency bonanza as nearly everyone not on a rookie-scale contract will be available. Every veteran except two did not sign past 2025 to take advantage of the new CBA.
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Training camp is scheduled to begin on April 19, and teams have already announced their preseason games. The season begins May 8 with an opening weekend that includes Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever hosting Paige Bueckers’ Dallas Wings. The WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces will host the Phoenix Mercury in a Finals rematch.
