{"id":6839,"date":"2026-03-18T19:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/6839\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T19:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:34:09","slug":"wnba-and-players-union-have-aligned-on-key-elements-for-a-new-collective-bargaining-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/6839\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA and players union have aligned on key elements for a new collective bargaining agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The WNBA<\/a> will have its first million dollar players after the league and its players\u2019 union reached a deal in principle on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Specifics still need to be finalized over the next few weeks as lawyers on both sides work on the new CBA. A term sheet should be done in the next day or two. It will then need to be ratified by the players and then approved by the league\u2019s Board of Governors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say we have aligned on key elements of a new collective bargaining agreement together. We still need to finalize a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward for players and the league,\u201d WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. \u201cIt underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth of the game. So, we\u2019ll share additional details as they become available.\u201d<\/p>\n

The landmark deal is expected to greatly increase player salaries<\/a>, with top stars potentially making a supermax of $1.4 million in the first year, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.<\/p>\n

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.<\/p>\n

The salary cap for the 2026 season is expected to be $7 million with average salaries more than $585,000, according to the person. The minimum salary would be around $300,000 as the league enters its 30th season. This would increase salaries fourfold from last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars and raising the standard across facilities, staffing and support,\u201d union president Nneka Ogwumike said.<\/p>\n

The agreement is set to reflect the league\u2019s skyrocketing growth and popularity. Attendance, viewership and investment from stakeholders has increased to historic levels over the past few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deal is going to be transformational,\u201d union vice president Breanna Stewart said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deal came after the two sides spent the past eight days in intense in-person negotiations<\/a> that lasted for more than 100 hours. They came to the agreement at about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday after spending more than 10 hours of discussions on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is historical for women\u2019s sports. I told Cathy it\u2019s not just for the players that are entering the league or the players that aren\u2019t already here,\u201d Ogwumike added. \u201cWe\u2019re just really grateful to be able to come to a deal. We\u2019re proud of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

WNBA leadership and the union met with reporters together in the lobby of a New York hotel shortly before 3 a.m.<\/p>\n

The deal comes 17 months after the players opted out of their previous agreement and five months after the previous deal was initially set to expire, with talks often becoming contentious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe opted out because what we were giving to this league and what we were getting back didn\u2019t match,\u201d union executive committee member Alysha Clark said. \u201cYou could feel the growth everywhere, but it wasn\u2019t showing up for the players the way it should. So we stayed with it until it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revenue sharing has been the biggest hurdle over the course of the negotiations. Other key issues that were slowing down getting a deal done included housing and franchise tags on players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope young girls and women see this and feel it, to know their voice matters, their value matters, and they don\u2019t have to settle for less than that,\u201d executive committee member Brianna Turner said. \u201cNow, we get back to the game. Back to competing, back to that feeling, and back to being out there with our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the league will have a sprint over the next two months to get to opening day on May 8. An expansion draft for new teams in Toronto and Portland needs to take place. Also, teams will need to negotiate with the more than 80% of players who are free agents this offseason. Training camps are set to open on April 19 \u2014 six days after the college draft.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP WNBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/wnba-basketball<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The WNBA will have its first million dollar players after the league and its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5512,5508,5510,5509,8,3161,9,5507,1199,7,4386,5511,5506],"class_list":{"0":"post-6839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-alysha-clark","9":"tag-breanna-stewart","10":"tag-brianna-turner","11":"tag-cathy-engelbert","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-labor-unions","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-nneka-ogwumike","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-wnba","19":"tag-wnba-basketball","20":"tag-womens-national-basketball-association"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116251856942540706","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}