{"id":664665,"date":"2026-03-18T14:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/664665\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:58:12","slug":"wnba-players-announce-verbal-agreement-on-new-cba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/664665\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA, players announce verbal agreement on new CBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s play ball.<\/p>\n

The WNBA and WNBPA verbally agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning after a contentious battle between both sides.<\/p>\n

Specific details of the deal weren\u2019t initially disclosed by either side. The next steps include finalizing a term sheet, which would then need to be ratified by the players. The league\u2019s board of governors would also need to approve it for the new CBA to become official for the 2026 WNBA season.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, I just want to say thank you for your endurance through this process, especially I know it\u2019s been a long week,\u201d WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement early Wednesday. \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<\/p>\n

The start of training camp \u2014 April 19 \u2014 isn\u2019t expected to be delayed, according to Front Office Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new CBA reportedly will pay some players $1 million dollar salaries for the first time in league history as popularity and revenue continue to skyrocket.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth of the game,\u201d said Engelbert, who met reporters early Wednesday morning alongside WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson and WNBPA executive committee members Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark and Brianna Turner. \u201cSo, we\u2019ll share additional details as they become available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had some congratulations with each other. It\u2019s been, obviously, a process, but we\u2019re very proud to be leading women\u2019s sports. These players are amazing, and we\u2019re going to have an amazing 30th season tipping off in May.\u201d<\/p>\n

The verbal agreement comes after a week of marathon bargaining sessions that lasted over a 100 hours of in-person discussions.<\/p>\n

Negotiations lasted over 17 months following the union\u2019s decision to opt out of the previous CBA in October 2024. The first deadline on on Oct. 31, 2025 passed with the two sides not close on a deal, which followed with demands from both parties as the possibility of work stoppage loomed.<\/p>\n

Following news of the verbal agreement, Turner expressed on social media that \u201cthe good certainly prevailed\u201d after completing the exhaustive process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly didn\u2019t recognize the dedication and time it takes to build relationships and truly listen to the needs and wants of union members,\u201d Turner said<\/a>. \u201cThis process was so eye opening to me & it\u2019s been a true honor to help advocate for the past, present, and future of the WNBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revenue sharing, player salaries and paid housing were among the key factors negotiated throughout CBA discussions.<\/p>\n

With the belief that training camp will begin on time, the May 8 regular season start date could avoid being impacted, too.<\/p>\n

Before then, an expansion draft for the league\u2019s newest teams \u2014 Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo \u2014 needs to occur. The college draft is currently scheduled for April 13.<\/p>\n

Also, teams still need to negotiate deals in free agency, which is set to undergo for over 100 players in what is expected to be a frenzy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s play ball. The WNBA and WNBPA verbally agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":664666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[23136,50148,61843,7629,62,67,132,68,232,169989],"class_list":["post-664665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-cathy-engelbert","tag-cba","tag-collective-bargaining-agreement","tag-players","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba","tag-wnbpa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}