For the last 17 months, the WNBPA and its members have been embroiled in a labor battle that will shape the immediate future of the league and the talent that allows it to be. The fight is a good one and its worth is immeasurable. Wearing t-shirts reading “Pay Us What You Owe Us” with the WNBPA’s logo front and center at the All-Star Game last season, the display of unity on the league’s biggest stage made headlines acros the globe.
From the start, support was rife from all angles, from fans to politicians and fellow player unions in the PWHL and NWSL. Like many things in today’s climate, the image of the longest-running league in women’s sports with an underpaid workforce taking on rich owners took on a new meaning. As leaders on teams and in their communities, it was understood that all eyes were on these negotiations. With the clock running down before the 2026 season is set to start, pressure from the league is being applied and the effect has sent ripple effects through what appeared to be a stable and consistent force on the union’s side of the table.
The WNBPA held a virtual meeting with its members to usher forward discussion on negotiations last week. Front Office Sports’ Annie Costabile was first on the meeting, describing it as “tense”, with one issue amongst players being the direction of a possible strike. When the union opted out of the previous CBA in late 2024, the possibility of a work stoppage was on the table.
In a voting process with a 93% player participation rate last December, 98% voted in favor of the WNBPA executive committee to issue a strike when necessary. According to Costabile, some players have changed their stance, and it’s not hard to see why. Negotiations have ramped up in recent weeks, but it’s clear that the union and its members still have issues to work out. That’s expected during labor battles, and this is one that players have to get right. But without time on their side at this point in bargaining, the image of unity we saw last year feels like a distant memory.
Last week, the WNBA told players and teams that a new collective bargaining agreement would need to be finalized by March 10 to avoid a delayed start to the 2026 season. The IX Sports’ Howard Megdal reported that players were told they had two weeks before ESPN started to revisit time slots designated for the league. Whether this is true or not is unknown. However, it was a rather clear effort to apply pressure to the WNBA’s workforce. The full court press at this stage of negotiations from the WNBA and its owners is quite the decision considering it took six weeks to generate a counterproposal to the union after receiving an offer in December.
“We fought really hard for [revenue sharing], and that’s also the hardest part about this, is we’re in a rev share, and we’re on a time constraint,” Plum said last Monday at Barclays Center before Unrivaled’s semifinal round. “And there’s a sense of urgency, obviously, to get this deal done, and just to be clear: I want to play. I want to play, and players want to play, and so obviously we’re going to continue to negotiate and do everything we possibly can to get those done in a timely fashion, but obviously a strike would be the worst thing for both sides because we are in a revenue share, so no revenue, no revenue to share.”
“I don’t think a strike is good for anyone,” WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart said in agreement with Plum. “Because as the league loses money, or if we have a delay, we also lose money.”
In the WNBA’s latest CBA deal to the WNBPA this week, the league proposed changed that would allow accelerated maximum contract eligibility for star players on rookie contracts and a bump in the salary cap for the first year to $5.75 million. For reference, the league’s cap in 2025 was a meager $1.5 million.
Games missed to start the 2026 season is revenue lost for the league and players. There isn’t a world where professional athletes enjoy losing out on time on the court and the money it creates. The preseason is slated to start in late April. If a new deal is agreed to by March 10, it won’t be ratified until March 31.
Welcome back to another edition of Swish Happens Here, powered by Fearless SC. It has been quite the week so far in the WNBA. As we inch closer to March […]
