WNBA, players’ union reach verbal agreement on new CBA terms

NEW YORK — After a lengthy union battle, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Association reached a verbal agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement Wednesday morning, just 51 days before the start of the league’s 30th season.

“The progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward for the players and the league,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters shortly before 3 a.m. ET, “and underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth of the game.”

“It is [been] a process, but we’re very proud to be a leader in women’s sports, and these players are incredible, and we’re going to have an incredible 30th season starting in May.

Engelbert, WNBPA Executive Director Terri Carmichael Jackson and four members of the WNBPA Executive Committee – President Nneka Ogwumike, Vice Presidents Breanna Stewart and Alysha Clark, and Treasurer Brianna Turner – shared the news with reporters in the lobby of a midtown Manhattan hotel, the same place where they began their series of more than 100 hours of marathon negotiating sessions a week before.

“I think it can be summed up in two words: player empowerment… players coming to the table and advocating for themselves and being reminded of the collective voice and what it means to be in a union and the power of that union,” Jackson said. “They never forgot it and they took it, as they always do, to the next level.”

Both sides declined to share details of the deal. A formal term sheet has yet to be finalized and the deal is awaiting ratification by the players as well as the WNBA Board of Governors.

This will be the sixth CBA in league history following agreements in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2014 and 2020.

“We’re really, really grateful to be able to come to an agreement,” Ogwumike said. “We’re proud of ourselves. And frankly, we always told you we were going to deliver on our commitments, and this is what it looks like.”

The deal is set to reflect the league’s meteoric growth and popularity, with viewership, attendance and investment reaching historic levels in recent years. For the first time in WNBA history, the salary system is expected to be directly tied to revenue growth and players are expected to earn the league’s first $1 million in salary.

“This deal is going to be transformative,” Stewart said. “It’s going to build and help create a system where everyone gets exactly what they deserve and more, on the field and off the field. I’m just excited to be able to tell our fans that we’re going to come back.”

In an official statement, Ogwumike acknowledged that the deal’s revenue sharing system would result in “exponential” growth in the salary cap; increases average compensation beyond half a million dollars; raises the professional level in facilities, staff and support; and strengthens housing, retirement and other benefits.

For the first time, she told reporters, players will enter the league “and not [have] a feeling of lack. »

“We’re really, really grateful to be able to come to an agreement. We’re proud of ourselves. And frankly, we always told you we were going to stick to our guns, and this is what it looks like.”

Nneka Ogwumike, President of the WNBPA

“What we just accomplished will change the lives of many players,” Clark said. “And speaking from experience, players like me will be the ones who I think will feel it the most, and that’s what we’re all very proud of, because that’s what we planned from the beginning, was to make sure that every player felt the change in the CBA, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Engelbert said the extended negotiations avoided any impact on the 2026 schedule. Training camp is scheduled to begin April 19, followed by preseason games on April 25 and the start of the regular season on May 8.

The verbal agreement comes 17 months after the players opted out of their previous deal and five months after the old deal initially expired, with negotiations often becoming contentious.

But after a week of intense in-person negotiations, the two sides were finally able to share a moment of celebration together in their main conference room, enjoying glasses of champagne while toasting the present and the future.

Engelbert called the deal “a fair win-win for all,” while Jackson added, “Cathy and her team understood that players’ wins are the league’s wins, and that our success stories are shared success stories, period.” »

“I really feel like a lot of what we were at the table for was about the next generation,” Ogwumike said. “As we look out over the next ten years, this is really going to continue to catapult us.”