The WNBA established last month that March 10 was the target date for a labor deal with players to avoid delaying the season.
As the date has approached, it’s become less fixed and more fluid in large part because both parties did not agree to it being a rigid deadline. The WNBPA has not felt beholden to reach an agreement by March 10, according to multiple sources, and has maintained its stance that it will continue pushing for a transformational deal—particularly in the financial model.
Both sides exchanged proposals over the weekend, the details of which have remained private. That marks a significant shift in negotiations up until this point. However, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations, the league’s proposal submitted on Saturday night left players feeling like a deal would not be reached by March 10.
Before that proposal, the league offered players a $5.75 million salary cap, but the 70% share of net revenue had not changed. According to sources familiar with negotiations, this amounts to less than 15% of gross revenue. The union started negotiations by seeking 40% of gross revenue and has come down to 26% over the life of the deal, which sources have said is an eight-year term with an opt-out after seven.
Beyond still needing to find alignment on the economics, the union has maintained its stance on league-funded housing for all players being a priority. The WNBA has provided housing to players since 1999 and took it off the table early in negotiations.
A meeting between the WNBA and WNBPA took place at a hotel in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday evening. League leadership, including commissioner Cathy Engelbert and head of league operations Bethany Donaphin were in attendance, as well as Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai. On the players side were executive committee members Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, Brianna Turner, and Alysha Clark. WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson and other union staff were also present. Attendees were still trickling into the meeting—which was originally slated to begin at 4 p.m.—just after 5 p.m.
Over the weekend, Caitlin Clark and Stewart each emphasized the importance of both sides meeting in person to “iron it out.”
“There is a time crunch, and things do need to be solved,” Clark said on Saturday at USA Basketball training camp in Miami. “It is our responsibility to get something done for not only all of us—the players that are older in this league, the players that are younger in this league—but the next generation of hoopers. We don’t want to lose what we have right now. That’s my main focus, and I look forward to playing on April 25 in New York City, my first preseason game.”
Once a term sheet is agreed upon by both parties, the new CBA would need to be formally ratified, which could take weeks. There are less than 60 days between now and the league’s slated May 8 season tip-off, and even less before training camps are scheduled to begin April 19. (The preseason, scheduled to begin April 25, could also be in jeopardy.) Before then the league must conduct an expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, free agency for more than 100 players, and a standard collegiate draft.
The league told GMs in February that if a deal was verbally agreed to on March 10, a contract would likely not be signed until March 31. The expansion draft would take place between April 1 and April 6. Free agency would begin April 7 with qualifying offers going out, followed by a negotiating period from April 9 to April 11. Player signings would begin April 12 and extend to April 18, a day before training camp is scheduled to begin. The college draft would take place April 13.
This timeline will likely be forced to change if a deal is not reached in the coming days.
