Last week, the WNBA released its 2026 regular season schedule, including the Washington Mystics’. The regular season is supposed to begin in early May. But for now, I haven’t written about it because … technically … there is no 2026 WNBA season until there’s a Collective Bargaining Agreement in place.
The WNBA and the WNBPA players union remain apart on revenue sharing agreements and housing. And the WNBA has reportedly not responded to a WNBPA proposal because … it was effectively the same proposal from the owners’ side. According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, the league is waiting on another proposal from the WNBA that would be more “realistic.” The article states that housing, revenue sharing split, celebrating the wins the WNBA has made in the 2020s and re-establishing trust are the keys to getting a CBA done faster.
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So what are the most recent proposals, at least for salaries?
According to another ESPN article earlier this month, the players want a salary cap of $10.5 million (it was $12.5 million) per team and the league wants it closer to $5 million per team with room for growth as revenue grows. Again, players, still want maximum salaries over $1 million each.
But here’s the salary cap right now with no CBA: Zero. And no 2026 WNBA season If that happens, the WNBA AND the players stand to lose because media partners probably have some clauses to cut back their investments. To be clear, few people anticipate the cancellation of the 2026 WNBA season. However, if that happened, it would harm both sides who stand to gain.
So yeah, things are still… at a standstill with the upcoming WNBA CBA. What do you think should happen with these negotiations, or do you believe that a work stoppage (lockout by the league OR players’ strike) should happen? Let us know in the comments below.
