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The WNBA and its players union will not reach an agreement on a new CBA ahead of Friday's deadline, according to New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
"We are not coming to an agreement, I can tell you that," she told reporters on Thursday. Stewart said that while a new extension won't be agreed upon, they will continue to negotiate in good faith.
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The 2026 season is not expected to tip off until May, so the reality of canceled games is a long way off. Yet, it will continue to condense a busy offseason that includes a two-team expansion draft and a free agency period that will feature three-quarters of the league’s players.
The league and players union have been negotiating a new CBA for more than a year after players opted out of the previous one on Oct. 21, 2024. The sides agreed to two extensions, the most recent of which expires Jan. 9, 2026.
Members voted overwhelmingly during the week of Dec. 18 to give the executive committee authority to strike. The union said 93% of eligible players participated in the vote and 98% of them voted to authorize a strike. The seven-player executive committee consists of president Nneka Ogwumike, vice president Kelsey Plum, vice president Napheesa Collier, vice president Alysha Clark, secretary Elizabeth Williams, treasurer Brianna Turner and Stewart.
The vote was a statement made by players that they are unhappy with the way collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations have progressed, an issue the union and individual players have raised throughout the process.
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“More often than not, we're the ones that are willing to compromise and they still aren't budging,” WNBPA executive committee vice president Breanna Stewart said in December. “So if they're not going to budge, we're going to get to this point where we're just going to be at a standoff. That's kind of where we're at right now.”
The union’s claims that the league isn’t taking negotiations seriously have been met by the league, in a rare move, pointedly hitting back that such claims are counterproductive and misrepresentations. The main issue is the entire salary structure, with housing stipends recently coming into play.
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Players want a revenue-sharing structure that ties their salaries to the business with a salary cap driven by revenue, versus fixed annual salaries and caps set years in advance. The most recent league proposal includes an uncapped revenue-sharing model with a maximum salary around $1.3 million and increasing to $2 million over the life of the deal, with average salaries moving from $530,000 in the first year to $770,000 by the end. The 2025 supermax was $249,244, and the player minimum was around $66K.
The league is already past its usual timeframe for releasing the 2026 schedule and completing its expansion draft. In 2025, teams sent qualifying offers and core player designations during the week of Jan. 11-20 and the free agency negotiating period opened on Jan. 21. Players could begin signing contracts on Feb. 1.
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