The WNBA and the union are holding the second straight day of marathon CBA talks

NEW YORK — After back-to-back days of protracted negotiations between the WNBA and the players union, WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike told reporters late Wednesday that players “feel the movement” in collective bargaining talks and are “committed to being at the table.”

The two sides remain without a new deal, now running two days past the target date the league set for the union when a term sheet must be completed to avoid scheduling impacts for the 2026 season.

“At the end of the day, we want a season,” Ogwumike told reporters. “We want to play. We’ve heard that from the other side, too. We need to see more robust evidence of that as we continue these negotiations.”

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the league’s latest proposal included a salary cap starting at $6.2 million (up from the previously announced figure of $5.75 million and $1.5 million in 2025), and that will continue to grow for the duration of the deal. Average player compensation is expected to reach $570,000 in year one and $850,000 in year six, while maximum compensation will reach more than $1.3 million in year one and nearly $2 million in year six.

“Our proposal on the table is a truly historic and transformative deal for these players,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters early Thursday. “We are proud of the deal that is on the table. I think it is a huge win for the players, balancing that with the strength of the league. So we will continue to work hard, and we have to reach an agreement.”

“As a former player, I don’t know that I ever thought I’d see the day such a transformative deal would be brought to the table for these players, and I’m proud of that,” added Jennifer Rizzotti, president of the Connecticut Sun and a member of the Labor Relations Committee.

The WNBA has suggested that players on average earn more than 70% of net revenue (revenue after deducting expenses). The players union previously requested 26% of total revenue (revenue before expenses) for the duration of the agreement, with the salary cap in the first year of the deal at around $9.5 million, but it is unknown where its current proposals stand.

The two sides have been far apart on what the new revenue-sharing system should look like, while also negotiating the future of base staffing, team-provided housing and more. In all, eight proposals were exchanged over the past two days, with the parties meeting for approximately 12 hours from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning and then for 11 hours Wednesday afternoon into early Thursday.

“Being able to be in the room, being able to exchange proposals, keeps us moving,” Ogwumike said. He added, “We are committed to the process. This is something that we have always been true to from the beginning, so making sure that we are committed to that process and to strength in our unity and obviously that we remain firm in what we stand for in these negotiations is kind of where we are now.”

Ogwumike and the three executive committee members attending the in-person meetings — Vice Chairs Breanna Stewart and Alisha Clark, as well as Treasurer Brianna Turner — spoke with reporters shortly before 11:30 p.m. ET before departing for the night. League staff and the union remained to continue negotiations, and plan to continue negotiating on Thursday.

The Union confirmed that it considers the deadline set by the league on March 10 as a negotiation tactic, while the league pointed to the potential actions and scheduling ramifications if negotiations drag on for a longer period.

“We did not consider it a timeline to be prioritized on our part because we had always negotiated in good faith,” Ogwumike said. “We have seen lulls in negotiations (from the other side) and we want to play, that’s why we all traveled here.

“I think the league has its own priorities that way, and we read a lot of things about schedules, and there were schedules that were canceled, but for us, we’re trying to get a good deal done, and we want to play this season. So, for me, this is when we play.”

Once the deal is finalized, it must be ratified — which could take several weeks — and then the league must hold a two-team expansion draft, free agency for more than 100 players and a college draft, currently scheduled for April 13.

Training camps will begin April 19, with the first regular season game scheduled for May 8.

“I think time is of the essence to get this deal done, and that’s what we’re working toward,” Rizzotti said.