The WNBA has yet to respond to a collective bargaining agreement proposal made by the players nearly two weeks ago as the Jan. 9 deadline for a new agreement approaches, according to a report by Front Office Sports.
The CBA was originally set to expire on Nov. 30, with the sides agreeing to an extension to Jan. 9. In mid-December, the WNBA’s players voted to give WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and the executive committee the authority to potentially initiate a strike.
The league is reportedly claiming that the latest proposal from the WNBPA (30% of gross revenue for the players and a salary cap of around $10.5 million) would not be sustainable for the league to survive, costing the WNBA approximately $700 million over the length of the pact.
The last reported proposal from the WNBA side offered 50-plus-percent of net revenue (revenue subtracting expenses), raising average salaries from $120,000 to $530,000 and max salaries from $249,244 to $1.3 million immediately and close to $2 million over the course of the deal.
The WNBA’s proposed salary cap is $5 million with growth in line with revenue sharing over the deal.
“You’ve heard a lot of chatter about what we’re asking for is not sustainable for the business,” Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said during an Unrivaled broadcast on Monday, per FOS. Collier serves as the WNBPA vice president and is a co-founder of Unrivaled.
“Being on this side with Unrivaled, I know what it takes to run a sustainable business,” she said. “If they can’t find a model that makes it happen, they need to put people in place who can. We’ve proven that it is possible. There is a way. We’re thriving in that.”
The WNBA is scheduled to introduce expansion teams in Portland and Toronto in 2026 to bring its number of teams to 15. A strike, if set into motion, could affect that timeline with the season scheduled to begin in May.
–Field Level Media
