The National Women’s Basketball Players Association Friday night obtained the counter-proposal from the WNBAwhich featured some marginal changes from the league’s previous offering, sources confirmed to The Post on Saturday.
The WNBA’s response, which came six weeks after the WNBPA has submitted its most recent proposal around Christmas, did not feature a significant update on the revenue sharing front, according to multiple sources.
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While players negotiate for 30 percent of gross revenue, the league still offers about 70 percent of the net revenue share, which equates to about 15 percent of the league and teams’ gross revenue share.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks during a press conference announcing a WNBA franchise in Cleveland on September 16, 2025 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. NBAE via Getty Images
The WNBA has proposed an increase in the salary cap to $5.65 million in 2026, sources with knowledge of the situation said, although that is still well below the $10.5 million salary cap proposed by the WNBPA.
The league also outlined clearer policies to ensure housing would be covered for certain cohorts of players.
Under the league’s latest proposal, team-funded studios would be provided to each of the two new players in development.
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First-year players and players on minimum contracts would also benefit from one-bedroom apartments, sources said.
The league also agreed to the union’s proposal to codify team facilities, although the exact details of the new facility standards were not immediately known.
The WNBA declined to comment and the WNBPA did not immediately respond to the Post’s request.
Negotiations with the CBA had stalled in recent weeks as the union awaited the league’s response.
Several members of the union’s executive committee, including WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumikeattended an in-person meeting with league officials Monday in hopes of getting the ball rolling again as ongoing negotiations pose a threat to the planned start of the 2026 WNBA season.
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League officials spent part of the three-hour meeting sharing slides detailing some of the improvements and benefits the league had already agreed to offer under the new deal.
Some of these proposed changes included a supermax base salary of $1.1 million in 2026, which could rise to $1.8 million by 2030.
The average base salary for the upcoming season is expected to rise to $465,000, up from around $102,000 in 2025.
Other improvements proposed by the league include more guaranteed contracts, two development player spots per team, increased performance bonuses and the introduction of salary cap exceptions for pregnant players and those who suffer a season-ending injury, among other items.
An overall view of PHX Arena during the game between Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury on October 10, 2025 at PHX Arena. NBAE via Getty Images
Friday’s proposal, however, puts in writing some of the changes the WNBA is willing to make, but time is running out for the two sides to agree on a new deal.
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Multiple sources said that if a new collective agreement is not reached within the next two weeks, then a delay to the season would be almost inevitable.
The negotiations were a very exhausting process, in part because the initial proposals from both sides were so far apart.
If the new deal is on a metaphorical 50-yard line, then the WNBA started with a more conservative proposal that would have placed them around the 40-yard line.
Meanwhile, the players’ union was formed outside the stadium.
Of course, stakeholders have more leverage than ever in this round of CBA negotiations, so it’s no surprise that they aimed high from the start.
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But as negotiations continue, some feel the players have conceded more than the league, sources said.
The WNBA’s initial revenue sharing model did not include team revenue, but the league has included it in its recent proposals.
The ball is now in the union’s court to determine how to proceed.
Players voted in December to allow the WNBPA to go on strike “when necessary.”
The WNBA has not had a work stoppage in the league’s history, and the vote is just one step in the multi-phase process.
And while neither side wants to delay the start of next season, it appears the players are willing to stick it out to get what they believe they deserve, even if it means temporarily shutting down the league.
