Amidst all of the momentum that the WNBA has seen the last several years, we knew that there would be a contentious collective bargaining fight looming that would determine which direction the W would go into.
This was always the white – or should we say, orange – elephant that was in the room. Even amidst the ratings records, attendance records and increased media attention the WNBA has received in recent years (good and bad), we all knew about this CBA struggle that would ensue between league and players.
What we did not perceive would be how heavy-handed the team owners (or, at the very least, a section of team owners) would be regarding this matter.
The CBA was originally slated to expire on October 31. Since then, two extensions of the current CBA have been agreed upon by the league and its players. This latest one will last until the first few days of the new 2026 calendar year.
One report suggested that the WNBPA was expecting “significant movement” by the league within the latest six-week timeframe. If what has been reported in a few of these latest proposals by the WNBA is any indication, it appears that the “significant movement” is heading in the wrong direction.
The league, in one proposal, actually suggested the cutting of team housing. This, thankfully, is a non-starter given where many of these teams are. The majority of WNBA franchises are based in markets where the cost of living is well above average.
Do not get us wrong – WNBA players are anything but broke as they understand how to make money away from the W. But the hypothetical removal of team housing would mean players have to effectively pay to play in a number of the WNBA’s largest markets.
More of these proposals are beginning to get into the media as these negotiations continue. One of them also suggested that training camp gets moved up to where it overlaps…with March Madness.
The turnaround from the conclusion of the NCAAs to preparing for the WNBA Draft is already daunting enough as it is today. Proposing that the new CBA would effectively take away the little time prospects have to get ready for draft night is all sorts of nasty work.
That would effectively create a climate where anyone who is a draft prospect would have to make the decision of their life as to if they should pursue the upcoming tournament or abandon their teammates and pursue the draft.
It really gives off an indication – at least looking at how the owners are pursuing this – that these negotiations are not happening in good faith. Because these owners had to know that getting rid of team housing and beginning training camp in March would be unacceptable for the players. It has also been reported that the league is looking at the idea of a draft combine – similar to what the NFL stages before its draft occurs.
It is, somewhat, hauntingly appropriate that the owners are looking to the NFL partially for inspiration in how it is approaching these CBA talks. Because it is notorious how heavy-handed those owners are in its CBA dealings. Unfortunately for the WNBA’s owners, the WNBPA has a lot more backbone than its NFL equivalent.
Another sordid detail suggests that any prospect that fails to participate in the combine would see a reduction in their rookie salaries.
In the midst of all of this, the WNBA is still committed to ensuring that the share of league revenues received by the players remains under 15%. Sadly, this mindset among the W is not surprising considering the 2026 season (if it happens) will be one where no teams have a Black woman as a head coach.
These proposals are also meant to effectively kneecap any rival leagues – including during the offseason. This is aimed at Unrivaled, Athletes Unlimited and Project B.
About Project B – the number of big-name WNBA players that have inked deals with Project B is growing with Justė Jocytė being the latest to put pen to paper with the upstart league in November of 2026. Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones, Jewell Loyd, Kamilla Cardoso, Li Meng, Janelle Salaün, Kelsey Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham have also inked Project B deals.
There has been much conversation about the connections this league has to Saudi Arabia. The co-founder of the league said to Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports that it has no Saudi funding. We know that it does have a partnership with a Saudi event partner – and doing business with the Saudis given their human rights record and treatment of women is a fair criticism of the players.
This actually does go back to the WNBA. It wants to force leagues like Project B, Athletes Unlimited and Unrivaled out of the paint – except the reason why those leagues exist is because of the meager salaries that still exist in the W.
The WNBA’s owners are approaching these CBA talks with a lot of hubris. For all of the momentum the W has now, there is nothing more that would wipe away much of that momentum like being heavy-handed on a CBA fight that delays the start of the season – or cancels it entirely.
These owners also have to understand what happened to both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League when they encountered labor strife. The year 1994 is a four-letter word to MLB fans – especially those in Montréal who felt they were robbed of a World Series run by Les Expos. Many MLB fans left the sport and it took the consecutive games played streak of Cal Ripken, Jr. and the (PED-infused) home run chase of 1998 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to return those fans alienated by 1994 to the ballpark.
The NHL also had a hard time recovering after its 2004-05 lockout. Imagine what a lockout would do to the WNBA all because a section of owners are stuck in the past when their teams were looked at as nothing more than a charity tax write-off.
The level of hubris within WNBA boardrooms as we speak also begs another question – do these owners understand what sport this is?
This is why many a sports owner wants to be involved with the NFL. That is a league that can get away with messing over its players because football sells itself. Even if there were no Patrick Mahomes, no Travis Kelce (Swifties, and all), no Justin Jefferson, no Micah Parsons, etc. this country is so football-obsessed (s/o Katie Nolan), hard-hitting 300-plus pound men in helmets and pads will always be a draw to many.
Basketball is the most individualized of the five major team sports. Imagine paying a ticket to Madison Square Garden (and anyone who has paid an MSG ticket knows how pricy those things are) to see the New York Knicks play the Boston Celtics. You are expecting to see Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Then, while on the 3 train en route to MSG, you find out that Brunson, Towns, Tatum and Brown are all listed on their respective injury reports for their teams. One understands injuries are a part of sports, but one also cannot help but think that they got shafted out of paying an arm and a leg for a ticket.
The WNBA – and this goes directly to Cathy Engelbert – has to understand that the growth of this league is mostly due to the players. We have established names like A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier or Sabrina Ionescu. We are seeing the future of this league in Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, etc. Also, look at the fanbases cultivated by the W’s future greats in Flau’jae Johnson and JuJu Watkins.
Their fanbases have translated into WNBA fanbases and how its owners have approached these CBA talks displays an acute lack of gratitude for how this league has grown by leaps and bounds.
It has already been reported as to how disconnected Engelbert is from the players. For all of the talk of how the W has grown under Engelbert’s stewardship, this has been a glaring weak point of her commissionership.
The hubris with which the WNBA, NBA, Engelbert and Adam Silver are approaching these negotiations is also occurring at a time when the W should be celebrating its 30th anniversary. The 2026 season is supposed to be one where we are talking about the WNBA’s 30 greatest players of all time, two new expansion franchises in the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire and new television and streaming partners in NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime.
By the way, the owners also need to understand that NBC and Amazon probably will not be too thrilled about the idea of the WNBA season beginning late – or not happening at all – given this will be the first new year of the W’s pacts with the Peacock and the Arrow.
Perhaps this is the long game that the players are strategizing around since these negotiations are so unique because of the timing. Who knows?
Speaking of Silver, he went on FanDuel Sports Network Indiana and recently heaped praise on Clark for her popularity. One can only imagine any praise of any WNBA player coming from Silver, Engelbert or anyone on either Board of Governors feels two-sided because that attitude needs to be reflected in how these CBA talks are being approached.
The bottom line here is that the WNBA needs these players because of who they are. These owners know money moreso than they know basketball. They have probably heard of the phrase “yesterday’s price is not today’s price.” That not only applies to the league and teams – but the players as well that make the W what it is today. As we mentioned before, so much of this growth has been because of the players and they more than deserve their fair share of the riches that have come – and are continuing to come – in the WNBA’s direction.
We already know the tired argument that will come from defenders of the owners – they will speak to the “unprofitability” of the W and that the “be grateful” mindset should prevail among players. We at Beyond The W could write a whole separate piece on how that mindset for eons has been used (mostly by men) to keep women “in their place.”
Look at the skyrocketing valuations of these franchises. Look at the money flowing in the W’s direction from expansion. Look at the money the WNBA is set to make off these new television and streaming partnerships. The money is there (and the union knows the money is there) for the players to be acknowledged as the world-class talents they are – and individual teams have done this with the money invested in practice facilities. We simply need the W as a collective to recognize this reality.
If the money is not spent, then there is simply an attitude among owners that it does not deserve to be spent – and this attitude may be one that goes beyond dollars and cents. Because it makes no sense not to spend maximum dollars on the best women’s ballers on the planet.
