What WNBA’s CBA 2026 means for the league, players, salaries
Is this collective agreement truly transformative? An analysis of the impact of the new WNBA agreement.
Seventeen months after WNBA players terminated their collective bargaining agreement with the league, and after months of intense negotiations, including a marathon 100-hour in-person session in the final week, the WNBA will soon have a new agreement to begin the 2026 season.
From the conclusion of the WNBA Finals on Friday, October 10 until the early hours of March 18, the league was immersed in debates about its future. Negotiations were at times tense and there were concerns about whether the 2026 season would start on time.
Finally, last week’s negotiating sessions resulted in a verbal agreement on the terms of a new contract that the WNBA and the players’ association called a historic achievement for the league, which will celebrate its 30th season this year.
Waiting to know all the details of the new collective agreement, Here’s what we know so far about the WNBA CBA and how it will affect the 2026 season and the following ones.
For months, both sides claimed to seek a “transformative” agreement. Does this agreement meet your expectations?
Yes, because this is the much more advanced framework on which subsequent collective agreements will be built. All previous agreements were progressive, but gradually. This is an important and legitimate leap that changes the financial structure of the league in ways that will benefit the future players who are emerging now.
For the first time in league history, the salary system will be directly linked to a percentage of league revenue. As the business grows, so will the players’ salaries. This represents a change from previous collective agreements: in the 2020 edition, salary caps were fixed figures that increased by 3% each year.
AM850’s Shams Charania reported that the average percentage of revenue from this deal would be nearly 20% over the life of the deal, although the exact details of how the revenue sharing system works are still unclear.
It’s fair to say that, in the past, female players have sometimes felt like they’d let more slip away than they really wanted. This time they shouldn’t feel like that. They maintained their firm positions on the most important points and negotiated with determination.
This agreement established salary and growth standards that did not even exist six years ago, when the previous collective agreement was signed; Therefore, this agreement can be considered truly transformative. –Michael Voepel and Alexa Philippou
What will the players’ salaries be like in this agreement? Will we see the first player to win a million dollars?
The salary cap was around $1.5 million in 2025; It will be 7 million in 2026, sources informed Shams Charania of AM850. The maximum salary will start at $1.4 million (up from $249,244 in 2025). The average salary will be around $600,000 ($120,000 in 2025) and the minimum wage will exceed $300,000 ($66,079 in 2025), according to the same sources.
According to the Las Vegas Journal-Review, Las Vegas Aces They plan to sign a supermax contract with A’ja Wilsonfour-time MVP. Players like Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Kelsey Mitchell (last year’s highest-paid player) will also be among the candidates.
Sources consulted by Alexa Philippou indicated that the maximum limit is expected to exceed $10 million upon completion of the agreement.
Will there be changes to the calendar, this year or in future seasons?
The 2026 season will maintain the 44 games, but will expand from there. The 2027-28 schedule will expand to 50 games in 2027, and that number will increase to 52 games from 2029 to 2032.
According to the previous collective agreement, the maximum allowed was 44 games, and the 2025 season was the first to reach that number. (The previous maximum was 40 games, reached in the 2023 and 2024 seasons).
The increase in the number of teams on the schedule coincides with a new wave of league expansion. The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will launch in 2026, followed by the Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) franchises, bringing the number of teams in the league to a record 18. — Philippou
What is the process to formalize the agreement and when is it expected to be ready?
A preliminary agreement was signed on Friday, marking an important step in the process.
The union will then present the agreement to the players and answer their questions. The players will vote on the agreement, and if they approve it (which requires a simple majority), the union will formally ratify it. The agreement must also be submitted for approval by the WNBA Board of Governors. Once approved, it can be officially signed.
The ratification period — which also includes drafting the contract itself, a document of hundreds of pages — could last several weeks. — Voepel and Philippou
Will the 2026 season start on time?
Yes, the league’s 30th season will begin on May 8. This was one of the concerns as negotiations dragged on into mid-March, and there is still a lot to do between now and opening day. The league, which released the 2026 schedule on Jan. 21, said it would not be affected by prolonged negotiations.
Engelbert declared Wednesday morning that the dates of the college draft, scheduled for April 13 in New York, the start of training camp, the first preseason games on April 25 and the regular-season openers on May 8 would remain unchanged. — Voepel
How will the league fit in an expansion draft and free agency in the next month?
In late February, the league sent teams tentative dates detailing the extremely shortened layoff period, which would take place over just a few weeks (rather than the several months it typically lasts), sources told AM850. These dates are subject to change, according to a source, once the new collective agreement is formally signed, and depended on the documentation being ratified before March 31.
First, an expansion draft will take place between two teams: Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. According to sources, the draft is expected to take place on April 6. On April 1, teams will begin designating which players on their rosters will be protected from being selected. A lottery will determine whether Tempo or Fire get the first pick and will also decide which team picks higher (between the sixth and seventh pick in the first round) in the college draft.
Free agency is expected to begin April 7. The player nomination period will take place from April 7 to 8, and negotiations can begin on April 9. Signing will take place from April 12 to 18.
With more than 75% of the league as free agents (most players avoided signing contracts that extend beyond the 2025 season to take advantage of the potentially higher salaries of the new collective bargaining agreement), there could be a slew of moves across the WNBA landscape before training camps begin on April 19.
