WNBA & Players Union Pull 12-Hour All-Nighter — Still No Deal

The WNBA's deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement has come and gone, and the league and its players union still don't have a deal.

Representatives from the WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) met for a marathon bargaining session Tuesday evening in Manhattan that lasted roughly 12 hours and stretched into the early morning hours Wednesday.

The meeting began around 5 p.m. at the Langham Hotel and did not wrap up until after 5 a.m.

(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Players left the building just before 3 a.m., declining to comment to reporters gathered outside, while league and union staff continued negotiations for roughly two more hours.

When the meeting finally ended, there was still no agreement.

Both Sides Say Talks Are 'Continuing' 

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert briefly addressed reporters after the overnight negotiations.

"It’s complex," Engelbert said. "We’re working towards a win-win deal like we’ve been saying, a transformational deal for these players that balances all the things we’ve been trying to balance with continued investment by our owners, et cetera. So we’re working hard towards that, and we still have work to do."

When asked about the timeline for reaching an agreement, Engelbert added: "We’ve got to get it done soon."

You don't say?

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Players union executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson struck a similarly cautious tone, but she stopped short of predicting a deal anytime soon.

"I would describe the last 10 or 11 hours as a lot of conversation going in the right direction," Jackson said. "The only thing I’m going to say on that is the conversations are continuing."

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks to the media prior to the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Stop me if you've heard this one before: the biggest sticking point remains how the league and players will divide the league's rapidly growing revenue.

The WNBA's last known proposal would give players roughly 70% of net revenue (revenue after expenses) along with a 2026 salary cap of $5.75 million. The union's most recent proposal called for players to receive about 26% of gross revenue (revenue before expenses) with a salary cap of roughly $9.5 million.

The gap between those two structures has been the central issue in negotiations that have dragged on for more than a year.

Another WNBA CBA Deadline Passes

The league had previously indicated the sides needed to reach at least a term sheet by March 10 in order to keep the 2026 season on schedule. Now that the deadline has passed without an agreement, the timeline for the league's offseason calendar is very, very tight.

The WNBA still needs to conduct an expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, free agency for more than 100 players and the 2026 draft before training camps open April 19. Opening night is currently scheduled for May 8.

Even if a deal is reached soon, that's a narrow window to complete all those steps before the season begins.

For now, though, the 12-hour marathon meeting feels like a perfect encapsulation of negotiations that have dragged on for more than 18 months and have seemingly gone nowhere.