NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA's latest collective bargaining proposal would include revenue sharing with a maximum salary of more than $1.1 million available to more than one player per team growing each year, according to a person familiar with the negotiations on Tuesday night.
WNBA officials updated the board on the latest proposal at meetings this week, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because ongoing negotiations are private. The new league minimum would be more than $220,000 with an average of more than $460,000.
Those numbers would start in the first year of the deal for more than 180 players and increase over the length of the CBA.
People familiar with the WNBA’s latest proposal described the plan to the AP as a highly lucrative package providing substantial increases over prior years and designed to bring negotiations to a quick conclusion.
The current CBA was set to expire Oct. 31 when the WNBA and the players union agreed to continue negotiations to Nov. 30, allowing more time to negotiate a deal that would be revolutionary for the players in terms of salary.
The players exercised their right to opt out of the current CBA last year with hopes of getting, among other things, increased revenue sharing, higher salaries, improved benefits and a softer salary cap. When the last CBA expired in 2019, both sides agreed to a 60-day extension with a CBA eventually ratified in January 2020.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was hopeful before the 2025 All-Star Game that everyone would be talking about how great the next CBA would be at the 2026 All-Star Game.
“I’m still really optimistic that we’ll get something done that would be transformational,” Engelbert said in July.
FILE - The WNBA logo is seen near a hoop before an WNBA basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena, May 14, 2019, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
