NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and its players’ union reached an agreement in principle on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning.
Specifics still need to be finalized over the next few weeks as lawyers on both sides work on the new CBA. A term sheet should be done in the next day or two. It will then need to be ratified by the players and then approved by the league’s Board of Governors.
“I just want to say we have aligned on key elements of a new collective bargaining agreement together. We still need to finalize a formal term sheet, but the progress made in these discussions marks a transformative step forward for players and the league,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “It underscores a shared commitment to the continued growth of the game. So, we’ll share additional details as they become available.”
The deal is expected to greatly increase player salaries with million dollar players — a first for the league entering its 30th season that will start on time. That would increase salaries fourfold from last season.
“For the first time player salaries are tied to a truly meaningful share of league revenue, driving exponential growth in the salary cap, increasing average compensation beyond half a million dollars and raising the standard across facilities, staffing and support,” union president Nneka Ogwumike said.
The agreement is set to reflect the league's skyrocketing growth and popularity. Attendance, viewership and investment from stakeholders has increased to historic levels over the past few years.
“The deal is going to be transformational,” union vice president Breanna Stewart said. “It's going to build and help create a system where everybody is getting exactly what they deserve and more from on the court and off the court aspects.”
The deal came after the two sides spent the past eight days in intense in-person negotiations that lasted for more than 100 hours. They came to the agreement at about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday after spending more than 10 hours of discussions on Tuesday.
“This is historical for women’s sports. I told Cathy it’s not just for the players that are entering the league or the players that aren’t already here,” Ogwumike added. "We’re just really grateful to be able to come to a deal. We’re proud of ourselves."
WNBA leadership and the union met with reporters together in the lobby of a New York hotel shortly before 3 a.m.
The deal comes 17 months after the players opted out of their previous agreement and five months after the previous deal was initially set to expire, with talks often becoming contentious.
“We opted out because what we were giving to this league and what we were getting back didn't match,” union executive committee member Alysha Clark said. “You could feel the growth everywhere, but it wasn't showing up for the players the way it should. So we stayed with it until it did.”
Revenue sharing has been the biggest hurdle over the course of the negotiations. Other key issues that were slowing down getting a deal done included housing and franchise tags on players.
“I hope young girls and women see this and feel it, to know their voice matters, their value matters, and they don’t have to settle for less than that,” said executive committee member Brianna Turner. "Now, we get back to the game. Back to competing, back to that feeling, and back to being out there with our fans.”
Now, the league will have a sprint over the next two months to get to opening day on May 8. An expansion draft for new teams in Toronto and Portland needs to take place. Also, teams will need to negotiate with the more than 80% of players who are free agents this offseason. Training camps are set to open on April 19 — six days after the college draft.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
FILE - Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike (3) plays against the Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game Sept. 24, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE -WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks prior to Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, Oct. 3, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher), File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran lashed out following the killing of one of its top leaders in an airstrike with attacks on its Gulf neighbors and Israel on Wednesday, using some of its latest missiles to evade air defenses and killing two near Tel Aviv as the war in the Middle East showed no signs of slowing.
Israel kept up intense pressure on Lebanon with strikes it said targeted Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, hitting multiple apartment buildings in Beirut and killing at least six people.
In Iran, the Bushehr nuclear power plant complex was hit by a projectile but there were no injuries and the plant suffered no damage, the International Atomic Energy Agency said after receiving a report from Tehran. The IAEA’s leader, Rafael Grossi, reiterated his call “for maximum restraint during the conflict to prevent risk of a nuclear accident.”
The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, remained stubbornly over $100 per barrel in early trading on Wednesday, up more than 40% from the start of the war.
Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran to start the war on Feb. 28, Iran has been targeting the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors, as well as military bases, as part of a strategy to drive up oil prices and put pressure on Washington to back down.
Iran’s judiciary announced a man had been executed on charges that he spied for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the man as Kourosh Keyvani and alleged that he “provided images and information on sensitive locations” to Israel.
Activists and rights groups have warned since Iran’s nationwide protests in January that the Islamic Republic could begin conducting mass executions. Iran violently suppressed the protests through violence that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained.
New attacks were reported in multiple Gulf countries early Wednesday, including on Saudi Arabia's vast Eastern Province, which is home to many of its oil fields, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a projectile caused a small fire at its base in the UAE near Dubai but caused no injuries. His comments appeared to correspond with explosions heard near Al Minhad Air Base, used by Western nations as a transit hub for the wider Mideast.
Saudi Arabia shot down a ballistic missile targeting the area of the Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American forces and aircraft.
Iran has also shown no sign of relenting in its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping lane through which a fifth of the world's oil transits, giving rise to growing concerns of a global energy crisis.
U.S. Central Command said the U.S. military fired multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator bombs Tuesday on Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the strait.
Responding to Israel's killing of Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and one of the country’s most powerful figures, the Republican Guard said Wednesday it had targeted central Israel with multiple-warhead missiles, which have an increased chance of evading missile defense systems and can overwhelm radar tracking systems.
Israel reported at least two salvoes of incoming fire and the country's medical service said two people were killed in Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the force launched the Khorramshahr-4 and Qadr multiple-warhead missiles to avenge Larijani’s killing. Footage filmed by The Associated Press showed at least one missile releasing cluster munitions over Israel.
Larijani, a former parliamentary speaker, was a senior policy adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his role “coordinating” Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.
Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia, was also killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday. Soleimani was sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union and other nations, over his role in suppressing dissent for years through the Basij.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad also came under fire for the second day in a row early Wednesday, two Iraqi security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
Further details were not immediately available, but pro-Iran militia groups have been regularly attacking American targets in Iraq since the start of the war. On Tuesday a drone cashed inside the Baghdad embassy compound.
Israel flattened an apartment building in central Beirut about an hour after issuing an evacuation notice. It was the fourth time the building has been targeted, but three strikes last week failed to bring it down.
Israel's military claimed the building was being used by Hezbollah to store “millions of dollars intended to finance its activities,” without providing evidence.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, but other attacks on apartment buildings in central Beirut have killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
The Israeli army also said it had begun a wave of strikes targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon “in response to firing into Israeli territory.”
Israel’s strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese — roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 900 people have been killed. In Israel, 14 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict started Feb. 28, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Rising reported from Bangkok, AlJoud from Beirut. Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this story.
Smoke and flame rise from a residential building following an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Israeli authorities hang Israeli and U.S. flags at the site struck by an Iranian missile that killed two people, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A view of a building damaged in an Israeli airstrike, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - Commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, gives a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
Fire and plumes of smoke rise after a drone struck a fuel tank forcing the temporary suspension of flights. near Dubai International Airport, in United Arab Emirates, early Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
FILE - Ali Larijani, center, head of Iran's National Security Council, gestures as Hezbollah supporters throw rice to welcome him outside Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
