WNBA, players union reach tentative CBA agreement after marathon negotiation sessions

March 18, 2026

The WNBA and its player union reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement after more than a year of negotiations, the league and union announced early Wednesday morning.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a short statement that the two sides had “aligned on key elements of a new CBA,” while WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart described the deal to reporters in New York as “transformational.”

The verbal agreement term sheet will be sent to the players and the WNBA Board of Governors for a vote.

As part of the reported agreement, the WNBA salary cap will jump from $1.5 million to $7 million, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, who provided additional details on the reported deal.

The monumental news comes eight days after the passing of the March 10 suggested target date the WNBA gave for the season to start on time. Over the past week, the two sides have held marathon bargaining sessions in Manhattan to iron out the sticking points in negotiations, namely revenue sharing. yahoo!sports