Inside the WNBA’s 8-day, 100-hour CBA marathon negotiations that forged a transformational deal

March 24, 2026

The intense, all-night negotiations over the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement were new to many on both sides.

The grueling discussions lasted eight days and went well into the early morning hours each session. More than 100 hours were spent hammering out the transformational deal that was agreed to in principle early on March 18.

From “sandbox” meetings to delicacies from a local bakery and a stroll down Fifth Avenue during the St. Patrick’s Day parade, it wasn’t just discussions that took place during the negotiations.

Representatives for the WNBA and its players met at three different places in New York — The Langham Hotel, NBA headquarters and union headquarters. At all three spots, each side had its own areas to talk as well as a central meeting room where discussions took place.

There wasn’t much face-to-face time between the two sides during the endless hours of negotiating each day. They’d get together for an hour in the main room where conversations could be civil or turn heated. The two sides would then head back to their own areas to digest what had happened and mull over proposals.

Many of the discussions took place in smaller groups. Union outside counsel Deborah R. Willig and WNBA outside lawyer Shannon Farmer had many side conversations, which the players fondly called “sandbox” meetings.

Willig said she’s known Farmer for a long time and they have negotiated numerous other deals with each other over the past 20-25 years.

“We went out of the room to see what would fly on either side,” Willig said. “Nothing was ever done. I mean, I want to be very clear, nothing was ever done that was not communicated to the staff and to the leadership.”

When the meetings moved back to The Langham Hotel for the final day, WNBA staff rolled a cart with printers, monitors and other electronics down Fifth Avenue during the St. Patrick’s Day parade for the 14-block trip from league headquarters. AP