WNBA union president says
significant work remains for season to begin on time
[February 07, 2026]
By DOUG FEINBERG
NEW YORK (AP) — WNBA players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike said
significant work remains for the season to start on time but said
she remains confident games will be played in 2026.
"I know our players 100% want to play this year,” she said in a
wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on Friday. “We want
a season.”
Ogwumike said the league and union are not close on key issues like
revenue sharing in their effort to strike a new collective
bargaining agreement. The clock is ticking. The season is supposed
to begin May 8, but an expansion draft, free agency and a rookie
draft also need to happen before the league tips off.
Ogwumike said once revenue sharing is solved, the rest hopefully
will fall into place quickly.
“We made the point that once we nail this, we can get everything
else done,” Ogwumike said.
The league submitted a new proposal to the union Friday evening
according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person
spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of
the discussions. This ended a more than six-week wait from the
players association for a counter to their last offer.
After a three-hour meeting Monday at the NBA offices, the union left
with the understanding it would have a new proposal soon. It came
Friday.
The major sticking point has been revenue sharing. The players want
around 30% of the gross revenue — money generated before expenses —
for the first year in their latest proposal. Under the league’s last
proposal, players would receive in excess of 70% of net revenue,
though that would be their take of the profits after expenses are
paid. Those expenses would include upgraded facilities, charter
flights, five-star hotels, medical services, security and arenas.
The league's previous offer last month would guarantee a maximum
base salary of $1 million in 2026 that could reach $1.3 million
through revenue sharing. That’s up from the current $249,000 and
could grow to nearly $2 million over the life of the agreement.
That was on slides that were presented to players at Monday's
meeting and obtained by the AP.
The slides also outlined 37 areas where the league was willing to
make concessions players wanted. Some of those proposals included
adding two developmental player slots to teams, giving pregnant
players the right to refuse trades, increasing the guaranteed
contracts on a team and codifying charter flights as well as other
first-class travel considerations.
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If a new CBA isn’t agreed upon soon, it could delay
the start of the 2026 season. It’s already delayed the expansion
draft for Toronto and Portland.
The last CBA was announced in the middle of January 2020, a month
after it had been agreed to. It could easily take two months from
when a new CBA is reached to get to the start of free agency, which
was supposed to begin last month. With a massive salary raise
expected in a new CBA, 80% of players in the league are free agents
this offseason, which makes this the biggest opportunity for player
movement in the history of the WNBA.
A delay would hurt both sides as every game that is missed, revenue
would be lost, as would be sponsorships, television money and fan
support.
Ogwumike, who is in her third term as union president, said that the
long wait for a response hasn't been all bad, as she and union
leadership have had a chance to talk with WNBA players. She was in
Nashville on Thursday with union leadership at Athletes Unlimited.
It was a chance to take a pulse of the players. Ogwumike has been
talking to as many players as she could over the last few months to
keep them abreast of discussions and hear their opinions.
“I actually like the fact that we’ve had these six weeks now, still
waiting for a proposal. It’s given us the gift of time,” she said.
“And so, you know, in December, after the strike authorization vote,
we were able to meet in Miami and talk to players.”
Players voted to give union leadership the right to strike in
December. Ogwumike said despite that, a strike is not imminent,
although the union did post on social media a video about the 1964
NBA All-Star Game strike. The NBA All-Star Game is next weekend in
Los Angeles.
“Having the strike on the table is something that we’re very much
aware of, but there’s so many more conversations that have to
happen,” Ogwumike said. “You know, we’re not just going to say,
`Hey, today’s the day (we’ll strike).' You know, I think that’s what
what we’re demonstrating right now is negotiating in good faith.”
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