Together with important wage will increase and a brand new compensation system, the WNBA is also proposing to its gamers amid CBA talks an earlier begin date for coaching camps and reducing crew housing, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
WNBA coaching camps sometimes begin in late April, however the league has proposed shifting them as much as as early as mid-March, a change that will increase the season’s footprint but additionally would result in potential scheduling conflicts for gamers.
The WNBA season at the moment runs from Could to October, with a document 44 regular-season video games held in 2025. Within the present settlement, coaching camp can not begin sooner than April 1 or greater than 30 days earlier than the primary day of the common season.
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It’s unclear when the league is suggesting the common season would begin underneath its newest proposal. WNBA drafts lately have been held in mid-April, following the conclusion of the NCAA match, with just a few weeks in between for incoming rookies to affix their new groups.
An earlier begin date might additionally impression non-rookies: A number of abroad leagues nonetheless compete into April, and Challenge B, a brand new league set to launch within the fall of 2026 that already has signed a number of WNBA gamers, is meant to run by means of then, too. Unmatched, the 3-on-3 league began by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, concludes the primary week of March.
A algorithm ratified within the present CBA referred to as prioritization don’t enable WNBA gamers to be late to coaching camp on account of abroad commitments.
Below the present CBA, gamers are both offered crew housing or a month-to-month stipend to assist cowl housing prices, with the quantity relying in the marketplace.
The league doubtlessly reducing crew housing within the new CBA drew criticism from Brianna Turner, the Indiana Fever ahead who as a part of a collection of social media posts mentioned “housing must be a precedence, not simply to keep up one of the best on courtroom product, but additionally by way of participant security.” Turner is a member of the WNBPA govt committee.
The league and the Ladies’s Nationwide Basketball Gamers Affiliation are in ongoing CBA negotiations, with the edges agreeing forward of a deadline Sunday evening to increase these talks by means of Jan. 9.
The league’s newest proposal included a most wage for 2026 with a assured $1 million base, and projected income sharing pushing complete earnings for these gamers to greater than $1.2 million, sources instructed ESPN on Monday. The common participant’s wage in 2026 could be projected to exceed $500,000, and the minimal participant wage could be projected to exceed $225,000. The wage cap would enhance to $5 million in 2026, and could be set in every subsequent yr primarily based on income development, sources mentioned.
The league’s minimal wage was $66,079 in 2025, its supermax was $249,244 and its wage cap was $1,507,100, growing at a set fee of three% every year underneath the settlement. The present deal additionally has a separate income sharing provision that grants direct funds to gamers if the league hits sure income targets, although that has but to occur largely due to the impression of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A brand new construction by which salaries are tied to the expansion of the enterprise and gamers can extra immediately profit from the league’s income has been a most important precedence for gamers.
The proposed earlier begin date and crew housing adjustments have been first reported by Entrance Workplace Sports activities.