Will There Be A WNBA Lockout In 2026?
A WNBA lockout could be on the horizon if league officials fail to reach a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by the fast-approaching deadline on Oct. 31, potentially marking the first lockout in the league’s 29-year history, according to USA Today. Here’s what we know about the brewing labor dispute.
What is the WNBPA?
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) is the union that represents WNBA players and negotiates their collective bargaining agreement with the league. Its mission is to secure the best possible deal for all players, with a new CBA typically negotiated every four years.
According to the WNBPA’s website, players opted out of their 2020 agreement to demand higher salaries, a true revenue-sharing system, better working conditions, and improved benefits. Now, after months of stalled negotiations, the WNBA and team owners are still ignoring player demands.
The current CBA between the WNBA and the WNBPA is set to expire on Oct. 31, and there’s little sign a new deal will be ready by that date, said WNBPA senior advisor and legal counsel Erin Drake.
“Unfortunately, I’m not confident [that a deal will be done],” Drake revealed during an interview with podcaster Sarah Spain on Oct. 16. “And I’ll be honest with you. The players opted out Oct. 21 of 2024… so we’ve had a year, and it hasn’t gotten done. And it could have. But we are going to continue. The fight doesn’t end after Oct. 31. We will still be negotiating, and we will negotiate until the players get what they are owed and what they deserve.”
What are WNBA players asking for in their desired CBA?
The WNBPA has launched a petition — now with more than 3,400 signatures — urging league stakeholders, including WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, to negotiate in good faith and compensate players fairly.
USA Today reports that the key sticking points in the ongoing talks are revenue sharing and the pay structure. Players are pushing for a model that allows salaries to rise alongside league revenue, while the WNBA reportedly offers a fixed-salary system with capped revenue sharing. According to CBS Sports, the current CBA was originally set to run through the 2027 season, but both sides had an opt-out clause after 2024. Unsatisfied with the current deal, players triggered that clause on Oct. 21, 2024, setting a new expiration date of Oct. 31, 2025.
The league’s latest proposal, according to multiple reports, includes a supermax salary of about $850,000 and a veteran minimum of around $300,000. With league revenues rising, more sponsorships, and franchise valuations climbing, many observers question why professional basketball still shows one of the largest gender pay gaps in sports. The average WNBA salary is around $150,000 per season, compared with the NBA’s $10 million average, Forbes noted.
A pay bump seems reasonable given the WNBA’s success over the last year. The league reached record popularity milestones: a record 3.15 million fans attended games in 2025, up 34% year-over-year, according to the Sports Business Journal. Average attendance hit 11,148 per game, the highest in league history. The WNBA also expanded its regular season to 44 games, boosting revenue and overall visibility. According to ESPN, the 2025 regular season averaged 1.3 million viewers across 25 games on ESPN networks—an increase of 6% year over year—making it the most-watched WNBA regular season in the network’s history. The 2025 postseason also delivered record-breaking numbers, averaging 1.2 million viewers across 24 games on ESPN networks, up 5% from the previous year.
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Overall, across all networks, the 2025 WNBA postseason was the most-watched since 1999, averaging 1.3 million viewers.
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike called the CBA battle “a defining moment” in WNBA history.
“The world has evolved since 2020, and we cannot afford to stand still. If we stay in the current agreement, we fall behind.” She added, “Opting out isn’t just about bigger paychecks — it’s about claiming our rightful share of the business we’ve built, improving working conditions, and securing a future where the success we create benefits today’s players and the generations to come. We’re not just asking for a CBA that reflects our value; we’re demanding it, because we’ve earned it.”
Could a WNBA lockout be on the horizon?
On Oct. 28, ESPN reported that the WNBA proposed a 30-day extension to the current CBA to give both sides more time to negotiate. If the union agrees, the extension could delay a work stoppage, whether a lockout by owners or a strike by players. If a lockout does occur, it would be the first in league history. Such a move could delay or even cancel the 2026 season if a new deal isn’t reached by May, a growing concern among players. While the WNBA has never had a lockout, USA Today noted that the 2003 draft and preseason were postponed before a new CBA was finalized.
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Will There Be A WNBA Lockout In 2026? was originally published on cassiuslife.com
