Sources: WNBPA offers revenue sharing, housing concessions in latest proposal

The Women’s National Basketball Players Association presented a new counterproposal to the WNBA on Friday evening, including concessions on revenue sharing and housing, according to a source acquainted with the collective bargaining talks told ESPN.

This latest CBA proposal requests that players receive 26% of gross revenue (defined as revenue prior to expense deductions) throughout the duration of the agreement, while the salary cap in the first year remains at approximately $9.5 million, unchanged from the prior offer.

This revenue sharing percentage has decreased from 27.5% proposed in WNBPA’s plan from Feb. 17, a modification that a source indicated represents nearly $100 million in revenue share reductions.

The revised proposal also adjusts the union’s housing provisions: Initially, players sought continued housing support from teams for the initial years of the contract, but in later years, teams would not have to provide housing for players earning at least 80% of the maximum salary on multiyear contracts with full salary protection.

The new proposal eliminates the multiyear requirement and adjusts the salary threshold to 75% for players who would not be entitled to team-provided housing.

The two parties are still discussing the years of service limit for developmental players—a new aspect of this CBA, with each team anticipated to host two developmental player slots. The union is now advocating for a limit of six years of service, down from their original stance of no experience requirement, while the league’s recent proposal indicates a limit of four to five years based on minutes played.

The WNBPA’s counterproposal follows one week after the league submitted its own. The league’s Feb. 20 proposal assured housing for all players in 2026, which would gradually be eliminated in subsequent years. Players on the minimal applicable salary and those without years of service would receive a one-bedroom apartment in 2027 and 2028 only, while developmental players would be allocated studio apartments for the entire term of the deal.

but, significant differences remain regarding revenue sharing, with both parties proposing distinct revenue-sharing frameworks. The WNBA’s proposals have emphasized that players would average over 70% of net revenue (after deducting expenses), which equates to less than 15% of gross revenue. The salary cap in 2026 is set to be $5.65 million (an increase from $1.5 million in 2025) and is expected to increase along with revenue growth in later years.

The league’s proposal includes maximum salaries, including revenue-sharing payments, projected at nearly $1.3 million in 2026, with expectations to near $2 million by 2031. The supermax for 2025 was set at $249,000. The average player salary, including revenue sharing, is estimated to rise to $540,000 in 2026 and $780,000 by 2031, compared to $120,000 in 2025.

The WNBA publicly dismissed WNBPA’s prior offer as “unrealistic” and asserted it would result in “hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for our teams.” A source close to the negotiations informed ESPN that the league predicted the Feb. 17 proposal could incur losses of $460 million over the agreement’s duration, though the union has maintained that its revenue-sharing strategy would still allow the league to remain “profitable,” according to another source.

Earlier this week, the league set a target date of March 10 for teams and the WNBPA to finalize a term sheet, warning that if not achieved, the 2026 season schedule could face disruptions.