WNBA athletes would consider sitting out 2026 season if CBA requirements aren’t met

The GIST: Last Friday, WNBA stars Angel Reese and DiJonai Carrington spoke on Reese’s Unapologetically Angel podcast about upcoming CBA negotiations. According to them, the sentiment around the league is that if players don’t get certain table stakes, they’re ready to walk.

• W players have spent months clarifying their asks long before the current CBA ends, and they’re gaining leverage with media exposure, sponsor support, and comparable wins across women’s sports leagues. Let’s dive in.

The background: WNBA players agreed to their current CBA with the league in 2020 and had the option to extend the deal in 2024, which they declined in favor of renegotiating a new deal after the 2025 season. That’s because the league has seen historic commercial growth over the past few seasons, highlighted by a 2024 campaign that made the W the fastest-growing brand of the year.

The context: While the W historically hasn’t been in a position to offer NBA–level contracts, things are rapidly changing. The league just signed a $2.2B media rights deal, its sponsorships grew 19% YoY in 2024, and Disney’s WNBA ad revenue has increased 641% since 2022.

• Although this growth is fairly new, players believe feasible changes could allow them to earn more overnight, like boosting shares in league revenue and removing the hard salary cap, which is at $1.5M this year.

• And then there’s the Unrivaled of it all. The player-founded league has been adamant about maximizing athlete profits, so it offers equity stake, access to share a 15% revenue pool, and an average salary of $220K. It's also doling out cash prizes for winning tournaments and owns the likeness of WNBA players, which lets them earn revenue on branded merch.

Final thoughts: Most pro sports leagues maintain a hard salary cap for parity, but what players are proposing doesn’t have to undermine that — a soft salary cap or an equity-based model mirroring the league’s business growth might make more sense. It worked well for the NWSL, which appeased players with an amended cap model and also enjoyed 19% YoY sponsorship growth in 2024.

• But the WNBA doesn’t face the same pressures: The NWSL wanted to win over players in a competitive international market, while the W is the top women’s basketball league. Time will tell how CBA negotiations will go, but with players making their requests, sponsors are already filling the gaps in the league and in Unrivaled. Shooting their shot.