Sophie Cunningham warns that without swift agreement, the WNBA season faces lockout or strike. Player housing and facility standards remain key negotiation points.
The Women's National Basketball Players' Association just blinked — and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham wants to make sure the league doesn't miss it.
The union dropped its revenue-sharing demand and is now asking for an average of 27.5% of gross revenue, down from the 31% it wanted in December. Year one would be 25%, with a salary cap below $9.5 million. The previous proposal had started at 28% with a cap near $10.5 million.
Cunningham went on the "Show Me Something Show" and said what a lot of players are thinking: a deal needs to happen soon, or there won't be a season to play.
"If we're going to have a season, it has to happen within the next month of coming to an agreement," Cunningham said. "Otherwise, it's going to be a lockout or a strike. Which is insane."
Players voted to authorize a strike in December, though union leaders have played down the chances of an immediate walkout. Cunningham said patience is wearing thin.
"The next couple weeks, we have a CBA meeting coming up at either the end of this week or upcoming. So we'll have more to talk about," Cunningham said. "It's getting interesting. It's very cruel from the business side of things, to be honest."
The whole thing comes down to one word: revenue. Players want their cut based on gross — the top-line number before the league starts subtracting costs — because once you switch to net, ownership gets to decide what's an expense. The league's counter is a net-revenue model it claims gets players north of 70% of that amount on average. The union isn't sold.
What's actually on the table is a lot of money. The league's offer takes the salary cap from roughly $1.5 million this year to $5.65 million in 2026. Factor in revenue sharing and the max salary hits $1.3 million in 2026, potentially reaching $2 million by 2031. The supermax right now is $249,000. Average pay, with revenue sharing, would go from $120,000 this season to $540,000 next year.
Housing has also been a sticking point throughout. Teams have owed players an apartment or a stipend going all the way back to the league's first CBA in 1999. The union's latest proposal keeps that intact early in the deal, then starts unwinding it for players on max contracts with full salary protection, swapping it for extra compensation instead. Under the league's proposal, minimum-salary players and rookies get one-bedroom apartments for their first three seasons; developmental players get studios.
Cunningham pointed to the growth of other women's basketball leagues as a reason the WNBA can't afford to stall.
"I'm an optimist. I want to think good thoughts because all these other leagues are amazing," she said. "You have Project B, which is going to be phenomenal. You have Unrivaled, which is a lot of people are doing. But I do think the WNBA is the platform of it. So you've got to have it."
She still thinks a deal gets done — but only if the league responds in kind.
"So I'm really hoping if the league side gets their s—t together, then I think we're 70% going to have a season," Cunningham said.