Players prepare for a potential work stoppage as stalled WNBA labor talks ignite serious strike concerns and threaten the 2026 season.
The possibility of a WNBA player strike has shifted from a distant leverage point to a looming reality as labor negotiations remain frozen and frustration inside the players’ union continues to mount.
After nearly 16 months of collective bargaining talks, the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association are entrenched in a standoff centered on revenue sharing, with no formal progress since the union submitted a sweeping proposal roughly a month ago. People familiar with the discussions say union leadership now believes the league has shown little urgency to compromise, prompting internal preparations for a potential work stoppage.
Players overwhelmingly authorized union leaders in December to call a strike if necessary, approving the measure by a 98% vote. While no final decision or timeline has been established, sources say the union has accelerated conversations with players about strike logistics, procedural steps, and contingency planning — a clear escalation from earlier months, when talks, though tense, were still active.
The pressure point came after the league did not respond to a union proposal seeking a 30% share of league revenue and a salary cap exceeding $10 million. Union officials viewed the silence as a sign that negotiations had effectively stalled. Several players had hoped for meaningful movement by early February, viewing that window as critical given the volume of offseason business still unresolved.
Among those expecting clarity was Breanna Stewart, who previously indicated players were eager for a deal before league operations intensified. Instead, the impasse has deepened.
The league’s position, according to people briefed on the talks, is rooted in cost projections. Accepting a 30% revenue split would result in losses approaching $700 million over a proposed six-year deal, a figure league officials have privately deemed untenable. The league has maintained that it has already made significant concessions and sees little reason to move further toward the union’s demand.
Those concessions include a proposal that would dramatically increase player pay. Under the league’s most recent offer, the maximum salary in 2026 would exceed $1.3 million, compared with roughly $249,000 under the current system. Average salaries would rise above $500,000 this season and could approach $780,000 over the life of the agreement. The proposal also features a 70% share of net revenue for players.
The union has rejected that framework outright. Union officials argue that net revenue represents a narrow slice of overall league earnings and that the proposed structure would leave players with closer to 15% of gross revenue. From the union’s perspective, that gap undercuts the league’s claims of transformational growth and makes the offer a non-starter.
Since the previous CBA expired on Jan. 9 without an extension, both sides have gained leverage — and risk. The league has the authority to lock out players, while the union is free to strike. According to people familiar with league leadership, Adam Silver, who oversees WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, has preferred to avoid a hardline lockout, opting instead for a business-as-usual posture.
That approach was underscored last week when the league announced its 2026 schedule, which calls for the season to begin May 8. Behind the scenes, however, team executives are bracing for disruption and quietly preparing for the possibility that the season could be delayed if talks collapse.
The stakes are growing by the week. An expansion draft has yet to be held. More than 100 players remain unsigned in free agency. And the union has already taken tangible steps to prepare for a shutdown, recently establishing player training hubs across the United States and in Spain so athletes can train, recover, and maintain their health regardless of league operations.
For months, the central question has been which side would blink first. Now, with negotiations dormant and patience thinning, that question has sharpened. The union remains firm on its revenue target, the league remains unmoved by the math, and the threat of a strike is no longer theoretical — it is becoming the defining force shaping the WNBA’s immediate future.